When it comes to fitness, we’re all looking for the latest technique to get us into great shape quickly and efficiently. We all know that both food and fitness play a part in our overall health, but fitting in your workouts alongside well balanced, nutritious meals can take up a lot of time. With diet fads claiming to help you lose fat in days or meal replacements that guarantee you’ll drop a dress size, it can be hard not to wonder if these shortcuts really work. So, how important is healthy eating when it comes to your fitness?

Weight Control

While completing tough workouts will improve your overall fitness, you’ll be restricted in how well your body can represent your fitness with an excess of fats and sugars in your diet. When your body doesn’t use these calories throughout the day, they get stored in the body as fat. Eating well-balanced meals with correct calorie control will ensure you keep your body fat low and enable you to create a leaner looking body.

Healthy Eating and Fitness

Nutrition

It’s important to remember that eating healthy isn’t just about how we look on the outside. Eating the correct amount of nutrients, sugars and fats is vital to helping the inside of our body run well. The excessive consumption of sugary foods such as fruit juice, fizzy drinks and ice cream can cause an influx of glucose. While our bodies can handle these occasional spikes, over time this can cause the body to become resistant and can put you at risk for diabetes. Ignoring diet now could have detrimental effects for your health and fitness in the future.

Food for Fuel

A handful of fruit and a few squares of chocolate may equal the same amount but you’ll find that fruit will have larger volume meaning that you can eat larger amounts without consuming more calories. This is an important factor when it comes to keeping unhealthy snacking to a minimum. Different food groups can also provide different benefits, for example, protein can help keep you feeling full throughout the day as well as helping your muscles recover after exercise. Try to coordinate your eating with your workouts to ensure you have fuel your body correctly and can complete great workouts without feeling exhausted. Fuelling your body correctly could mean that you can push yourself even harder in the gym and reach new fitness goals.