Flex & Burn Fitness Center Support

Fitness Support: Metabolism/Nutrition
With beginning any fitness regiment, it's very important to eat healthy. This is the first step in achieving any fitness goal, so below we've included some useful information in order to help you. 
  • Eat breakfast! Your metabolism doesn't start before you eat. 
  • Eat every three hours. If you eat the right amount of food, but not often enough, your body retains more calories because it does not know the when its next meal will be. This lowers your metabolism and makes it much easier to gain weight. 
  • Cut meals in half if you eat a lot. In order for your stomach to shrink, you need to shrink your meals first. 
  • Your last meal of the day should be three hours before you go to bed. Your body works slowly when you sleep and will not be able to burn calories, so eating after this point will cause you to gain weight. 
  • Drink water!
  • Meals should be 1/3 meat, 1/3 vegetables, and 1/3 carbs
  • Stop half way into your meal and take a break for about five minutes. You normally eat more than you need to because you don't think your full, but if you allow time for the food to reach your stomach, you will realize how full you actually are. 
  • Your last meal of the day should be proteins. 
  • Carbs are the hardest things to burn (ie. pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, etc.)
  • Don't eat right before a workout. An hour and a half before a workout is a good time to eat. 
  • Have a snack that you can eat within the first 30 minutes following your workout. Your body is working its hardest during this time and needs the most food. 
  • Eating a good meal after a workout will increase your metabolism. 
  • Eat nuts and drink water before meals. This will fill up your body and you will require less fat. 
  • If you eat anything unhealthy, do it early in the day. The worst thing you can do when you want to lose weight is eat unhealthily at night.
  • Keep a food and exercise journal! This will help you keep track of what you eat and when you work out so it is easy to pinpoint problem areas in your routine and work to change them.