Personal Trainer Nutrition | The best way to keep fit in between workouts!

Getting into shape is difficult.

Can it be fun? Definitely. Should you try it? Certainly. Is it easy? I’m afraid not…

The thing about fitness is, it requires a certain outlook on life. There’s a reason so many self-professed fitness gurus and lifestyle coaches talk about "bad habits." That’s because it tends to be bad habits – routine takeaways, snacking and grazing, sedentary lifestyles – that stop somebody getting into shape.

What’s even worse about bad habits is that they’re sometimes impossible to identify.

If you’ve been doing something for years without really thinking about it, then it’s only natural to be a little shocked when somebody tells you that it’s causing your body damage.

If this all sounds too familiar, don’t threat…

Changing your bad habits into good lifestyle choices is, more often than not, incredibly easy. All you need is some solid advice, and the willingness and drive to stick to your new lifestyle changes.

In this article then, we’re going to take you through some of the top personal trainer nutrition tips. By the time you’ve finished reading, you’ll be clued up on arguably the most important element of getting fit: eating the right way!

1 Stop shortcutting your nutrition – advanced planning and meal preparation.

This much should be obvious…

You know when you get home from a long day at work, and you’ve not even had a chance to think about preparing food…and there’s a pizza waiting in the oven? Planning in advance should stop this ever happening…

Take a leaf out of the bodybuilders guide to nutrition: plan all your meals on a Sunday evening, and even start batch cooking and freezing meals for the week ahead.

This means, when you get in from work and you’re tired, you’ll already have a fully prepared and nutritionally balanced meal waiting for you.

No hassle, and definitely more healthy than a pizza!

2 Nutrition is tricky, get some help to give you a head start

As we said before, nutrition – like fitness – is not easy to get right.

Why else would there be professional nutritionists out there, and experts who dedicate their lives to perfecting the formula of peak nutrition for athletes?

The good news is, you don’t have to go it alone if you’re struggling. There are loads of expert online nutrition coaches out there to guide you through every step of the process.

All you have to do is sit back, relax, and follow the rules!

3 Protein is the golden rule

Speaking of rules…

There’s a reason you’ll see professional trainers and athletes loading up on plates of chicken after the gym. It’s full of protein.

Protein helps muscle repair, and contains essential amino acids that the body can’t produce by itself, all of which help repair and growth.

After long gym sessions, sufficient protein is essential with regard to helping your body repair itself.

4 Track your macros

This dubiously sounds like personal-trainer-speak intended to confuse and baffle new clients.

Really, it’s not that difficult.

Remember when we talked about planning ahead and batch cooking. Well tracking macros simply involves measuring the macronutrient content of each of your meals, so that they have the intended effect on your body.

Now, the main macronutrients that the body requires in large amounts are fat, protein, and carbohydrate.

Depending on your diet plan, depends on how much of each macronutrient you should be consuming. So, for Paleo you’d be eating more protein, and for ketogenic diets you’d be eating more fats.

Easy peasy!

5 Still struggling? Try pre-packed meal plans

The reality of the twenty-first century world is that we are busy.

We are busy at work, we are busy with our families, and if we’re lucky, we lead busy social lives as well.

In all of this, when on earth are you meant to dedicate time to meal planning and tracking macronutrients.

That’s where meal box services step in. There are loads of meal box providers catering specifically for fitness enthusiasts. All you have to do is select how many meals you want, and which macros you want to load up on, and they’ll do the rest (delivered straight to your door!).

In a sector where you really shouldn’t be taking shortcuts, this is about as good (or as easy!) as it gets!

George Aird is a fitness expert, with knowledge of personal training and nutrition. He trains at OriGym Centre of Excellence