Top 3 Nutrition Tips for Women’s Fitness Training
Reported June 04, 2010
If you’re not eating the proper foods at the proper times than you’re not going to put on muscle. Bodybuilding is hard enough for women; therefore we need to focus more on our diets. Here are provided 3 nutritional tips for that can be very valuable tips for any female bodybuilder.
1. Eating Often
Most people don’t eat often enough to get as lean and trim as they would like. Let’s think of your metabolism as a burning fire. Ok, what is your metabolism? The term: resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the number of calories your body burns at rest to carry out typical body functions like breathing and pumping blood. RMR makes up most of your metabolism – the total number of calories you burn in a day. Back to your fire, or metabolism; women that feed their bodies with 300 calories every three hours will be naturally boosting their metabolism and may improve their memory and cognitive skills later in the day.
On the other hand, skipping meals can leave you feeling drained, unable to concentrate and want to forfeit your evening workout. Long stretches between eating signal the body to slow the metabolism and store fat – it’s the survival mechanism left over from our heritage as hunter-gatherers. When we skip meals earlier in the day we may want to overeat at night. When night time falls you’ll be more likely to choose foods that are high in fat, sugar and calories; leading to feelings of guilt.
Snacks
Best to eat around five times a day–that’s three meals and two snacks. Always plan ahead if you have a busy schedule. Store some snacks that you know are healthy in your workbag. Some suggestions include:
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Almonds
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Apples
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Dried fruit
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Energy bars
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Protein bars
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Meal replacement or protein shake (with your shaker cup)
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Canned vegetable juice
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Small boxes of ready-to-eat breakfast cereal
These are all good choices that are high in carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Get yourself a cooler and enjoy cottage cheese or yogurt as your mini meal.
2. Go Green
Folate, another gem in the B vitamin family, is waiting for you in green, leafy vegetables such as broccoli, kale and certain dark-green lettuces. Most women don’t get enough of this vitamin, and the deficiency is linked to severe neural-tube defects in newborns. This connection is so strong that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now recommend that women take in 400 micrograms of folate daily, which is more than twice the current RDA.
Recently there has been talk by the FDA of fortifying grains with folate (as is already done with the B vitamins thiamine, riboflavin and niacin). Adding folate to breads and pastas would boost your folate intake by an estimated 30 to 70 percent. As we wait for this to take place, try to eat good sources of folate daily. Sources of folate include: leafy greens, citrus fruits. A 6-ounce glass of orange juice contains 120 micrograms of folate. Folate can be lost from foods during preparation, cooking, or storage.
To Retain Folate:
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Serve fruits and vegetables raw whenever possible.
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Steam, boil, or simmer vegetables in a minimal amount of water.
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Store vegetables in the refrigerator.
3. Add Soybeans To Your Routine
People who eat regular servings of soybean products (such as tofu and miso) are at a lower risk of heart disease. One of every two women will die of cardiovascular disease. And although we women are, on average, a decade older than men when the disease first strikes, it kills as many women as it does men (ten times more women die of heart disease than die of breast cancer each year). Native to East Asia, soybeans have been a major source of protein for people in Asia for more than 5,000 years. Soybeans are high in protein (more than any other legume) and fiber, low in carbohydrates and are nutrient-dense. Soybeans contain substances called phytoestrogens, which can significantly lower your “bad” LDL cholesterol and raise your “good” HDL cholesterol.
Add soybeans to soups and casseroles as you would other dried beans. Tofu works well in salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches and even shakes. And though soybeans are somewhat higher in fat than other beans, that fat is primarily the cholesterol-lowering monounsaturated and polyunsaturated types.