As already mentioned in previous articles, more important than the physical exercise we do or the routine we follow in the gym is the food we carry, since the contribution of nutrients will provide us with the necessary energy.

And as with the exercises, beginners often make certain mistakes with their diet whose repercussions can range from simply slower progress in their goals to achieve just the opposite.

The importance of proper nutrition

A correct feeding, that is, a correct supply of nutrients to our body is something of vital importance. And when I speak of correct I do not mean just that we give our body the right amount of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), but that the origin of them is appropriate.

A simple example of what I say would be if we compare the avocado with a package of sausages: while the avocado has unsaturated fats (linolenic acid and linoleic acid) that help in the reduction of cholesterol levels , the sausages sold to us in Packages in supermarkets are a source of saturated fats and they perform just the opposite function: they help to increase cholesterol levels and, therefore, are active factors in health problems such as obesity and overweight. Both foods are a source of fat, but while the former is part of what we call “real food”, the latter is part of the group of ultra-processed foods, so it is not a good source of nutrients.

Most common mistakes of novices in the diet

When we join the gym, we must not only plan our exercise routine, we must also take into account the changes we must make in our diet to achieve our goals , because if for example we want to gain muscle mass and continue eating the same as we ate before, we run the risk of not supplying enough energy to our body. Or on the contrary, if we want to lose fat and we go on to eat too much food, not only do we not lose but we will accumulate more fat in our reserves.

Follow a miracle diet

If you’re going to do physical exercise, that’s fine. That you want to follow a diet to achieve your purpose, is fine. But that you join physical exercise and a “miracle diet”, can be a mistake that you later regret. And no, it is not worth dieting that follows the famous turn and has a great body.

The diets that promise to lose X kilos in a few weeks (yes, you can that you do), do not tell you that, by not creating a solid base in your diet and be very aggressive protocols when you finish the diet you will recover the same weight that you had lost and, even, some extra kilo (this we explain it below).

Too high calorie deficit

When our goal in the gym is to lose weight, we have a maximum of calories that we can reduce without causing problems for our body. It is estimated that reducing calories around 10-20% is the optimal amount so as not to cause too much deficit.

Dramatically reducing the calories consumed can result in the dreaded ” rebound effect ” in the future and when we abandon the diet we recover all the weight lost and some extra kilo.

Exorbitant increase in calories consumed

To gain muscle mass, you have to increase the calories consumed, and in the same way that for weight loss in this case there are also some reference values ​​that we should not exceed. An increase of 10-20% in calorie intake assures us that we will increase mass by minimizing fat gain (to gain 100% clean muscle mass is an impossible mission, as we will always store a small amount in the form of fat).

Trust everything to the supplements

A mistake of bulk that beginners can make with their diet is to trust the results of the same to the consumption of certain supplements. Whether it’s protein shakes, energy bars, fat burning, shakes for weight gain, etc … supplements are not a priority for a beginner.

Going to a professional who fits the diet well, calculating the amounts of food we should consume and always watching to choose good sources of them, should be the only concern of the beginners in terms of the section of the diet is concerned. This does not mean that we can find an exceptional case that, due to some pathology or special need, we have to entrust him with a specific supplement.

The danger of the “trap food”

If there is something boss supposed to lose all the gains during the week in our diet , is what we know as ” cheat food “, which is usually done more specifically in cases where we seek a loss of fat.

If during the week we are tight to a diet planned and weighed down to the detail, on weekends many people incorporate into their diet a “trap food”, whose sole purpose is to serve as an escape valve to the rigidity or suffering of the diet and that many people also interpret as a “prize” to the effort made throughout the week.

As you could have imagined, the cheating meal consists of eating or dining that day what we want and in the amount we want. And this is where most of the rookies commit the greatest outrages with their food and throw down all the work done during the previous days. That we can eat what we want without weighing it does not mean that we give free rein to the monster that lives in our stomachs. We must maintain control.

And another problem added, is that many people end up confusing “cheat food” with “cheating day”, and what is produced is an overeating of food (in most cases ultraprocessed) and an excessive accumulation of fat in our body. And the problem is that the line that separates the “trap food” from the uncontrolled feast is very thin , sometimes barely visible.

Train on an empty stomach or after a binge

Train fasting , if we are pursuing the goal of losing fat can be counterproductive, as our body is receiving a limited supply of nutrients and this could cause us to decrease energy levels and not be able to perform in training.

On the contrary, training after a big binge can cause stomach discomfort, heaviness, heartburn … and with it a decrease in performance or even the inability to train.

Social Networks and media

We live in an era in which practically any type of information is available to us in social networks or the media . However, what at first might be something favorable for us, in fact it is not so much: sometimes for being biased information (as for example the association between the Spanish Society of Arteriosclerosis and Pantico-Donuts in which the first ones endorse the consumption of a product ultraprocessed and rich in fats and sugars and that boast of promoting healthy lifestyle habits) or little contrasted, as that television channel in which a doctor claimed the existence of a miraculous cure against obesity consisting of eating stools fecal of thin people.

In addition, another point really critical both in social networks and in the media is the wide dissemination that have had, and have, miracle diets to adelagazar . These diets are characterized by a rapid loss of weight but, in the long run, they do not represent any benefit since we can recover the lost weight or even an extra kilo. To understand it: these diets do not create any kind of adherence (being able to maintain acquired healthy habits over time). The slimming diets, therefore, must be effective and create in us a maintainable adherence over time.