10 rules of a sports diet for those who decide to get in shape

Diversify your diet

With regular physical activity, a balanced and varied diet is important. Make sure that the menu includes six main groups of natural products:

• vegetables (including legumes);
• fruits;
• nuts, seeds and natural oils;
• unprocessed meat, fish and seafood;
• whole grains;
• natural dairy products.

It is better to switch to proper nutrition gradually. This way you will avoid stress due to giving up not the most healthy, but familiar food.

Delicious recipes

This food can be not only healthy, but also tasty if you know a few recipes.

Smoothie:

• Made from fruits and berries, great for breakfast, snacks, and afternoon tea.
• You need to mix one peeled banana, an apple, a small handful of blueberries and strawberries in a blender.
• Add 150 ml of natural low-fat yoghurt to the resulting slurry.
• The mixture is whipped again in a blender.
• The dish is poured into a glass, it is ready to eat.

Vitamin salad:

• Suitable for breakfast, afternoon snack.
• You need to chop one small apple and medium-sized fresh carrots on a coarse grater.
• The ingredients are mixed.
• Add a tablespoon of black currant to the mixture. The berries are mixed with apple and carrots.
• Season the salad with natural low-fat yogurt.
• The finished dish can be consumed.

Vegetable omelette:

• For breakfast, you can prepare a healthy omelet that contains vegetables.
• You need to beat two chicken eggs.
• Place chopped tomato and half of diced zucchini in a baking container. Vegetables are poured with beaten egg.
• Add a tablespoon of corn to the resulting mixture. If desired, you can add dill and parsley.
• The mixture is placed in the oven for 25 minutes.
• Then the dish is removed from the oven and can be consumed.

Don't go on a hunger strike

Sports nutrition does not require severe fasting. The body should not suffer from lack of nutrients before, during and after training. Calculate the number of calories you need per day and stick to the 25–50–25 rule. That is, 25% of the calories consumed per day should come from breakfast and dinner, and 50% of calories from lunch.

Iya Zorina

Fitness expert Lifehacker

The Mifflin-Geor formula is considered the most accurate for calculating calories.

For men: 5 + (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age); for women: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age) − 161.

With its help you will calculate your basic exchange. Next, you need to multiply it by the coefficient of physical activity: 1.2 - passive lifestyle, 1.375 - light activity 1-3 times a week, 1.55 - exercise 3-5 times a week, 1.725 - heavy training 6-7 times a week , 1.9 - professional sports or hard physical labor.

If you want to lose weight or gain muscle mass, at first count not only calories, but also the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This will give you a rough idea of ​​how much you need to eat to maintain, gain, or lose weight.

In addition, you will learn how to choose the right products. For example, you'll realize that you can eat a large bowl of vegetables, feel full, and still consume the same number of calories as a small portion of French fries.

Today, tracking your diet and counting calories is much easier than ever before. There are many mobile applications that will help with this. You don’t even have to Google the nutritional value of the product - just enter its name, and the program displays the calorie content and the amount of protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Protein Selection

Of all the sports supplements, protein is the most difficult to choose, since there are many brands and types. If everything is clear to companies and you should give preference to trusted companies whose product has a good composition, then it is not easy to understand the types. For those losing weight, it is best to give preference to:

• Isolate. It is quickly absorbed and contains nothing but proteins. It should be taken before and after training. At other times it is not very effective.
• Whey Protein. This option is also good for those who want to lose weight. The composition contains not only proteins, but also lactose. You can take it not only before or after training, but also before bed instead of a second dinner. This will reduce the calorie content of food in the evening and provide nutrition to the muscles at night.
• Egg white. This species has a very high degree of digestibility, excellent composition and effectiveness. In addition, it is suitable for people who are lactose intolerant. The only drawback is the rather high price.
• Soy protein. In terms of its biological value, it is inferior to all its brothers mentioned above. This product has a low price and is suitable for vegans and fasting people. For weight loss, it is no worse than others.

The only protein that is contraindicated for weight loss is casein. It is taken before bed to provide the body with additional amino acids at night to repair damaged cells and gain muscle mass. Casein takes a long time to digest, which is a huge advantage when gaining weight.

