Other than exercising and working out your body, the best thing you can do for your fitness is eating healthy. Food is important for fueling our bodies, and when we eat the correct food we can turn our bodies into a fat burning, muscle building, and lean machine with tons of energy. Food and fitness go hand and hand, they are like the dynamic duo! There is a terrible rumor that says, “Healthy food is lame.” This statement is so far from the truth, because the fact is…food can be healthy and delicious. I do have to say, if you are a vegetarian…you probably will not enjoy this article.
Here are four different foods that are great for your fitness:
Let’s start if off right!
Beef – I used to love watching those beef commercials, “Beef, its whats for dinner.” I loved it! Even though the commercials were awesome, red meat has gotten a pretty bad rap over the years, but did you know that beef is 20% leaner than it was 10 years ago. And if you eat grass-fed beef, it can actually help lower your cholesterol. There is so many benefits to eating beef. Beef highly contains amino-acids, which are great for building muscle. A 3-ounce steak provides over 10% of your daily intake for some nutrients. Including B6 and B12, protein, phosphorus, niacin, selenium, and riboflavin. Beef also includes a healthy dose of zinc and iron. But with any type of food, do not over do it. You can have a 3-ounce steak around 3-4 times a week. Look For steaks that are less in fat, like rounds steaks or top sirloin steaks, filet mignons are also low in fat and super good.
Oatmeal – Breakfast is for champions! And Oatmeal is a great breakfast. The wonderful thing about oatmeal, is that it is quick and easy to make. Plus you can add other incredible foods to it. Like blueberries, raspberries, bananas, and strawberries..the list goes on and on. Oatmeal is not only good for your heart, but it is also good for weight loss. Oatmeal is rich with soluble fiber, with helps lower you cholesterol. When picking oatmeal, make sure that you get normal oatmeal. Oatmeal packets usually have a lot of added sugars in them. Look for quick oats in the big tubs.
“100%” Whole-Wheat Bread – The reason I emphasized “100%,” is because only true whole wheat bread have 100% on it. So make sure to buy 100% whole-wheat or whole-grain bread. Whole-wheat bread is great for giving you energy, and it does not spike your energy levels like white bread does. White bread cause your body to store fat, whole-wheat bread does not. Whole-wheat bread will also help you feel full longer.
Salmon – You probably love or hate it, but it is still one of the best foods you can eat for fitness. 3-ounces of salmon provide you with 20-grams of protein! And why is protein so important? Because it helps speed up your metabolism 3-4 times faster than carbs or fat, plus it helps fill you up. Salmon is also rich in Omega-3′s, which are fatty acids that help clean your arteries. Salmon is like the superman food. It is great for muscle building and for keep your heart healthy.
I want to talk to you about Interval Training. Interval Training contains both high bursts of energy and recovery times. There are many different ways people use interval training, some people do long bursts of energy and short recovery times, some people do shorter bursts of energy and longer recovery times, both are affective. No matter which form of interval training you chose, the goal is always to get your heart rate up with high bursts of energy and then bring your heart rate down with the recovery time, do it over and over again for around 20-30 minutes.
Which brings us to our second way to burn fat quickly. Muscle training! I am not talking about getting huge and bulky, so if your a woman or a man afraid to bulk up? Do not worry. Resistance training is a very important key to burning fat, because building lean muscle is the fastest way to burn fat. You do not have to use heavy weight or even use weights at all. Resistance training involves chin-ups, push-ups, lunges and squats; all those exercises can be done without weights. If you do end up using weights, you do not have to pick heavy weights. Chose weights that you can control, many people try to whip out reps like they were in a race…but slow and steady wins this race. For example, going down with a bicep curl is just as important as going up with a curl. There are times for pumping out reps, but slow and controlled repetitions will help your body burn more fat during and even after the workout is finished.
