Nutrition plays a large role in your personal fitness program. Having good dietary habits helps to support your training and fuel your workouts. Eating foods that have low nutrient density can work against you leaving you feeling fatigued and irritable. Poor nutrition can also negatively impact your body’s immune system making you more susceptible to illness and internal inflammation. Here are five foods that can help put your daily dietary habits back on track for maximum fat burning:
- Beets. Beets are high in antioxidants and can help improve the blood flow and oxygen levels in the body. Beets can be consumed in a variety of different ways so feel free to experiment with this nutrient powerhouse. Beets are often added into smoothie recipes for beginners make smoothies more nutrient dense. They can also be roasted as a side dish or enjoyed in salads.
- Grapefruits. Grapefruits have been linked to a healthy metabolism. Your metabolism is what affects how your body uses calories for energy. When your metabolism is running efficiently, it’s easier to burn calories and maintain a healthy BMI, or body mass index.
- Nuts. Wellness nutrition programs rave about how nuts can help burn calories and support fat burning. Nuts have healthy fats from Omega 3 and Omega 6. They also have protein which helps you feel full and takes a little longer than carbs to digest from the stomach. These traits make nuts a perfect snack when trying to cut calories or burn fat.
- Chia Seeds. You may ask what the benefits of chia seeds are when trying to burn fat. Chia seeds have Omega 3 and Omega 6 as well and help fight inflammation in the body. Chia seeds are easy to add to the diet and can be added to smoothies for a superfood shake recipe, oatmeal, cereal, or baked goods for an extra boost of nutrition.
- Collard Greens Smoothie. Collard green smoothie recipes add bulk and fullness to your smoothie without the extra calories. Collard greens and other green leaf lettuces have vitamins and are considered by some nutritionists to be zero calorie foods because of their low calorie content. Try adding a handful of leafy greens to your next healthy smoothie to get extra nutritional and health benefits.