Goal Oriented Diets VS Healthy Diets
Nutrition is everything when living a fitness lifestyle – and an efficient diet is a must. The first step toward finding the right diet is understanding what “diet” really means, and the differences between eating healthy and having a goal orientated diet.
Let’s start by defining diet. Often it is associated with a limited period of time in which a person has a special regiment of food, generally restricted by the amount or type of food consumed in order to lose weight. However diet by definition is simply the type of food we consume on a regular basis – in other words our nutritional habits. To make it clear, a diet is not necessarily a method used to lose weight, on the contrary you will need a diet to either gain weight, maintain your current weight, increase muscularity, improve your immune system, combat any nutrient deficiency or improve your digestion.
Now that the concept of diet is clear, it is easier to understand why a healthy diet is completely different to a goal orientated diet. As the world health organization (WHO) recommends, a healthy diet should provide you with the right energy intake, limiting the intake of fat, sugar, and sodium. A healthy diet should also ensure the consumption of vital amino acids to provide “cellular replenishment and transport proteins” as well as the provision of the essential quantities of vitamins and minerals. On the other hand, a goal orientated diet is the means by which you may achieve a specific goal – either an external transformation (losing weight, building muscle) or an internal transformation (combat an illness, improve digestion). Both concepts are not necessary exclusive or inclusive.
To put it simple:
You can follow a goal orientated diet that is completely unhealthy (this is the case of diets that eliminate carbs, or are based on an extremely low caloric ingestion, in order to lose weight).
You can follow a healthy diet and be unsuccessful in achieving your physical transformation goal. (A diet that replaces starchy carbohydrates (such as rice, oats, and bread) with good fats (avocado, nuts) and fruits, won’t make you lose weight).
Some examples:
If your goal is to lose weight through solely burning fat you should eliminate simple carbs and simple sugars from your diet, decrease the consumption of high caloric fruits (such as papaya, coconut, banana, avocado etc) and good fats, increase the consumption of vegetables and ensure an adequate intake of complex carbs and protein.
If your goal is to increase muscle, you should eliminate simple carbs and simple sugars from your diet, decrease the consumption of high caloric fruits (such as papaya, coconut, banana, avocado etc) and good fats, and your diet must be based on the adequate intake of complex carbs and protein.
Two questions arise from the last example –
Q: If fruits does not help reduce weight or increase muscle – on the contrary, they might make us gain fat; why should we consume them?
A: Fruits are an important aspect of a balanced diet because of their high content of vitamins and minerals. These vitamins and minerals will prevent us from suffering serious nutrient deficiencies.
Q: What makes both diets different if they are based on the same food?
A: The right combination and amount of food, as well as the time when they are ingested.
Essentially, an efficient diet is the right balance of varied food that provides you with the energy and nutrients that your body and mind require to work perfectly while satisfying the requirement of your specific goal, taking into account, what, how, where, and when to eat.
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