The most important piece of equipment in a workout routine is your refrigerator

The battle of the bulge can be tricky.  It’s a struggle a lot of people face. You’re doing all the right things. Eating healthy and exercising, but the scale isn’t moving in the right direction.  Celebrity fitness chef Jen Arricale offered up some pointers. “The most important piece of equipment in a workout routine is your refrigerator,” she said.

 

To get the most out of your workout, “What’s really important is to feed the body within 30 minutes after an intense workout,” Jen said.  You should reach for protein and clean carbohydrates.  Some examples of this would be sweet potatoes, oats, rice cakes, brown rice, and quinoa.  These are all wonderful carbohydrates.  When it comes to protein, it should be lean and clean.  Good sources are chicken breast, tuna and other fish, a lean red meat, egg whites and dairy, such as cottage cheese or Greek yogurt.

 

It all starts by making healthy choices.  “If you’re at the desert table for example and they have chocolate covered strawberries or if they have deep-fried Krispy Kreme donuts, if you go for that chocolate covered strawberry you’ll probably be so excited to have a treat you haven’t had in a while. And you’ll be doing so much good because all those little healthy choices do add up over a pretty short amount of time,” she used as an example.

 

Eat six times a day. We’re not talking about huge meals, but smaller ones and snacks.

 

Don’t get into a rut by eating the same thing every day.  “What I tell folks is if you’re not sure how to think outside the box start with the produce area and whatever is in season or on sale get a bunch of that and that is kind of your main featured vegetable that week and I guarantee you that in a week or two there will be a different vegetable or fruit that is on sale,” she recommended.

 

Hydrate by drinking water throughout the day.

 

Try to consume carbohydrates earlier in the day, rather than at night.

 

One of the biggest key to helping you shed those unwanted pounds is to eat.  “What’s important to realize is by not eating enough you may actually, I see this a lot of times with people trying to lose weight, you may actually see the scale drop, you may feel like you’re losing weight, but that’s going to be a temporary benefit because if you aren’t fueling your body enough what you’re doing is losing muscle which is not good because your body is hanging onto fat,” she said.

 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Arricale recommends some protein and carbohydrates since your body has been in a fasting state while you were sleeping.

 

If you’re struggling with hunger try reaching for some nuts or avocados which has healthy fat that will keep you full and satisfied.  The best times to eat these healthy fats are later in the day and not before a workout.

 

See the full article at:  http://www.health2fit.com/2013/06/eat-to-lose/