Nutrition is a complex thing and one of the best things you can do is streamline it as much as you can. How? By tailoring every aspect of nutrition to you. There’s a reason why personalized training and personalized nutrition advice is so important – from genetics to lifestyle, we’re all different and so there’s no one size fits all advice.
Particularly, you want your lifestyle to factor in a lot of your decisions about what you consume to get what your body needs. So here are 3 ways to eat for your lifestyle.
Balanced Macronutrients
You want to balance your macros because each one does different things for your body. For example, carbs are how you get energy and proteins help those muscles grow and or regrow. So being proactive about balancing your macronutrients means your body gets what it needs for energy, muscle care, and overall health.
Figure out the right balance based on how your life goes, so that if you’re active, that often means choices like more carbs for energy and enough proteins for muscles.
For example, you want to eat things like whole grains, lean proteins, and good fats from avocados and nuts; it’s how your body can stay fueled up for an active lifestyle.
Meal Timing
Eating at specific times matters a lot more than you’d think and you want to do it if your meals are going to match when your body needs fuel. It’s why a big breakfast is good for starting your day, and after you work out eating right helps your muscles recover.
So fit your meals into your day. If you’re up early, have a good breakfast – oatmeal, fruits, and yogurt, etc. If you often work out later, eat a balanced meal, especially with protein, after exercising – grilled chicken, quinoa, veggies, etc.
Customized Hydration
Customizing how you drink water matters as it means keeping your body working well. Water does a lot, including helping digestion. And this goes for fluids that are good for you as well, such as herbal tea or a green smoothie.
You want to look at your day and adjust what you drink based on it. If you typically have active days, drink and drink. If you sit a lot, really try to remember to drink enough. In fact, make it a habit to carry a reusable water bottle with you and sip on it throughout the day. Or if your day means prolonged periods of sitting, you want to cue up prompts – on your phone, computer, app, etc. It’s easy to forget, but with a gentle nudge, you should build the habit of staying hydrated.
Trying to get your nutrients can be tedious. But it doesn’t have to be! Working around your lifestyle is one of the easiest ways to get what your body needs from food.
