Relationship Between Diet, Exercise, and Sleep

When you eat healthy foods and exercise properly; there’s no reason that you shouldn’t enjoy a good night’s sleep. In fact, everything is interconnected. There’s plenty of medical literature available to confirm those facts. Take a look at this study for instance.

In this post, we look at a healthy approach to creating a diet and exercise plan to achieve your fitness goals –

Steps to Creating Your Diet Plan

Foods To Add To Your Diet

Carbohydrates

Carbs are what fuels the body during exercise. They are the main source of energy. Complex and simple – these are two main types of carbohydrates. Complex carbs take a longer time to digest than simple ones.

The former are better in that they offer a slow release of energy rather than a quick spike and a quick downfall leading to exhaustion. Therefore, they have better nutritional value to offer.

Include things like beans, oats, whole grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables more in your diet.

Complex carbs are also the foods that you eat before a workout as they provide you with the needed energy to get through the exercise session. Without them, you might not be abe to deliver an optimal performance.

Protein

During exercise, your muscles break down. But, when you consume protein (which is the building block of human body cells) they repair back stronger. Without protein, those tears will never repair properly and you will be chronically fatigued.

Protein can be found in abundance in lean meats, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, soy, and legumes. So stock up on those.

Ideally, you should consume proteins post-workout to give your body something to rely on to repair back properly and more strongly. Proteins are also good if you’re on a candida diet.

Fats

Some nutrients are only fat-soluble. That means you need healthy fats to create an environment for transportation and absorption of those nutrients. What’s more, fats also regulate hormonal and heart health.

Again, fats can be both unsaturated and saturated. Focus primarily on unsaturated fats. Its main sources are – nuts, fish, peanut butter, seeds, avocados, oils such as sesame, peanut, and olive, and fish (tuna, mackerel, salmon). Soy products like soy milk and tofu are also great options.

Steps to Create Your Fitness Plan

• Identify your Goals

If you’re not sure what your fitness goals are – you’ll never be satisfied with your results. Besides, you won’t even know that you are there already.

To help with a clarity of goals, consider incorporating the following themes –

• Losing weight (by how many kgs)
• Building lean muscles
• Finishing a triathlon
• running/participating in a marathon
• Reducing cholesterol and/or blood pressure

Always be realistic about your goals. Setting too high of an expectation could lead to failure and premature disappointment.

Stick With Simple Cardio Workouts

Cardio is super important for your health. It keeps your heart pumping and also lowers the risk of heart problems.

Below are a few simple yet effective cardio workouts –

• Biking
• Running
• Brisk walks
• Swimming
• Groups sports like volleyball, football, and basketball
• Boxing
• Rowing
• Cross country skiing
• Running on machines like ellipticals and treadmills

Nutrition is important for fitness

When you talk about foods that fuel your performance; don’t just focus on stocking up more on vegetables and less on doughnuts. You need to pick a well-balanced diet as well. Eat the right foods at the right times.

Learn about workout snacks, healthy breakfasts, post-workout foods, and healthy meal plans.

Bottom Line

One of the most important things when it comes to realizing your fitness goals is to set realistic goals. Always take baby steps. If necessary, it’s good to talk to a nutrition expert as well.