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With the new year just around the corner everyone is ready to get back in the gym.
If you’re looking to pack on some extra muscle you’re going to need a routine, a diet plan and the motivation to stick at it.
Here are five tips to help you reach your fitness goals.
1. Be consistent, no excuses
Results happen over time, not overnight.
If you work hard, stay consisted and be patient then you’re guaranteed to reach your goals.
But what does consistent mean? It means you need to be in the gym or do some form of exercise at least five days a week. You also need to follow a strict diet avoiding processed and unhealthy food at least six days a week.
If you keep to that routine you’re guaranteed to loose unhealthy fat, build muscle and create a healthier body that you get to live in.
If you need some inspiration make sure you follow motivational accounts on social media like Gary Vee, and even watch some motivational videos on YouTube.
They can sometimes be just what you need to keep going.
2. Eat more nuts and seeds
If you want to up your protein levels, nuts and seeds are one of the best plant-based options to get more of these macronutrients into your diet.
In 100g of almonds you’ll find 21g of protein, in 100g of cashews you’ll find 18g of protein, and in 100g of pumpkin seeds you’ll find 19g of protein.
By adding nuts and seeds into your meals and regularly eating them as a snack, you could get an extra 60g of protein in just three servings a day.
3. Get a good plant-based protein powder
When choosing a plant-based protein it’s important to check the ingredients to ensure it’s 100 percent natural.
Many powders on the market today contain artificial ingredients like sucralose and aspartame, which research has shown are really unhealthy for our bodies. You also need to ensure it has a balanced amino acid profile.
Ethical start-up PlantWarrior uses a combination of rice, pea and hemp proteins to make a powder high in the nine essential amino acids that you need to build muscle.
Rice protein is high in the acids that pea protein lacks, and pea is high in the amino acids that rice lacks. For every bag they sell they plant a tree too, which helps reduce your carbon footprint and protect our forests!
4. Eat high-protein veggies
You’ll get 2.6g of protein from a cup of broccoli, 8.6g in a cup of green peas and 2.6g in 100g of spinach.
Avocado is a fruit, but inside one of them you’ll get 4g of protein too.
By adding some of these to each of your meals you can easily increase your protein intake. Another benefit is that you’ll end up eating your 5 a day a lot easier too, which we all know is vital to maintaining a healthy body.
5. Switch simple carbs for healthier options
In 100g of boiled lentils you’ll find 9g of protein.
If you replace simple carbohydrates like rice and bread to a source that is high in other nutrients, you can up your protein intake but also fit more vitamins and minerals into your diet too.
Healthier options are sweet potatoes, black beans, squash, quinoa, pumpkin, white potatoes, bean sprouts, pinto beans, haricot beans and soy beans.
Marathon
It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our bodies, it’s what we do consistently.
Health is a marathon, not a sprint. If you eat a nutritious diet and exercise often, you will put on muscle and be healthier.
Ensure that you eat enough food too. If you don’t get enough healthy food into your body, you won’t have enough energy to grow.
Calories get a bad reputation but that’s not the case.
Unhealthy calories are bad but healthy calories are good. Body weight calculators like this one suggest how many calories you should aim for in a day.
If you need to up your calories olive oil, avocados and nuts are healthy high-calorie foods you can use to bulk up.
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