Things You Can do to Improve Your NUTRITION Today!
Getting a personal trainer to help you with workouts and meal plans is a great way to learn all about nutrition, how to eat better, and have a healthier lifestyle. . . but there are a few simple things you can do TODAY to start improving your eating habits. If you know you need to do better, but not even sure where to start, keep reading to see the three things you can do right now to improve your nutrition.
1. Increase your water Intake
We know you’ve heard this millions of times, bt it’s really important to stay hydrated.
Why is drinking water important?
One of the first things you’ve probably heard when trying to improve your nutrition is “DRINK MORE WATER!” And I know that you’ve heard this plenty of times, but drinking water is super important. Drinking the appropriate amount of water can help maintain bodily fluids, help control calories, energize muscles, improve the appearance of your skin, and helps to remove toxins from your body. Being dehydrated can cause multiple problems, and can actually cause the opposite affects than above. Now that we know that drinking water is important, how much should we actually drink??
How much water do you need to drink?
You want to drink at least half your body weight in ounces a day. So if you weigh 150 pounds, divide that number by two and that’s how many ounces of water you want to drink a day. Now, let’s be clear. . . this is your MINIMUM goal for water intake. Once you get comfortable with drinking that amount of water, slowly increase the amount by ten ounces every two-three weeks.
For most women that I work, the goal is to get them to drink a hundred ounces of water a day. Generally, those just starting their fitness journey aren’t accustomed to drinking that much water a day, BUT the ultimate goal is to get them to that magic number of one-hundred.
There are still two more ways you can improve your nutrition RIGHT NOW!
2. Fruits & Vegetables
Let’s focus more on the fresh produce and less on the packaged and processed groceries.
How much should you be eating?
AT LEAST ONE SERVING A DAY! A serving is a quantity of food suitable for or served to a person. If you’re not looking at a food label, then it can be hard to figure out what a serving is. For fruits, this looks like one apple, one orange, 100 grams of berries, or a cup of pineapples. For vegetables, it’s recommended that you eat two-four servings a day, BUT you should be eating at least two servings of veggies a day. For vegetables, a serving may look like 100 grams of broccoli, or a cup of spinach, etcWhat’s considered a serving?
Typically, it’s easier to have your serving of fruit for breakfast. whether thats fruit paired with some protein to energize your workout, or you just grabbing an apple on the way to the office. On the other hand, its usually easier to get your servings of veggies in during lunch and dinner, but a good breakfast option I always recommend is some type of egg scramble and adding your favorite veggies in (green peppers, onions, spinach, mushrooms, etc.).
3. Protein
When building a healthy and strong body, you can’t forget about your protein.
Why is protein important?
Protein is super important in nutrition and. having a healthy life because it’s made up of amino acids. Amino acids and vital for building and repairing muscles. Protein’s importance for building muscle is widely known, but it’s also a great source of energy. Consuming protein around working out can assist in giving you energy and recovery needed afterwards.
Where to find protein?
Yes, you need protein in every single meal. Protein in breakfast is typically eggs or some type of dairy source (milk, cheese, etc.). For lunch and dinner you can typically find protein in your meats, seafood (fish, salmon, shrimp, etc.), and in other protein sources like beans, and even certain grains (quinoa, chickpeas, etc.) and veggies (spinach, avocado, broccoli, etc.). For certain meats, like ground beef and ground turkey, you would want to get the leaner sources like 90% lean or higher. Chicken breasts are an amazing source for protein as well as chicken thighs, but I recommend no skin when eating chicken thighs as it’ll cutdown on the fat and make it a leaner source of protein.
Want more information on nutrition?
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