How to Choose the Right Carnivore Diet for Athletes
The Carnivore Diet is an all-meat diet, and many celebrities are endorsing it. The diet consists entirely of meat, seafood, eggs, and occasionally, animal-derived food items like butter or yogurt. However, it allows no carbohydrate, nor any fruits, nuts, seeds, or grains. And you definitely cannot take in sugar. With so many restricting factors, new users are sometimes worried about the carnivore diet side effects but there aren’t any debilitating factors. Many athletes have spoken in favor of this diet.
Here is how you can choose the carnivore diet for athletes or those involved in strenuous activities.
1. Kind of Activity
Athletes and sportspeople have to stay in their peak health almost round the year. The kind of sports you are involved in will determine your diet. If you are a gymnast, you’ll need a diet to make you agile and fast and protect you from the most common gymnastics injuries. Your diet should focus on increasing your core strength and muscle strength. The carnivore diet is rich in protein and magnesium, making it perfect for most athletes as it helps increase stamina and muscle rejuvenation.
2. Food Preferences
Although the carnivore diet is predominantly an all-meat diet, you can still choose your food items according to your preference. Even if your trainer advises you to stay away from red meat, you can still indulge in chicken, eggs, and seafood. A dietician considers an athlete’s health condition and meat preferences while drawing up a carnivore diet chart.
3. Lifestyle Choices
Athletes have to stay under a lot of restrictions, never to compromise their performance. A carnivore diet requires some other sacrifices as well. Even athletes enjoy alcohol or candies on their cheat days, but carnivore diets exclude all of them. It also excludes tea and coffee, so any addiction you might have has to go.
To choose the right carnivore diet, an athlete must mentally prepare for the lifestyle changes that this diet will bring about and stick to them.
4. Choosing Portion Sizes
While on a carnivore diet, the food portions differ drastically from that of a regular diet. Depending on the kind of activities you are involved in, your food portions will increase or decrease likewise. An all-meat diet makes you feel full so that you will have food less frequently.
A typical lunch or dinner will include meat, fish, and eggs, and the food portions are relatively smaller than a regular diet as meat takes longer to digest. However, smaller portions also help increase metabolism, and you get the full benefit of protein and minerals as the bloodstream entirely absorbs them.
With a carnivore diet, your body will stop taking in any fat or sugar, and fat deposits in your body will go down remarkably. As an athlete, you would have to worry less about weight gain. In the process, you will gain healthy muscle mass from the increased intake of protein. Carnivore diet side effects will probably result in more frequent trips to the bathroom for the first couple of weeks, but later, you will enjoy a much more active lifestyle that is sure to boost your performance as an athlete.