Workout tips: Have one fresh local fruit or a banana before your workout
Highlights
- Try to include coconut in your daily diet
- Include rice in your diet to improve exercise performance
- Have tuber vegetables at least a few times in a week
Eating right is important to get the best results from your exercise routine. Nutritionist Jinal Shah from team Rujuta Diwekar recently took to Instagram to share a few tips that can help make you more informed decisions on your diet, in order to get the best and most efficient results from your exercise routine. Exercise is something that helps your brain to be constantly sharp. It helps your heart healthy, bones strong and dense also facilitates hormonal balance. When combined with a healthy diet, it can help you stay strong, fit and healthy in a holistic manner.
Diet tips that can help you get the best results from your exercise routine
According to Shah, your exercise routine should address the four pillars of fitness: strength, stamina, stability and flexibility. Whenever you are exercising, you need to work towards achieving all four of these, in order to make progress consistently and efficiently, and to achieve optimum health and fitness.
Yoga, cycling, running, strength training and weight training can all help in achieving these goals. You need to take up what suits your routine and try to do it consistently.
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A healthy diet goes hand in hand with your exercise routine for getting fitter and healthier. However, there are a few foods that can help in improving your exercise performance. in Including them in your daily diet can help in maximising the benefits you get from exercise. Here are they:
1. Coconut: It is a local food, which is rich in medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). MCTs help in improving physical stamina and mental strength. Both of these are need to perform well in daily life as well as exercise. Make sure coconut is included in your daily diet. You can have it in the form of nariyal paani or coconut water (as a mid-morning drink). It can help in regulating blood pressure and is rich in electrolytes, which can keep your body well-hydrated. You can also have it dried coconut with jaggery, you can garnish your poha, chutneys etc with it.
2. Rice: Rice contains a chain of three essential amino acids known as Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA). These amino acids help in preserving muscles in the body. Have rice in traditional combinations like dal rice, biryani, khichdi, curd rice or whatever way you like it. You can also have rice for your dinner. Not only will allow you to sleep well at night, but will also help you wake up feeling more energised. Have the local variety of single-polished hand-pound white rice.
You can include rice in your daily diet
Photo Credit: iStock
3. Tuber vegetables: You must have these vegetables at least a few times in a week. Sweet potato, suran, arbi are all tuber vegetables which are in season right now. They are rich in prebiotics, which feed good bacteria in the gut, and help in improving gut health. A healthy gut can facilitate good digestion. You can have them in the form of sabzi (with coconut if possible) or as an evening snack.
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Post and pre-workout meals
- According to Shah, you can have one fresh local fruit or a banana before your workout. Have it around 10 to 15 minutes before your workout.
- The first 45 minutes after your workout is known as the "window of opportunity" says Shah. You need to provide your body with optimum nutrients by eating correctly.
You need to follow the 4 R's of post-workout nutrition:
- Rehydrate by drinking sufficient amount of water
- Replenish your glycogen stores by eating a banana or a boiled potato (as both are rich in potassium).
- Repair of the wear and tear of muscles. Have whey protein, the one which gives you 20-27 gms of protein, 0-3 gms of carbs and 0-3 gms of fat, per serving.
- Recover by upping you vitamins, minerals and antioxidant intake.
Make sure you cater to all four R's of post-workout nutrition.
Do not follow calorie-restrictive diets or food groups in the name of weight loss or any other fitness goal. "It is not going to help you and will only come in the way of the results you want to achieve from exercise," says Shah in her IGTV.
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(Jinal Shah is a nutritionist with Team Rujuta Diwekar)
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.