It’s common knowledge that nutrition is key to living a healthy lifestyle. Building a balanced diet of healthy foods can have positive effects such as increasing energy levels, increasing growth, maintaining a healthy weight, and providing essential nutrients and vitamins to get you through the day. If your goal is to burn off the fat and replace it with lean muscle, nutrition is just as important as the workouts. Your workouts will burn fat as well as protein in your muscles so it’s very important to add plenty of protein-rich foods.
1. Eggs: Eggs used to have a bad reputation but now the artery-clogging myth has been debunked. The cholesterol in egg yolks are a great source of protein, healthy fats, and nutrients like vitamin B and choline. The vitamin B will increase energy production and the high amount of amino acids in eggs will speed up your muscle gain.
2. Nuts: Nuts are a great snack that are healthy, delicious, and have a balanced blend of proteins, fats, and fibers. Adding nuts into your diet is simple. They can be added into oatmeal and salads for an added nutritious crunch and their small size is perfect as an on-the-go snack!
3. Full-Fat Cottage Cheese: Cottage cheese has two huge nutrition benefits! It has a high proportion of casein which is a slow-digesting protein and it has live cultures which are a good bacteria to help your body absorb all the nutrients in your meal. Don’t be swayed by high-fat cottage cheese and opt for a full-fat cottage cheese instead of non-fat. Full-fat cottage cheeses are filled with good fats that help you feel full and provide good nutrients while non-fat versions of items like cottage cheese or yogurt are usually packed with sugars.
4. Brown rice: Time to debunk the myth that carbs are bad for you! Brown rice is an excellent grain that is slow-digesting to help you power through workouts. Brown rice boosts your growth hormone levels which is essential for lean muscle growth, fat loss, and strength gains. Cooked brown rice has 5g of protein per cup and a high amount of branched-chain amino acids. Bonus: it’s vegan and gluten-free!
5. Salmon: Salmon is a delicious way to get protein and fatty acids into your body. A 100g serving of salmon has 20g of protein and is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids. The fatty acids are renowned for their ability to improve heart health! If you don’t like eating fish, you can take fish oil supplements to get similar benefits.
6. Protein Powders: Protein powders are a great way to add protein to drinks or add to recipes to fill in any protein nutritional gaps. Adding this protein supplement has been shown to quickly refill energy stores, increase blood flow to your muscles, and improves your body’s ability to process carbohydrates. They also come in many options like soy, pea, whey, casein, beef, or chicken protein.
The protein doesn’t stop there! High-protein foods can be added in every dish whether it’s grains like rice and quinoa or meats like bison and turkey. Here’s some more suggested protein options: Lentils, lean beef, fermented dairy products, chickpeas, scallops, chia seeds, plain high fat greek yogurt, chicken, tuna, pork tenderloin, hemp seeds, flaxseeds, beans, almond butter, mahi-mahi, pea protein, wild boar, venison, tempeh, shrimp, jerky, soybeans, tilapia, edamame, buckwheat, and tofu just to name a few.
Timing your protein-intake is important too. In order to maximize the benefits of your meals, plan to have a protein fix two hours post-workout and two to three hours pre-workout.
