It isn’t just exercise and a balanced diet that contribute to our fitness levels – certain foods can even give us a boost. From endurance enhancing bananas to muscle building salmon, there’s far more to healthy cooking than keeping an eye on your macros and calorie intake. If you’re only focussing on your workouts to get fit, burn fat, and build muscle, you’re seriously missing a trick.

Salmon

Not only is salmon chock full of protein, making it great for anyone wanting to build muscle, but it’s also high in omega-3. Omega-3 is amazing for your body in many ways, not least helping your brain to function at its optimum levels, reducing the risk of anxiety and depression, and keeping your eyes good and healthy, it can also help to improve muscle strength and decrease muscle breakdown between workouts. So get that smoked salmon with your scrambled eggs in the morning and see your strength grow and grow.

Lentils

Lentils are full of fiber and protein and really low in fat, making them a delicious and filling meal constituent for someone who’d like to lose weight. All that fiber means you feel full after fewer lentils than you would anything else, and smaller portions obviously mean fewer calories. All their protein makes them a great substitute for meat for vegetarians who would like to lose a bit of weight, or for people exploring low meat diets. They are really versatile and suit all manner of different cooking styles and flavors – a great addition to any pantry.

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Bananas

You’ve probably heard that a banana half an hour before a workout or exercise will boost your endurance massively, but it’s totally true. Not only is it brimming with healthy sugars, but it can also help to lessen the risk of cramps while you’re exercising, and it keeps your heart and cardiovascular system working efficiently. A banana following a workout also helps to replace a lot of the electrolytes lost through sweating, and give you a boost of energy as well.

Ginger

Many people turn to ginger for help with boosting their immune system and fighting bugs, but it’s got far more to it than that. It’s an antihistamine, so it naturally helps allergy sufferers to lessen their symptoms, and it’s even an anti-inflammatory. It’s great for giving the metabolism a boost, making weight loss far easier. In fact, many people rely on the essential oils for losing weight fast. So what are you waiting for – get ginger into everything you eat!

Beetroot

This beautiful, deep red root vegetable is great for boosting endurance during your workout, allowing you to exercise longer and harder. It’s full of great vitamins and minerals, including a nitrate which aids blood flow and muscle strength. While some people aren’t a big fan of beet, popping it into juice or a smoothie is a great way to get all of the goodness and less of the flavor.

Eating healthily in order to lose weight or boost muscle can be optimized far about the usual calorie watching and macro counting – give some of these foods a go and see what difference they make to you.

February 10, 2017/by admin