Time your meals

Make a rough meal schedule based on your daily routine. Supplement the standard breakfast-lunch-dinner trio with a second breakfast and (or) afternoon snack, depending on what half of the day you train. But only if you really want to eat at this time, there is no need to force yourself.

Iya Zorina

Fitness expert Lifehacker

Food timing is a controversial thing. It happens that people who are used to eating breakfast stop eating in the morning and lose weight. There are also cases of weight loss through intermittent fasting - this is one or two meals per day. You can get rid of extra pounds with split meals (6-8 times a day) or on diets without carbohydrates and fats. There is no exact answer to what is right for you. You need to try, experiment and find your own routine.

However, intense training on an empty stomach is unlikely to benefit the body. Fainting or loss of strength has never made anyone healthier or more beautiful. To feel good, try eating a high-protein meal about 2-3 hours before going to the gym. Or have a light snack 30–40 minutes before class.

And in the first 20 minutes after training, the so-called post-workout (anabolic) window is open in the body for the consumption of proteins and carbohydrates (but not fats). Everything that is eaten during this period will be used to restore muscles and increase muscle mass, but not to fat deposits.

How to eat properly when playing sports for girls

For those who want to know how to eat properly while training to lose weight, make your body beautiful and learn how to select foods, it is better to consult a specialist. He will not only tell you how to choose a balanced diet when losing weight and playing sports, but will also help you create a daily diet. You can choose your own fitness meals based on their calorie content.

There is no universal list of products that are suitable for all girls. Each person has an individual body structure that requires a special approach. To create an approximate nutrition plan, nutritionists take into account the intensity of training, initial weight, age, and body type of the woman. If you do not take these parameters into account, the desired result will be more difficult to achieve.

Diet for training

It is known that a balanced diet when training for weight loss helps you exercise without harm to the whole body and lose extra calories and kilograms. The menu should include foods containing sufficient amounts of fats, carbohydrates, proteins and fiber. Each of these components has a role to play in weight loss:

1. Proteins, made up of amino acids, are the basis for muscle formation. They should be evenly distributed between meals. Healthy foods that contain proteins - meat, eggs, fish, nuts, legumes.
2. Fats. It is believed that fatty foods of plant and animal origin interfere with weight loss, but the body needs them in small quantities. Without them, the heart and kidneys cannot function fully. Fats in the diet are required less than proteins and carbohydrates. Safe sources of the substance are: lard, nuts, dairy products, avocado, butter, coconut and olive oil.
3. Carbohydrates. The popularity of low-carb diets has led to this element being excluded from the diet by those wishing to lose weight. However, you just need to replace fast carbohydrates with slow ones, which give the body strength and a feeling of fullness for a long time. The first group includes: sugar, buns, white bread, pasta, semolina porridge. The second group includes: bran, rye flour bread, buckwheat, oatmeal, unprocessed rice.
4. Fiber is fiber of plant origin and is found in all vegetables and fruits. Eating these foods helps a person feel full faster and cleanse the stomach and intestines of accumulated toxins. It is advisable not to include fruits with a high glucose and starch content - pears, bananas, grapes - in meals for weight loss during training for girls. Vegetables that are good for adding to food are bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage and other types of cabbage, zucchini, carrots, and tomatoes.

Nutrition plan during training

It is very important to follow a diet and exercise regimen to lose weight. It is better to seek help from a nutritionist so that he can help calculate the calorie content of meals in accordance with the planned physical activity. When independently drawing up a nutrition plan for weight loss when training for girls, you need to follow the rules:

1. Divide the daily amount of food into 5-6 meals throughout the day.
2. Eat 1.5-2 hours before physical training and 1 hour after.
3. Don't consume more than 1500 calories on average.

Don't eliminate fats from your diet

According to WHO recommendations, 30% of the total energy consumed per day should come from fats. Of these, no more than 10% are saturated fats and no more than 2% are trans fats. The remaining 18% should be unsaturated fats. They are found in fish, avocado and nuts, as well as sunflower, soybean, canola and olive oil.

Iya Zorina

Fitness expert Lifehacker

If your daily intake is 2,500 kcal, 750 should be consumed from fat. That's about 83 grams of fat, with no more than 27 grams of saturated fat, which is found in animal products. For example, in butter, lard or fatty meat.

For those who want to lose weight, the expert advises reducing the amount of fat or carbohydrates (depending on the chosen diet). There is no consensus on which diet works best: both low-fat and low-carb options provide good results.

