5 Common Mistakes that can Sabotage your Healthy Eating Goals
You may be kicking goals with your fitness and attending lots of classes, but if you are not noticing many changes, it may be because you are falling into some of these common food traps!
1. Drinking Sports or Energy Drinks
Drinks like Powerade and Red bull are marketed as ‘hydrating’ and ‘high energy’ to help you with your workouts. These drinks are generally just full of lots of added sugar, which is what gives the ‘extra energy’ as well as a heap of unnecessary kilojoules!
Unless you are an extremely active athlete, these drinks are probably just going to give you a sugar high and add to your waistline. Water will hydrate you just fine!
2. Treating yourself because you have ‘Earned It’
Do you order an oversized brekkie after a workout with friends or have a milkshake on the side because you have worked out hard and ‘earned it’? It’s okay to do this occasionally.
But, if you are overindulging regularly after workouts, this could be the answer as to why you are not seeing results!
Instead, continue those good post-exercise feelings and fill your body with whole foods like eggs on wholegrain toast with a side of avocado, a bowl of yoghurt with fruit and nuts or wholegrain wrap with chicken, hummus and salad.
3. Overeating for the rest of the day after a workout
Grabbing an extra muffin in the afternoon, then dessert that night and even an extra glass of wine that evening because you’ve ‘worked out today’ is an easy trap to fall into.
All of a sudden you have eaten far more kilojoules than you have burned in your workout!
Fill up on healthy whole foods and stick to a healthy eating routine on workout and non-workout days to help you meet your goals.
4. Having too Much Protein
Protein is crucial to build and maintain muscle mass after your workouts. But, singling out protein in high concentrations like in a ‘protein shake’ or ‘protein bar’ is not required.
Some of these ‘high protein’ drinks and snacks are highly processed and are not considered a balanced meal. Your body needs a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat to repair and re-energise after exercise.
Instead, repair your body with meals that contain high protein whole foods like milk, yoghurt, nuts, seeds, eggs, lean meat, legumes and chickpeas. Pair these foods with a carbohydrate source like oats, brown rice or grainy bread. Add a small amount of healthy fats like olive oil, avocado or peanut butter. Then add as many veggies and fruits as you can.
5. Being too Restrictive
Going the opposite way to overindulging because you’ve ‘earned it’ can end up being just as sabotaging to your goals. If you suddenly put a whole lot of pressure on yourself and go on a restrictive diet and start cutting goods out, you will be more likely to cave!
Cutting out whole food groups or skipping meals will mess with your energy levels, which will lead to cravings and then probably a full blowout.
If you keep yourself full throughout the day with regular smaller meals that are balanced in protein, healthy carbs and fats, your energy levels will be stable and so will your mood!
Weekly Recipe
Check out this week’s healthy recipe bursting with flavour that will repair your body after a workout and keep you feeling full and energised.
Time: 40mins Serves: 4 Cost: $11.50 approx. ($2.87/serve)
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 3 crushed garlic cloves
- 1 TBSP fresh grated ginger
- 250g butternut pumpkin
- 4 cups hot vegetable stock (1litre)
- 1 ½ cups dry red lentils
- 1 can chickpeas
- 4 tomatoes chopped
- ¼ cup coconut cream
- 3 big handfuls of spinach
- olive oil salt and pepper
Method
- Prep: Dice pumpkin into small cubes (2 x 2cm), dice tomato, dice onion, grate ginger, crush garlic, heat stock in microwave safe jug for 5 mins.
- Heat olive oil in large pot and sauté onion for 1 min.
- Add turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, garlic, ginger and butternut pumpkin, cook 1 min.
- Add hot stock
- Rinse red lentils then add to pot
- Add chickpeas and tomatoes, bring to boil then simmer for 20mins until pumpkin is tender.
- Stir through the spinach until wilted.
- Stir through coconut cream then turn off heat.
Serve with fresh coriander and Greek yoghurt!
