I just signed up for the gym and I have to eat every three hours!

It is very common to hear something similar, especially in people who start with new habits of life where they have included the one to join the gym for the first time. Suddenly a whole new world of habits and customs to deal with, part advised and half-hearted “somewhere”, that are clustered in the head without knowing very well where to start.

I just signed up for the gym and I have to eat every three hours! More than six meals a day, lots of protein shakes (which we do not know very well or where to take) and every day to the gym like a posse … Tranquility!

First steps to follow

Before we go crazy with all these issues that we want to agglutinate at the same time, let’s go in parts. The first thing we must contemplate and be clear is that we will begin with a few months of contact in the gym where we will learn everything related to training and exercises : execution, technique, workload, frequency, intensity, etc …

It is important that during this time that we are becoming familiar with our new habits, we do not fall into typical mistakes like training or not enough rest between workouts to try to move faster towards our goal, because we will get precisely the opposite. We will start training alternating days and following a good pattern of rest.

Of course, we must begin to take care of our food from the beginning following a diet that corresponds to our needs and that, generally, will be hypocaloric if we are looking for to lose fat, but neither should we obsess about the subject of taking shakes or supplements from the beginning.

The main thing is to fulfill the diet marked for our objective (from what we will talk next) and from there, we will see needs and how we can supplement if necessary (sometimes we want everything from the beginning and we “get too much”).

And now we are going to the subject of the meals …

Eat every three hours?

It is more common that when we signed up to the gym for the first time we hear, or we go through your head, the idea that from that moment we will have to spend half a day eating and take tuppers rice and chicken all Sides …

One of the reasons that most convinces beginners to jump into this three hour fashion is the idea that in this way, we will increase our metabolism and burn more fat and as this is the worldwide goal for all and more For people who are not very fit and have just signed up for the gym with that purpose, all like crazy to eat every three hours.

To begin with, to clarify that, of course, carrying an adequate and more or less controlled diet pattern is ideal (following the diet appropriate to your needs and objectives), but without exaggerating and not falling into these absolute beliefs. We are not bodybuilders, not competitors: we just signed up for the gym and we want to get in shape.

You do not need to eat every three hours or obsess because, for whatever reason, you missed a meal. Neither our body nor our metabolism is going to crumble, the important thing is that throughout the day you meet the dietary needs proposed and oriented to each person.

My advice is to start following a good patterns of hydration and a meal plan adjusted to your needs, where you comply with each main meal helping you healthy snacks between hours, such as mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Aim these snack ideas for any of these moments and … calm down, you do not need to obsess about the clock!