However, you should not completely eliminate fats from your diet. Especially if athletic performance and muscle gain are important to you. Fats are necessary for the production of testosterone, a male sex hormone that promotes muscle growth, reduction of body fat, and increased strength and endurance.

Principles of dietary nutrition

The first rule of a beautiful figure is to count calories. A woman’s body needs only 1800 kcal per day for normal functioning, taking into account an active lifestyle. If you consume more calories per day and do not exercise, this leads to the accumulation of fat deposits. You can make fats “work” only by creating a stressful situation for the body, that is, by reducing the caloric content of your diet by 500 kcal below your daily requirement. In this case, you need to do cardiological exercises - running, swimming, dancing.

Calories should be healthy, so the second rule of a slim figure is to create a menu taking into account the BJU.

• The most insidious for your figure are simple carbohydrates, which are found in sugar and all products based on it. The number of such dishes must be reduced, giving preference to complex carbohydrates - cereals, vegetables, fruits;
• Fats are an additional source of energy and microelements and vitamins. Healthy fatty acids do not affect waist size, so when losing weight their amount is practically comparable to carbohydrates. The list of such products includes vegetable oil, nuts, seeds, and fish. Dairy products are classified as saturated, more “harmful” fats, but you don’t need to give them up. Kefir, yogurt or milk with a fat content of up to 3.5% are ideal for the diet;
• Animal and plant proteins will help build muscle mass, which will allow you to form a beautiful, pumped up body. But remember that before you start training to work out the relief, you need to get rid of most of the fat deposits. Otherwise, muscle growth will not be noticeable.

Meals for weight loss during training for girls should be regular at regular intervals (at least 3 hours). It is better to eat five times a day in small portions, so it will be easier for the body to digest food and produce the required amount of energy.

Eat protein and carbohydrate foods before and after training

It is best to include foods rich in complex carbohydrates in your pre-workout diet. For example, legumes, sprouts, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, whole grain cereals, bread, brown rice. As well as foods high in protein - lean red and white meat, fish and seafood, legumes, nuts, eggs, cheese, milk and cottage cheese. It's best to eat a couple of hours before going to the gym so that the food has time to digest.

After classes, you are also allowed to eat carbohydrate foods that do not contain fat: bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, fruits, vegetables. In addition, you can supplement your meals with proteins.

Iya Zorina

Fitness expert Lifehacker

An adult needs about 1.6–1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, strength athletes and those who want to gain muscle mass need 2–2.2 grams per kilogram.

Natural dairy products are one of the most important elements of a sports diet and sources of valuable protein. For example, crumbly cottage cheese “Savushkin” contains 18.3 grams of protein per 100-gram serving of the product. At the same time, it has a wide range of fat content (0.1% to 9%), so that everyone can choose the optimal product for themselves to maintain great shape and excellent well-being.

Choose healthy cottage cheese

How to Take Weight Loss Supplements

Vitamin and mineral complexes are taken in courses with breaks. Usually one course lasts two months, and then there is a break for 3-4 months. You should not take vitamins all year round, as this can negatively affect your health. There is nothing good in an excess of even useful substances or in the fact that the body simply stops independently synthesizing the necessary vitamins. This rule does not apply to Omega-3. Fish oil and flaxseed oil can be taken constantly, alternating them with each other - two months of one, and then two months of the other.

BCAA should be taken by those whose workouts are very intense and last more than one hour. In this case, it is better to take BCAA before starting a workout; you can also drink it on time and immediately after completing your workout. On rest days, you can completely refuse it or take it immediately after waking up. By the way, if a woman does not exercise and only loses weight on a calorie deficit, then there is no need to add BCAA to her diet.

With protein, things are more complicated and there are many nuances when taking it:

• Before you start drinking cocktails, you need to calculate your calorie and protein intake. At least half of the protein intake should be obtained from food, and the rest from sports supplements. There is no need to worry about having too much protein. Recent studies have shown that even 3-4 grams of protein per kilogram of weight for an exercising person does not cause any harm. But the lack of proteins negatively affects the health and quality of the body.
• The powder can be diluted in milk or water. For those losing weight, it is better to choose the second option to reduce the number of calories consumed. If the cocktail fits into the daily norm, then you can use milk. It is better to choose a low-fat product, especially if you drink protein before or after a workout. The fact is that fats slow down the rate of protein absorption.
• You should not replace breakfast, lunch or dinner with a cocktail. This drink is ideal for snacks or a second dinner.

