How to Start a Fitness Journey : Diet, Workout Split

In this article, we tell you about the things that every beginner must follow if you have just started your fitness journey or if you are confused about how to start a fitness journey. We have covered everything in this blog, from nutrition to the workout plan you need to follow to achieve your desired body goal.

How to Start a Fitness Journey

1. Choose Your Fitness Goal

Before starting your fitness journey, the first thing to do is decide whether you want to build muscle or lose fat. Have a look at yourself in the mirror and then decide if you’re going to put some muscle mass (gain weight) or lose fat (lose weight). This step is crucial if you plan to achieve your goal naturally.

At the initial stage, you might be able to do both, which is to lose fat and gain muscle altogether, which is also known as body recomposition, but after some time, this stops, so it’s essential to decide your goal.

2. Figuring Out Maintenance Calories

In the given calorie calculator, input your details.

3. Following a Calorie Deficient/Surplus Diet

This step is crucial when many people need help. After finding the maintenance calories, one must start increasing/ decreasing their calories depending on the goal.

Before starting to implement changes to your calorie, one should always begin their journey by working out and eating at maintenance calories (this is called body recomposition). Body recomposition will help lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. One should always use body recomposition for at least 2-3 weeks until the progress becomes slow or stagnant.

Once the body recomposition phase is over, one should start implementing changes in their calories. If you are cutting down, you should start by reducing 200 calories from your maintenance calories (also known as a calorie deficit). If you are gaining, begin by increasing 200 calories to your maintenance calories (also known as calorie surplus). You would further reduce/increase 200 calories after two weeks and again do it accordingly.

For Example, Mr. Patrick wants to get lean and wants to do it without losing muscle mass and strength. Mr. Patrick starts his fitness journey. He weighs 75kgs and has maintenance calories of 2300cals depending on his physical activity level. Mr. Patrick will start his journey by working out and eating at maintenance calories for the first two weeks.

In 3rd week onwards, he will reduce 200 calories from his maintenance calories, consuming 2100 calories for another two weeks. In 5th week, he will again reduce his calories by 200, finish around 1900 calories, and follow this for the next two weeks.

Make sure to stay moderate while implementing changes in your calories. If you do so, your metabolism will slow down if you cut more calories at once or gain fat if you increase too many calories at once. One must consistently implement changes in their physical activity levels rather than going extreme on their diet.

4. Following a Balanced Diet Plan

Once you have decided on your maintenance calories, you must design a diet plan according to your goals. It is also necessary to remember that one meal of junk food/healthy food won’t change anything. Instead, be consistent with it for some time if you want to see the change. Dieting is also considered central, as nutrition decides 75% of how we want to look.

Always design a diet for yourself where you have a sufficient amount of carbs, proteins, fat, and fibers included.
Yes, you heard it correctly. All the constituents mentioned above are necessary for dieting, no matter your goal. Before starting the journey, always make sure your diet has Carbs 40%-50%, Proteins 30%-40%, and Fats 20%-10%.

Design Your Own Diet as per Your Fitness Journey

Carbohydrates: They are our body’s primary energy source. They provide power to our bodies for daily physical activities. One’s journey should always begin with a minimum of 40%-50% carbohydrate nutrients in their diet. They play an essential role in giving you energy and making you more muscular/leaner. One should always play with carbs when increasing or decreasing calories. It is suggested to consume most of the carbs from around your workouts. You can consume carbs right before and after the training.

Proteins: They are essential and play an important role in repairing the wear and tear of a muscle. One’s journey should always begin with at least 30%-40% protein content in their overall diet. It is recommended to consume protein after your workout when your body is depleted. Proteins are also beneficial for people who don’t work out as it helps to keep the metabolism up and has perfect skin and hair benefits.

Fats: When it comes to fats, they are essential for our body as they keep up the functioning of our body. They help our nerves to function correctly. It is recommended not to consume fats during our workouts as they slow our metabolism when our body is depleted. One can consume fats in the morning or before going to sleep.

Fiber: They help us by keeping us full and fresh. They have numerous benefits, which include skin and hair benefits. They add a good amount of bulk to the meals and make us feel full faster. One should always consume fiber in the form of salad with every meal to avoid stool problems.

1 gram of Carb equals 4cals, Protein contains 4cals, and Fats contain 9cals. One must design a diet keeping this in mind. For example, if you want to design a 2000 calories diet, ensure to include ingredients in the following manner.

Carbohydrates: 40% (2000*0.40 = 800cals to be consumed from carbs, 800/4 =200gms of carbs required)

Proteins: 30% (2000*0.30 = 600cals, 600/4 =150gms of proteins required)

Fats: 20% (2000*0.20 =400cals, 400/9= 45gms of fat required)

5. Workout Split

Once you have figured out your diet, now is the time to decide on your workout plan. One must always prioritize compound exercises over isolation, as they simultaneously involve more than two muscle groups. No matter what workout split you follow, include cardio in it.

Exercise plays a significant role in regulating your blood supply. They increase our blood oxygen level, help us reduce our bad cholesterol, and boost our brain, indirectly making us feel better. They also help us regulate our hormones which makes our mood better. All the body toxins are flushed out of the body in the form of sweat when we exercise. This makes our skin better and gives us acne-free skin.

Cardiovascular Exercise can be in any form, whether running, swimming, walking, or cycling. Our recommendation is walking as it doesn’t require any membership/equipment. One can do walking outdoors as well as indoors. If you are looking to lose fat fast, cardio will play a key role. You can start your fitness journey by aiming for 5000 steps daily and increasing by 2000 steps after every two weeks until you reach 12K steps every day.

Even if you are planning to gain weight, you should still include cardio thrice every week, as it will help you remain active and give you the best results in your fitness journey.

6. Tracking the Progress of the Fitness Journey

We should understand that our journey will take little time to achieve through extreme dieting/excessive workouts. It is going to be a journey, and it will take time. One cannot gain/lose fat overnight. In the long run, it all depends on the consistency and food choices we make daily and our lifestyle.

Meanwhile, it is also essential to track calories to stay on track. There are many apps on the App store wherein you can log in to the food items you consume and find out the number of calories in them. I prefer using MyFitnessPal as it is straightforward and convenient to use.

You can also take mirror selfies of yourself to differentiate the difference or take measurements of your body every week to track your progress. You can also invest in a fitness tracker band that can show you the number of calories you burned in a session also the number of steps you covered on that particular day.

Bottom Line

Fitness and a healthy lifestyle plan play a very beneficial role in one’s life in the long term. It helps you save lots of money by strengthening your immunity and preventing any health-related problems. It also motivates you to do other tasks in life. Working out in the morning can pump you lots of energy and help you quickly achieve different tasks.

Eating healthy and workout out also make us proud and feel better about ourselves in society and give us confidence. It has also proved to be a better alternative to medicine for people going through mental health-related problems.