5 Nutrition Mistakes and How to Correct Them

Cutting calories, reducing or increasing carbs, post-workout meals, etc. There’s so much to know when it comes to what you can eat that it can be confusing to put together a sound nutrition plan to go with your fitness plan.

Below, you’ll findt tips on eating healthy with five common nutrition mistakes people make in their plan and what can be done to fix them.

1. Eliminating fat completely
Eliminating anything is rarely a good idea, particularly a macronutrient. Fat provides you with many benefits that will contribute to your goals, including energy, increased testosterone and in fighting inflammation. On average, a diet consisting of 20-30% fat is ideal.

2. Not eating enough calories
This is a mistake that many people make. Cutting too many calories can have a reverse impact on your intended result. Not consuming enough calories can slow your metabolism, which will hinder fat loss. In fact, if you do reduce your caloric intake, be sure to do it slowly over a few weeks. Your caloric intake shouldn’t be any lower than 11 times your bodyweight.

3. Eating too many calories
This one is a bit of a no brainer, but people still make this mistake. Particularly when they’re wanting to put on lean muscle mass. Sure, during a bulking phase, you want to eat more calories, but you don’t want to add more fat than muscle. As a starting point, try not to consume more calories than 18 times your bodyweight.

4. Eliminating carbs
We need carbs. We need carbs for energy to live and definitely to get through your tough workouts. Sure the Atkins diet can reduce fat, but no one can live with extreme eating like that. Carbs are a healthy and beneficial nutrient. A diet with healthy, complex carbs consumed in a good meal plan will result in longer term results. Most people should consume no less than 30% of their calories from carbs.

5. Poor pre and post workout nutrition
When you put in the effort you do at the gym, you want to do everything you can to the most out of that workout. To do so, make sure you consume protein and complex carbs 60 minutes before your workout and consume simple carbs and fast digesting protein within 90 minutes after your workout.