Those who do demanding workouts on a daily basis such as weight training, or other forms of exercising which requires discipline and dedication on a regular basis, their diets need to be especially fine tuned to comply to the rigors for their particular development.
So because of this, it’s in their best interest to avoid consuming certain foods which directly counteracts all the positive attributes and effort that these dedicated athletes put in. This to restore their energy supply to work out harder the next day.
So what’s recommended is taking a closer look at what you currently eat, identify what’s bad for you and then cutting them out, which can go a long way to maximize the impact of your workout.
Energy Drinks
There’s a trail of marketing campaigns by the energy drink industry targeted towards anyone athletic to drink their beverages. Realize they’re not doing your body any favors other than tasting good.
The base of most energy drinks is refined sugar, along with a laundry list of preservatives, artificial colors, emulsifiers, and artificial sweeteners, none which does any good.
So drinking a Vitamin Water after a run can be counterproductive, this despite what you see in the ads, as all those slick sweaty fit people pound down these liquids after they work out. All personal trainers recommend is water with lemon.
Alcoholic Beverages
Some will decide to lay off the beer, thinking that they’ll pack on the calories, as doing so detriments the five mile run the following morning. That’s a good idea.
Where most go wrong is they’ll reward themselves after a hard day of workout with a cocktail, or two, where the mixers can contain high amounts of refined sugar.
These mixes usually contain more calories than the common beer. What’s worse is that mixed cocktails are easier to drink, while not filling you up the same way that beer will, which gives you an excuse to have another.
Take for instance a rum and coke, where the soda is completely loaded with preservatives, chemicals, and at times aspartame, all ingredients that athletes should be avoiding.
A better solution is to mix the alcohol with sparkling or soda water, or even better, just plain water. Since they contain no calories, they’ll also keep you hydrated when consuming the alcohol.
Protein Bars
Protein bars are marketed to have an aura that it’s the hip snack choice for fitness enthusiasts, this similar to energy drinks. Most have shown to do more harm than good.
The excessive empty calories they contain are just as bad as the common chocolate bar, dressed up as health food. Most protein bars use refined sugar substitutes along with artificial sweeteners, which results in detrimental issues for those who workout.
The ingredients to avoid are Maltitol syrup and soy protein isolate, which are genetically modified soy. Better sources of protein are lean meat or poultry.
Heavy Cream
If you’re exercising to lose weight, then avoid any type of heavy cream since just one serving can offset your entire workout.
Avoid cream-based soups, cream based sauces like Alfredo, rich ice cream, and cream for your coffee. These will elevate your calorie and fat intake.
The heavy cream will get lodged into the stomach in a solid lump of mass, making it difficult to move around. There’s also no alternative for heavy cream, so it’s best to avoid it altogether.
White Baked Goods
On the ingredients label, if “100 percent whole-wheat” isn’t the first item listed, then walk away. This because white baked goods has all of their nutrients stripped out of them.
If you’re making a sandwich, it doesn’t matter what you put in it, since the white bread is devoid of any fiber, iron, bran, vitamins, and every other nutrient that an athlete needs.
Especially avoid the ingredients in white baked goods such as refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and refined grains, this since they can cause a sudden spike in blood sugar.
Fried Foods
It’s great that you’ve decided on a tuna sandwich instead of a hot dog, but it’s usually the side dish which accompanies the meal that’s detrimental. One of the worst common habits is having a side of French fries.
Most are fried in poor quality oil, such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is cheap and can turn toxic with overuse, being the main culprit.
Cooking oils which are corn based, coats the potatoes with extremely high amounts of saturated fats, calories, and damaging Omega-6 fatty acids, all having inflammatory properties.
So it’s fried foods such as french fries which exacerbates the inflammation process that those who works out needs to avoid. Throw in massive amounts of salt and ketchup, and what results is a plate of toxic.
Packaged Crackers
An easy and convenient go to snack are crackers, this especially for those constantly on the go, or those who exercises a lot. What most contain are high amounts of sugar, empty calories, and preservatives.
What prepackaged crackers poses are the same dietary issues which white flour baked goods does. So it’s best knowing what type of crackers are eaten, otherwise they’ll have a negative effect.
It becomes extremely difficult to find crackers which contain 100% percent whole wheat, this without any added sugar, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, or other unneeded additives.
So if you’re not able to find non-fat healthy crackers, which are made with natural ingredients such as whole wheat, then you can always use vegetables as a substitute.
Cucumbers work rather well as a stand in for crackers, this once you slice them and apply the topping, as does squash or zucchini. Just make sure that the filling is just as healthy.