It is important to remember that protein contains calories. There are approximately 150 of them per serving, which means that those who want to lose excess weight should not drink it in large quantities. Be sure to calculate your calorie intake for weight loss and do not exceed it.

L-carnitine is taken before intense cardio training. There is no point in taking it on rest days, since it is only effective during physical activity.

Don't forget to drink during your workout

Our muscles are 75% water. During exercise, fluid is lost through breathing, sweat and tears (just kidding). The loss of even 2% of moisture in the body reduces the effectiveness of the exercise by a quarter. Dehydration leads to rapid fatigue and loss of coordination. So don't ignore the feeling of thirst.

To feel good and not harm your body, drink half a liter of water a couple of hours before training. Then drink a glass every 15 minutes throughout the session. And after training, weigh yourself, see how many grams you lost, and drink the same amount of water. For example, if you lost 500 grams, you drank half a liter of water. It's awkward to carry a bottle with you on runs, so drink before and after your workout.

Principles of muscle development

In order not to encounter problems when increasing muscle mass, girls need to adhere to 5 rules:

• eat small meals, with breaks of 1.5-3 hours;
• completely give up junk food;
• consume complex carbohydrates, in the form of cereals, rice, pasta and simple ones, but only in the form of fruits and not constantly;
• do not forget about the protein component in your diet;
• drink at least 2 liters of water throughout the day, always non-carbonated.

Before and after exercise, it is ideal to snack on simple carbohydrates and proteins.

An optional rule includes taking sports supplements. These are all kinds of complexes and gainers, protein mixtures. As a rule, mixtures are consumed after training. And vitamins help maintain good mood and tone of the whole body.

Authorized Products

Of no small importance in the process of losing weight and gaining muscle mass is played not only by the quantity of food and the rules for its intake, but also by the quality of the products consumed. You need to choose only those that contribute to muscle strengthening, overall health and weight loss. Here is their list:

• lean meats (chicken and turkey fillet, veal, rabbit);
• fish (any);
• vegetable oils;
• cereals (rice, buckwheat, spelt);
• nuts and seeds;
• dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins, prunes);
• fruits, vegetables, berries, herbs (it is better to give preference to seasonal ones, as they are much healthier in terms of vitamins and microelements);
• eggs;
• dairy products (cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir, fermented baked milk).

Meat and fish should be boiled, stewed or grilled.

Dairy products should be chosen exclusively low-fat.

The best option for drinks is herbal teas, freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices, green tea, pure still water.

Prohibited consumption: alcoholic and carbonated drinks, canned food, smoked products, semi-finished products, flour and confectionery products.

It is important to reduce your intake of table salt because it promotes fluid retention in the body.

Sports diet for burning fat and gaining muscle mass, diet

Dietary nutrition for muscle growth requires compliance with certain recommendations:

• Fat burning will be more effective if 70% of food is consumed before 16 hours.
• Avoid fast carbohydrates, as they cause spikes in blood sugar and glucose is quickly converted into fat deposits. It is better to give preference to complex carbohydrates.
• Limiting the consumption of fatty foods such as sausages, lard, fatty meats, and so on. They do not contribute to muscle growth, but are stored in fat.
• Avoid congestion of the digestive tract. To do this, the food consumed must be well digestible. The optimal diet is two-thirds high-calorie foods and one-third with plant fiber.
• Before going to bed, give preference to protein foods.
• Special physical training.
• The diet should contain 60% carbohydrates, 30% proteins and 10% fats.
• Muscles will grow when the energy received from the food consumed is higher than its expenditure. The total calorie content can be increased by 10% or even more. The increase in calories should be gradual.

If the goal is to get rid of excess fat, then the situation will be different. Fat burning is more active if:

• Include intense training (increase calorie expenditure).
• Reduce calories.
• Use dietary supplements that remove fat layers as a supplement to your diet.

Include more low-calorie foods and spices in your diet: grapefruit, pomelo, lemon, a variety of greens, cinnamon.

Athletes are also recommended to diet to gain muscle mass.