Ten Unhealthy Eating Habits That Undermine Your Exercise Routine

Ten Unhealthy Eating Habits That Undermine Your Exercise Routine
You wanna hit the gym in an hour and yet you have gone for your treat of chicken wings, fries and a whole 500ml of chocolate shake! You will feel sluggish and make more bathroom trips than actually exercising in there. It is hard enough for most people to create enough time to workout let alone making it a regular thing! If you are going to make your workout routine work for you, the least you can do is avoid sabotaging it yourself. You should give yourself at least three hours after eating a big meal before exercising and only do as much exercise as your body can handle. You also have to avoid these 10 mistakes if your time in the gym is to amount to anything…

Working Out On An Empty Stomach

When going for your morning run or hitting the gym, you are trying to burn calories and drop a few extra fats. While it is easy to assume that doing it on an empty stomach will help you achieve that goal, the reality is that you are hurting your body. You need fuel to get you through a thorough work out and a little yoghurt, granola bar, apple or a sandwich won’t hurt. It will help you keep the energy while working out and burn more calories than what you actually took while also giving your muscles and joints the refreshment they need. Working out on an empty stomach will cause you to burn out earlier than you should and feel starved after the work out which will cause the need to overcompensate.

Eating Too Much Fatty Food Before Workout

If you check all the foods recommended before a workout, you will realize that none of them contains more than 10g of fat. That is because fats take lots of time to break down and they take even more energy from your gut to absorb them. You are more likely to have a stitch and stomach upsets than an energy source when you have a high-fat meal before your workout. You should go for a lean protein and high cab diet as long it doesn’t contain too much-processed sugar and salt.

Skimping On Your Protein

This applies to your daily diet and the protein needs your body has after you work out. Working out helps your body lose fats and calories but you need to replace that with stronger muscles if you are to keep going and that requires a protein-rich diet. You should have as much of those eggs, beans, tofu, peas and whatever protein you love and make sure you meet your daily protein needs.

Ten Unhealthy Eating Habits That Undermine Your Exercise Routine

Skimping On Fiber

Fortified foods including bread and other carbs are absorbed quickly by the body and may not give you a sustainable energy source. All they do is cause a spike in your blood sugar giving you a sugar rush for a short while and then leaving your body with no energy. Eating whole grains, lots of greens, fruits and seeds gives you the fibre you need to stabilize blood sugar levels. Fibre helps your energy to keep flowing which helps you exercise for longer.

Not Hydrating Properly

You should never make the mistake of only drinking water and going for your workout assuming that it has all the gas you need. You need a reliable source of light carbs and protein to give you that fuel. You still need that water and not just before working out. You should create a habit of hydrating properly on a daily basis including before and during your workout. Water helps your body to cool down when exercising and also helps with proper digestion and absorption of nutrients in your body.

Over snacking

This hurts even professional bodybuilders because sometimes you just don’t realize when you are having too many of those sugar-rich things. Over snacking before a workout gives you a false sense of energy. In reality, snacks only cause a spike in your blood sugar but rarely offer a constant flow of energy. You will end up feeling lethargic after a short time which won’t help you last in your workout. The snacks also cause a build-up of calories, fats and sodium in your body which undermines your purpose for working out.

Taking Unnecessary Supplements

It is true that some people need certain types of supplements to help with their endurance during exercise but that has been based on the advice of a qualified nutritionist. Many creatine, protein, caffeine, beetroot and antioxidant supplements are being sold as the best way to keep in shape without having to exercise. You don’t need to rely on any supplement to build up your endurance during exercise. Neither does any supplement replace the need for a diligent exercise routine.

Ten Unhealthy Eating Habits That Undermine Your Exercise Routine

Alcohol

That happy hour trip on Friday that leaves you with a hangover that lasts till Monday undermines lots of hard work at the gym. The same goes for the daily six-pack. Too much alcohol takes a toll on your digestive system and your body’s ability to build up its energy reserves. It is alright to drink in moderation but you should not drink alcohol before or after your workout.

Overcompensating

Just because you work out, it doesn’t mean you can have all the calories in the world in one day. You need to use your workout routine to supplement your healthy diet not mess it up. Some people overcompensate the calories they lose during work out by eating more calorie-flooded foods which end up undermining the purpose of hitting the gym.

Eating Too Much Refined Sugar

Refine sugar is the main source of excessive calories in the human population today. Most of the junk foods we eat have lots of refined sugar which gives the body nothing but calories and that doesn’t offer anything to use when you are working out. You should go for whole foods with little or no processed sugar of any form if you want to see benefits from your daily workout routine.

Do you know any other bad habits people have before doing a workout? Do let us know in the comments below.

Join the conversation