Fitness and diet taboos

There is no "must not eat" food that applies to everyone. 90% of the taboos posted on the Internet about "if you touch it and your training is in vain" are divorced from fitness goals, exercise intensity, and personal physique.

The last time I went to eat hot pot with my friends, the little girl sitting next to me watched us rinsing our bellies, and the bowl of boiled vegetables in her hands was almost crushed. She secretly told her companion, "People who work out can't eat hot pot. If you eat one, half a month's training will be wasted." I almost laughed out loud at that time. During my preparations for the competition, I would save an "indulgent meal" for hot pot every week. As long as I left enough of the total calorie gap in advance on that day, not only did my body fat not increase when I went on the scale the next day, my muscles even looked fuller because of sodium ions storing water.

If you are involved in the fitness circle, you will find that the dietary taboos of different training schools are very different. Powerlifters who focus on low-carb ketosis will blacklist refined carbohydrates and even whole grains. A big guy I know has been practicing ketosis for two years. He has gained 80 kilograms in three major events, and his body fat has remained stable at 12% all year round. But every time he gives advice to novices, he always adds: If you usually have to run intervals, or your blood sugar regulation ability is poor, don’t try it blindly. Fainting on the road with low blood sugar is more dangerous than gaining two kilograms of fat. However, endurance enthusiasts who practice carbohydrate cycling will deliberately arrange high-sugar foods such as cream cakes and pearl milk tea in the post-training meal on heavy training days. They feel that glycogen replenishment is most efficient at this time and will not pile up fat at all. Which of the two opinions is right? It all depends on which mode you adapt to.

Don’t just focus on the type of food. The amount you eat and the timing of eating are more important than any label. Everyone thinks fried chicken is the enemy of fitness, right? If you only eat one meal a week, only two pieces per meal, and the total calories are still within the range of daily consumption, then it will not matter at all. On the contrary, it will relieve your desire for high fat and high sugar, and prevent you from overeating and showing off a whole chicken one day. On the other hand, even if it is a recognized healthy food, such as avocado, if you eat three of them in one meal, the calories are higher than a bowl of braised pork, and it will still pile fat on your belly. I used to take care of a young man who wanted to gain muscle. He heard others say that lard is a "bad fat" and he couldn't touch it. He boiled chicken breasts and broccoli every day. After three months, his muscles didn't increase much, and his aunt was confused. Later, I adjusted his diet and added a spoonful of lard to stir-fry vegetables every day. In the second month, he gained three kilograms of lean body mass.

Some hidden pitfalls that are easily overlooked are much more harmful than taking a sip of milk tea. Many people just drink sports drinks for half an hour, thinking that they need to replenish electrolytes when they sweat. In fact, if you exercise for less than an hour a day, you don’t need to add sugar or salt at all. Ordinary boiled water is enough. The added sugar in the two bottles of Pocari you drink is no less than a can of Coke. I used to have a member who drank this way. After practicing for a month, he gained 6 pounds, all from drinking. There are also protein powders that are touted as fitness idols. If you eat enough eggs, milk, and lean meat in your daily diet, the daily protein has reached the standard of 1.6-2g per kilogram of body weight. Drinking it will only increase the burden on the kidneys, and the excess calories will still turn into fat. The more you drink, the more muscles you will build.

Oh, by the way, there is another controversial topic that has been quarreling for five or six years: Can I drink coffee before fasting aerobics? Those who oppose it say that drinking coffee on an empty stomach can irritate the gastric mucosa, and long-term drinking can easily lead to reflux gastritis. Those who support it say that it can increase the fat-burning efficiency by about 30% and improve exercise performance. I have been trying it myself for three years, and the conclusion is that it really depends on your physique: if you usually have diarrhea when drinking iced American style, and have a history of chronic gastritis, don’t join in the fun, just drink warm water and go climbing stairs, the fat burning effect will not be much different. ； If your stomach is strong and you don't suffer from acid reflux or heartburn after drinking it, then just drink it without worry. It really doesn't have to be that particular.

If there are any general taboos, there are only two in total: one is not to eat like a prison sentence for the so-called "correctness of fitness". During the Chinese New Year, when you have a New Year's Eve dinner with your family, you have to take out a calculator to calculate calories. Fitness is originally to serve life, so don't put the cart before the horse. The other is not to copy other people's recipes. Other people's taboos may be your supplements, and other people's golden menus may be garbage to you. Try more and feel your body's reaction more. It is more reliable than the experience of Internet celebrities.