Is your nutrition helping or hurting you?
Ever wondered how to balance nutrition for sports with nutrition for an overall healthy life?
Nutrition for longevity AND physical performance.
This guide will serve as an aid to balancing nutrition for sport performance AND nutrition for supporting your overall health
Let’s face it - the internet is a confusing place.
(and yes, I know how that sounds coming from a post on the internet)
When you search Google for sport nutrition tips, you see what looks like the opposite from the basic, healthy nutrition habits you’ve heard for years. Sugars, calories, and carbs galore. After hours of spinning down so many rabbit holes, you’re left believing it’s IMPOSSIBLE to eat in a way that can support your sport performance AND your overall health.
One place you read carbs are necessary for exercise, and another says they cause an insulin spike that is detrimental to your health.
One source says you should only eat whole grains, but you see runners posting about their white bread toast before their runs all the time.
One place says oatmeal should be avoided at all costs if you care about your health, but then you hear it is the literal breakfast of champions.
So let’s break down the bare basics of how exercise changes your nutritional needs, and how you can intertwine nutrition for longevity and health + nutrition for peak physical performance.
Exercise + healthy nutrition habits support each other. But doing great at one doesn’t necessarily make up for lacking in the other.
You can’t out-work a bad diet. And no matter how healthy you eat, you won’t build muscle or aerobic endurance without exercise.
You’ll have more success if you think of using nutrition to fuel your exercise, instead of thinking about exercising only to “burn off” bad foods.
Your workouts will be more productive, it will reduce your stress and anxiety around food and exercise, and overall will develop a healthier relationship with food.
When you exercise, you break down muscle tissue and burn through carbohydrate stores.
You need to consume extra protein and carbohydrates to replace what was used, and build your body up to perform even better next time. If you find yourself working your ass off in your workouts, but not getting any better, you need to be consuming more calories.
Carbs typically thought of as unhealthy - sugar, refined grains - are digested and absorbed more quickly. This makes them perfect for directly before, after, or during your workouts.
These products will get to your muscles quickly, and won’t leave you feeling weighed down.
Your high-fiber carbs - whole grains, starchy vegetables - are best for when you have several hours before your workouts.
These products digest more slowly, so they keep you full for longer and support your overall health.
Overall - a diet for overall health and longevity and a diet to support exercise are not mutually exclusive! The big picture is still the same, you’ll just need a few strategic additions to make sure you’re getting the most of your workouts.
Everybody has different nutritional needs, so make sure to try and see what works best for you.
If you’re ready to tackle these complexities and figure out your nutrition once and for all, the Patel Wellness team can help. Head to Sarah’s Nutrition Coaching page to see if the services would be a good fit for you!
Ready to get started? The application is right here - fill it out and schedule a free call with Sarah today!