You’ve probably already heard before that a successful workout plan has to be accompanied by good nutrition. Having great nutrition plays an important role in ensuring a workout or exercise turns out successful.
Staying healthy is everyone’s goal, but not everyone is willing to commit to it. What we eat and the exercises we do affect how healthy we’ll be. Fortunately, we have control over what we eat and what we do. All that’s left is to have the commitment to improve the effectiveness of your workouts.
Here are some benefits of good nutrition and exercising.
1. Weight Loss
Losing weight is one of the main reasons if not the main reason why many people start working out. Your weight loss journey won’t just be about shedding weight to stay fit. Still, it also minimizes the risk of chronic conditions associated with obesity like heart disease and poor bone density.
The best way to lose weight is by exercising and eating a diet rich in whole vegetables and fruits because they’re lower in calories. Avoid foods with higher calorie content like sugary foods and processed foods.
Eating foods rich in fiber like viscous fiber can also help in reducing weight. Foods rich in fiber make you feel full for longer hence eliminating the temptations to eat unhealthy foods.
2. Diabetes Management
For people with diabetes, eating a healthy diet can help in reducing weight loss (if necessary), managing blood sugar levels, maintaining blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and preventing other complications of diabetes.
3. More Energy
You need the energy from healthy foods to fuel your workout plan. Some great foods for providing energy include eggs, whole grain cereals, low-fat milk, and steamed vegetables. Other ingredients that can boost your energy include peanuts, oats, chocolate chips, dried blueberries, and pumpkin seeds.
The production of endorphin when combining exercise and a healthy diet can also raise your self-esteem to give you more mental energy to stay focused on your workout plan.
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4. Better Heart Health
Healthy diet and exercise are the best solutions for reducing risks such as high blood pressure, blood clotting, stroke, and other heart-related problems.
What diet is good for maintaining heart health? You should consume a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Minimize eating foods with added sugar and go for foods with low salt content.
You should also limit the intake of cholesterol, trans fat, and saturated fats.
5. Better Mood
Exercise is good for changing our moods for the better, and a healthy diet is an added bonus for maintaining good mood. For people who suffer from anxiety and depression, exercise is recommended because it can stimulate the production of serotonin — the “happy chemical” which contributes to our happiness.
Exercising also stimulates the production of endorphins, the chemicals produced by the body to relieve pain and stress.
Eat a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, foods rich in vitamin C, leafy greens, and whole grains to help boost your mood. Avoid sugary foods and take caffeine in moderation.
6. Improved Sleep
Insomnia affects millions of people worldwide. Common causes of insomnia include stress, poor sleeping habits, and unhealthy lifestyles, but thanks to exercise and a good diet, you can reverse insomnia to a good night sleep.
You can fight insomnia by doing regular workouts accompanied by a healthy diet consisting of bananas, low-fat milk, salmon, and cherries. They contain minerals that help us get quality sleep.
Now, what should you avoid? Avoid fatty foods, spicy foods, and limit the intake of alcohol and caffeine.
7. Stronger Bones
Accompanying exercises with a diet rich in calcium and magnesium is key to having strong bones and teeth. Calcium supports the skeleton by maintaining bone mass and also helps in heart functions like allowing heart muscles to contract and allowing pumping of blood. It’s abundant in foods like cabbage, low-fat dairy products, tofu, sardines, broccoli, and soya beans.
Magnesium is abundant in foods like whole grains, leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds.
8. Improved Sexual Function
Combining exercise and good nutrition can help improve the sexual drive of a person. For men, proper exercise can reduce risks of erectile dysfunction because exercise improves the blood flow to the genital organs — which explains the improved sexual function.
On the other hand, exercise keeps women active, giving them greater sexual desire and satisfaction.
In addition to exercise, foods like walnuts, eggs, watermelon, avocados, steak, and strawberries can also help boost your sex drive.
Don’t push yourself too much when doing exercises. Too much vigorous exercise tends to cause lower libido.
9. Stronger Immune System
A good diet and some exercise a day can keep your immune system at its best. Exercising helps the body in different ways, it can decelerate the production of stress hormones which protects us against diseases, strengthens the white blood cells which are responsible for fighting diseases, and can also help flush out bacteria from the lungs.
Great foods that can help boost our immunity include citrus fruits, broccoli, garlic, spinach, ginger, yogurt, almonds, and sunflower seeds.
Drink alcohol in moderation and avoid smoking. Make sure to not overdo your exercises as well.
10. Lifestyle Change
Good nutrition is key in exercising because it can help adapt to the new lifestyle changes. Most people quit their workout programs just days after starting because they get lazy, distracted, or they don’t see positive changes.
First of all, you need patience and commitment before you start seeing positive changes. To stay committed to your workouts, you need to develop a strong meal plan which will provide the necessary nutrients to your body. For example, if losing weight is your goal, you can plan meals ahead to prevent you from getting tempted to eat unhealthy foods.
Once you do see positive changes because of maintaining good nutrition, you’ll be more motivated to stick to a healthy diet for a better lifestyle.
Maintaining good nutrition when exercising isn’t such an easy task. There are many temptations along the way that could mess up your plans. The best way to solve this problem is to start meal planning. Meal planning will help you stay committed by removing unhealthy foods from the way. You can also consult your doctor if you want more insights on what food to eat.