What 'diet' to follow with HIIT classes?

[LiquoriceWheel]

Hello! I have been doing HIIT classes for about 2 months and I've decided to continue with it for the rest of the year, problem is I really don't know what to eat to 'optimise' muscle growth and fat loss.

Should I be doing low carb or keto or Mediterranean or whatnot? My diet used to be really bad but now it's average. I've lost 20kg since last year from cutting out crap but now I want to be one of those toned fitness people! Only caveat is I don't want to do 'on purpose fasting' because I think I do that already because of work, also I do eat meat. If anyone can give me a hint that would be great!

It's difficult to both grow muscle and lose fat simultaneously although possible.

For muscle growth eat high protein and for fat loss eat in a calorie deficit

Not sure what you want to achieve -The ultra toned look isn't normal but comes from a wierd way of eating and exercise and then hard dieting to remove the final layer of fat for a show / event

Thanks for your replies, I guess I kind of want a toned look and not so flabby.

My confusion is because i'm a serial yo-yo dieter, binge eater, and past bulimic so i'm trying to build up a healthy body and rebuild muscle density. At the moment, I have no idea where to start in terms of nutrition. I probably need to see a dietitian or something but in the short term I thought I'd ask on here

I would add a weights session to the hit

Beyond that - bodies are pretty amazing at concocting what they need from our food - you don't need any thing special , but it does sound like you need help understanding what a normal healthy diet looks like?

Make sure you have 5 to 8 portions of fruit and veg a day - more and varied the better. Don't think it's possible to have too much

Calcium for bone health. - especially if you have struggled with healthy eating in the past

I have say 2 eggs and a slice of toast for breakfast as I find that protein then stabilises how hungry I get which helps me avoid junk ( well - have less than I would otherwise )

Main meal - meat once or twice a week , fish ditto, then beans and lentils, eggs and sometimes cheese as the protein source - my dinners always look HUGE but it's the veg I pack into them / frozen veg is great for that

Keep the cake biscuits alcohol and crisps low
Keep processed food very low - we make our own bread for example - tend to have butties for lunch

There is no right or wrong for any snack or meal - it's how they add together over the week that matters

And good luck - sounds like you have really started to turn yourself around

@LiquoriceWheel - well done on the weight loss. As you say you are a serial dieter perhaps the best thing to do is something you can maintain easily for a long time

soubds like your diet is generally decent, and good on protein content.

I think reducing bread/flour based items helps as they can cause blood sugar fluctuations

Thanks for the info becausetrampslikeus - so it looks like my veg intake is a lot lower than I thought, I'll have to put a bit more effort on that front, especially since I only happily ate vegetables if they were in a burger or to the side of a burger 😂.

I'll keep in mind avoiding bread/flour as I do love carbs and can smash a croissant and danish for breakfast without thinking/crap mood. I looked up what dancemom said about the difficulty of simultaneous muscle growth and fat loss, and it's true! i need physiology lessons 😅

@LiquoriceWheel : I think looking at flour items as a treat rather than a staple works

you wouldn’t have a croissant everyday but maybe every week or 2? So bread etc a couple of times a week vs every single day

@LiquoriceWheel : have a read up on the nutritarian diet - it’s quite strict (vegan) but adopting some of the principles might help (not saying you need to do it totally)

I follow courtney black and joe wicks on instagram and using a mix of their recipes, HITT and general cutting down on junk food i have really toned up and lost some of the jelly belly.