Exercise and Sports Nutrition – this combination will get you to your goal

It is undisputed and long known that the modern diet is responsible for many of the nutritional deficiencies, weight and other health problems in our society. In 2016, it was determined that 39% of the world’s population was overweight, and 13% were obese. Being overweight and having an unhealthy diet makes it hard for many people to feel good in the long term and even harder to enjoy long-term good health. One of the main reasons for obesity: a food culture characterized by processed and fast food. It is not only the excessively large portions and high caloric density of these foods that are a problem, but also the poor quality of ingredients and lack of good nutrients. If you are not careful, eating such foods can quickly create a calorie surplus and cause weight gain. Another reason for obesity and health problems in our society is a lack of exercise. Many people do not get enough exercise in everyday life— this leads to sleep problems and increased stress. This article sheds light on some of the many benefits of exercise and nutrition — and how they can improve your quality of life.

Where do you start if you want to get fit and improve your health? There are several factors to consider Exercise and fitness training play very important roles in weight loss and maintenance, as is the suitable fitness diet—to provide you the necessary energy for your workouts. Other factors that support a healthy lifestyle, weight loss, and fitness include sufficient sleep, an orderly daily routine, and low alcohol consumption. Check out our BMI calculator to determine your optimal body weight.

Exercise significantly increases the number of calories you burn and thus affects your energy balance so that your body taps its accumulated reserves — the fatty tissues — to provide energy. By combining exercise and a protein-rich sports nutrition, your body also builds up muscle. In contrast to fat, muscle mass is metabolically active tissue and—even at rest—burns many times the energy that fat can burn. This energy burn (especially if we continue to use the built-up muscles regularly) ultimately helps to further increase the efficiency of burning fat and thus get rid of more body fat.

Exercise alone does not usually lead to a noticeable weight reduction in the same way that the combination of exercise and healthy sports nutrition does. While it is true that exercise puts your body into a state it can reduce body fat and build muscle mass, without the right sports nutrition you will cancel out the positive effects of your workouts and, at best, just maintain your body’s status quo, and in worst cases, gain weight or exacerbate nutritional deficiencies. Poor nutrition, in this case, can mean eating the wrong foods, eating irregularly, or not eating enough. All three variants cause your body to break down muscle mass and activate fat-storing metabolic processes in your body. A good balance of exercise and a healthy diet is essential for your health and achieving transformative body goals.

You do not have to starve or be mathematically gifted to learn how to eat a healthy fitness diet—you just need to eat regularly and to choose high quality, nutritious foods. A food diary can be helpful here to keep an eye on your diet and track nutritional patterns. Proper sports nutrition will support the metabolic processes triggered by your workouts and ensure that you reduce body fat and simultaneously build muscle. In the long run, this leads to a slim, sporty look.

A simple solution is to invest in a fitness nutrition plan from an Upfit expert. Your sports nutrition plan adapts to you as an individual: it considers individual factors such as food intolerances, diet (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, paleo) and body type—because no single set of guidelines works for everyone (apart from a few basic rules, such as the avoiding sweets and soft drinks).

Some people make radical body changes with a very extreme fitness diet, become famous in social media and then recommend their form of sports nutrition as a cure-all for everyone (hashtag “50 bananas a day!”). But ultimately, this success is neither sustainable nor healthy and therefore worthless to other people looking for the right fitness diet.

Such trendy diets only temporarily reduce your body weight, and usually involve a radical calorie restriction that leads to the yo-yo effect: Because your body does not receive enough energy to function properly, it starts to break down your muscle mass (a high energy burner) and to slow down all metabolic processes in your organs. This causes your weight loss to stagnate as soon as your body has adjusted to the reduced-calorie supply. After that, a “normal meal” far exceeds the number of calories your body can burn, and you begin regaining weight very quickly.

Therefore, those who want to lose weight should only trust a fitness diet that focuses on their individual needs. A balanced diet with the right micronutrients and macronutrients and the right training plan can be much more helpful than cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all plans.

Because one thing is clear: there is no shortcut to your dream figure! The person you see in the mirror is in large part a reflection of your lifestyle, choices, and a sign of the effort you dedicate to becoming healthy and fit. An individualized fitness diet in conjunction with fitness training is the best means of achieving long-term weight loss. The best advice we can give you to begin making body changes: Start following a workout plan, start following a healthy nutrition plan, and try to go to bed earlier to get enough good sleep— these three things will go a long way in helping you lose weight healthily and get your body into shape.

Guest article by Till Ebener (Personal Trainer at Point of Power, Cologne)
Point of Power