Do you know the best nutrition tips for your goal?

Are you losing steam in the middle of a workout? Been training for months and not seeing the benefits? Unsure if your diet is on point?

I have three words for you: Nutrition is crucial. Whatever your goal, what you eat is just as important as how you train. That’s why we’ve lined up only the most essential nutrition tips for your goal: Lose Weight, Get Fit & Toned or Build Muscle.

I don’t believe in depriving yourself, eliminating whole food groups from your diet, or stressing over what you eat. But it’s undeniable that success comes from knowing what works for your goal and sticking to the plan (most of the time – no diet is perfect.)

If you want to Lose Weight

When you set your goal to Lose Weight, a meal plan is customised to deliver lower calories in order to create a calorie deficit that will promote the loss of body fat. Forget crash diets – losing weight should be a safe, effective and sustainable process.

Fill your freezer with dishes like this Moroccan Vegetable Stew to make it easy for yourself to eat healthy.

Weight loss is a balancing act. But if you follow these tips, you’re far less likely to falter.

1.Be prepared
Think about the times when you’re more likely to cut corners on your nutrition: when you’re busy, when you’re tired, when there’s nothing in the fridge. Sticking to your meal plan and losing weight is easier when you have healthy meals in the right portions ready to go. By being organised, you set yourself up for success. One of the easiest ways to do this is by setting aside an hour or two to fill your freezer with quick and healthy meals for the week (or weeks) ahead. Start with some of recipes that are ideal for batch cooking.

2. Pay attention to the details
You don’t need to eliminate your favourite foods from your diet, but you do need to make conscious choices. Recipes can be very specific (often small) amounts of ingredients like oil, butters and sauces – that’s because they’re energy-dense. For example, olive oil contains around 100 calories per tablespoon, so an overly generous splash in your stir-fry could easily tip you into a calorie surplus.

So be aware of calorie-dense treats, and include plenty of protein and high-fibre plant foods in your meals to keep you satisfied.

3. Train. Eat. Sleep?
Most of us know from experience that when we’re sleep deprived, we reach for sugary snacks to keep going. Getting enough sleep, restful sleep allows your body to regulate the hormones that control appetite.  So aim to make a regular sleep pattern a part of your health and fitness routine.

If you want to Get Fit & Toned

Fuelling your body to get fitter and support an improved muscle mass-to-body fat ratio means getting adequate carbohydrates and calories.

Complex carbs, like the potatoes in this Honey Mustard Roast Chicken with Broccolini will fuel your training and results.

These essential tips will help you get the results you’re chasing.

1.Be snack ready
When you set your goal to Get Fit & Toned, the mission was to build your fittest body ever. That means you need to be on top of your snack game to optimise your training performance. You should be having up to 3 snacks per day (in addition to the main meals) to fuel your goals.

 2.Your meal plan isn’t complex, but your carbs should be
Carbohydrates power your training – skip this element of your meal plan and you could be setting yourself up for failure. Where possible, opt for complex carbohydrates, which are digested more slowly and usually contain more natural fibre to keep you full. What’s a complex carb? Think the quinoa or potato with the Honey Mustard Roast Chicken.

3. Not so fast
Intrigued by intermittent fasting and wondering if it can get you to your goals faster?

While it’s possible to build muscle (a key part of getting your fittest body ever) while fasting, it can be tricky. This is because you need enough regular food intake, spaced throughout the day, to support your training goals.

Trying to fit all your daily protein into one or two meals isn’t as effective as spacing it out over a longer period. If you train best first thing in the morning, but you don’t eat your first meal until noon, you won’t be feeding yourself for optimal recovery. You could even lose muscle mass.

If you want to Build Muscle

To build serious muscle, you need to get serious about nutrition. A whole range of factors (such as body composition, age, specific goals) can play into your individual nutritional requirements to hit your targets.

Post-gym protein is simple when you can just throw something like this Sheet Pan Salmon & Broccoli with Ginger, Lime & Peanuts into the oven.

Check out these essential nutrition tips for building muscle.

1. It’s about time
You could attempt to eat one mega-protein meal per day, but spacing your protein out will get you better gains. Ideally, you should be having a post-workout snack or meal (containing at least 20g of protein) within 1-2 hours of training. Your recovery nutrition is critical for muscle protein synthesis. But it’s not just that initial post-workout window where it’s important – your intake of protein over the following 24-72 hours and your TOTAL calorie intake is key when it comes to getting results.

If you’re hitting the gym to lift weights in the afternoon or evening, kickstart your recovery with a post workout protein dinner. A pre-bed protein snack is also a good idea, to ensure your body has what it needs for overnight muscle repair and growth.

2. Drink up!
Smoothies are one of the easiest ways to get those extra calories and protein in when you’re struggling to eat the quantities of food necessary for a bulking diet.

Remember, whatever your goals and wherever you’re at in your journey – nutrition is just as important as exercise.