Nutrition is the way that the food people eat nourishes their bodies.
Good nutrition means your body is getting all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals it needs to work at its best level. Eating a healthy diet is your main way to get good nutrition.
The keys to good nutrition are balance, variety and moderation. Your body needs the right balance of carbohydrates, fats, and protein, the three main components of nutrition, to stay healthy.
You also need vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from many different foods. No single food or food group has it all. This is why eating a variety of different foods is so essential.
Too much food can result in excess weight, as can too much of certain food types. Eating too little can lead to numerous nutrient deficiencies and low body mass.
The wrong diet can be deadly. Good nutrition should be part of an overall healthy lifestyle, which should also include regular exercise.
To exercise consistently, you need to provide a good supply of high-quality energy to your working muscles. The easiest way to to this is to eat a balanced breakfast and continue eating a variety of high-quality foods throughout the day.
Carbohydrate in the form of glycogen is the fuel that makes exercise possible, so adequate carbs must be eaten each day if you hope to train consistently. Protein and fat also have a place in your diet and should be consumed daily. In general, each meal should contain a varied combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat.
The pre-exercise meal will vary depending upon your exercise style. If you workout in the evening, lunch should include easily digestible foods high in complex carbohydrates, such as pasta, breads, fruits and vegetables. A big salad with a small amount of protein works well. Select a small amount of lean meat such as chicken or fish, and experiment with what works best for you.
Depending upon the type and duration of workout you do, you’ll want to eat a small snack and drink some water a half hour before you get going. Trail mix is great for aerobic workouts over 60 or 90 minutes, but if you are going hard for thirty minutes, you probably only need a half of an energy or granola bar, a large banana, a few graham crackers, fig bars, or pretzels. For a shorter workout, you may not want to eat anything at all, but can get a few calories from drinking about 8-10 ounces of water. You should also start drinking water before your workout so you’ve consumed about 6-12 ounces in the hour before your workout.
Proper hydration during exercise depends upon the intensity and duration of exercise, the fitness of the athlete, and weather conditions. In order to simplify the recommendations, a good starting point is to drink 8-10 fl. oz of water every 15 min during exercise.
After your workout, drink enough water to replace water lost through sweat. The best way to determine this is by weighing yourself before and after exercise. For every pound of body weight lost, you’ll need to consume about 3 cups of fluid.