With obesity coming to the fore, the need to educate people on why nutrition is important and managing their nutritional intake is growing in importance.
Nutrition courses online are proving popular in recent years, and their popularity looks set to increase. With obesity, Type 2 diabetes and other health related medical issues coming to the fore here in the UK and other countries, the need to help and educate people on why nutrition is important has grown drastically. Additionally, there is a growing need for people to learn to manage their weight and nutritional intake.
So how can weight be maintained? Here are some great, easy-to-follow tips:
1. Build lean muscle
Building muscle is preferable to storing fat for many reasons, but one is that muscle is more energy hungry that fat. There is a lot written on metabolism and how some people will say that their metabolism – the rate at which they use the energy in food – is faster or slower than the ‘norm’.
The debate on metabolism rates is for another time but, muscle will eat through energy faster than fat thus, having some lean muscle, built through lifting weights, can help to use energy quicker.
2. Stave off hunger with more filling foods
Take the time to study nutrition courses online and you will see that various diet programmes from Weight Watchers to Slimming World all operate in a similar way. Studies have shown that people who eat meals that leave them feeling fuller for longer are less likely to snack between meals, a common reason why people gain weight.
Their diet plans advocate that the best food to eat is that which keeps you feeling fuller, for longer. The means to do this is to eat foods that are high in fibre, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats. If you do opt for pasta or rice, switch to wholemeal as these too can leave you feeling satiated for longer.
3. Willpower and determination play a role
Marketing around some diet plans suggest that for people to succeed in their quest to lose weight that they don’t need willpower or need to deny themselves food that they like to eat.
The truth is, of course, what we expect it to be – that we have to reduce the intake of high calorific foods. It may be that cutting down will have a huge, positive impact on our weight. However, if you are serious about losing weight and keeping it off, you will need willpower and determination to succeed.
This doesn’t mean chocolate or a gooey dessert never passing your lips again. It does mean, however, being able to control your urge and ‘need’ for these kinds of foods.
4. Count the calories
All slimming plans, no matter how they are packaged, all essentially do the same thing – they count calories. For people who lose weight, once they stop following the plan, they are surprised and sad that the weight seems to come piling back on.
Studies have shown that people who maintain a successful weight loss at a healthy weight do so by counting their calorie intake. Women, for example, have a suggest intake of 1,800 calories per day. By maintaining a figure around this, a weight loss can be maintained.
5. Planning meals
Counting calories is only part of that equation. Getting calories from the right foods, full of vitamins and minerals, is essential.
Planning meals in advance has shown to be key, time and time again, to not only boosting weight loss but to maintaining this loss too. Instead of putting your hand in the cupboard and eating a biscuit or two, being able to go straight to cooking ingredients and creating a delicious meal will be far more beneficial.
6. Exercise and activity
The key to weight loss is to increase activity so that more calories are burnt than what are consumed. Maintaining this weight loss also means partaking in regular and consistent exercise, as nutritional courses online advocate.
Exercising five times a week, for half an hour a time will boost weight loss but also make maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle far easier. Increasing these sessions by just a few minutes each time can be beneficial to your health. Studies show that people who are active for an hour or more on a daily basis have the least issues maintaining a healthy weight.
Why nutrition is important for supporting sports performance
If you are trying to manage your weight and increase your sports performance level, you must watch your nutritional intake. For example, you must consume the right balance of both food and drink. If you don’t manage to do this then it could have an impact on your performance. Weight management is a large factor of sports nutrition as you must maintain a healthy weight to maximise your performance. You also should think about how to increase your energy levels. Fatigued and tired muscles are going to mean that you are not performing as you should.
However, it isn’t quite as simple as making sure you eat low-fat foods to keep your weight down. There is so much more to nutrition than this.
A common misconception is that fat should be removed from your diet completely to optimise your sports performance. However, this really is not the case. Fats are a source of fatty acids, which in turn is the energy that your body needs. This is particularly true if you take part in any workouts that take longer than an hour (which is common for many sports people). Fats are also important for the building blocks that build hormones (such as those that we need to regulate our moods), plus the formation of cell walls.
One of the most obvious things that you need to focus on during sports nutrition is protein. Protein is a key part of the diet of anyone who takes part in sports or who workout. Protein is a great source of energy and it is also critical in order to build new muscle. This is particularly true if you are taking part in bodybuilding and resistance training as the protein will be required to build and repair your muscles.
If you do want to learn more about sports nutrition, whether to help yourself or to help others, you can take one of the sports nutrition courses that are open to you. Sports nutrition courses are a great way to improve your knowledge and help you achieve everything you want. But they may even help you to enter a career as a professional, able to help others with their goals.
Why nutrition is important for managing your weight
From portion control to eating breakfast, there are many hints and tips to losing weight and maintaining it. With nearly three quarters of the UK adult population overweight, the need to manage weight and live a healthier lifestyle is paramount and thus, NCC Home Learning Healthy Eating courses are becoming a popular option for many students.
Sources
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity
Nick Cooper
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