Food is fuel for our bodies, yet how do I fuel my body to get me through a workout? More importantly how do I fuel my body to recover quickly after a workout?
Everyone knows that athletes must plan what and when to eat to fuel thier body but what about the rest of us? If you are just squeezing in a 30-60 minute work out a few days a week then do you really have to worry about what you eat before and after the workout. The answer will actually be up to what you notice your body telling you honestly. Usually, if you are already eating a healthy diet and maintaining a good caloric intake and expenditure level then you don't have to worry about this question. Just keep doing what you are doing and the added workout should just aid in fat loss overall. However, if you are not already following a healthy diet and you notice your body giving signs that it is having issues with your workouts then you may want to look at what you are fueling it with.
What Do I Eat Before I Workout? After?
- Always eat a combination of carb, protein and fat for every meal or snack you have; always.
- Always eat more carbs BEFORE a workout.
- Always eat more protein AFTER a workout.
- Always drink plenty of fluids BEFORE, AFTER and sometimes DURING a workout.
- Save your coffee, tea or caffeinated beverages for AFTER your workout.
1. Always eat a combination of carb, protein and fat for every meal or snack you have; always.
- Why is this so important? Because it is this combination of nutrients that help your body process and distribute your fuel properly. Carbs give us energy, protein gives us muscle and rebuilds our cells, and fat helps you feel full, store energy and absorb vitamins.
2. Always eat more carbs BEFORE a workout.
- Yes, by now we all know carbs are not our enemy, but we also know that it is our habit of overeating carbs that has caused us to have this fat enemy we are trying to get rid of now. The majority of the foods we eat are nothing but carbs, that is how carbs got such a bad rap. Yet carbs are not the enemy, they are actually our bodies number one fuel source. If you want we can look at carbs as the octane of our nutrients, they are what give us the ability to explosively push our bodies to do so much. The higher the octane the greater the output.
3. Always eat more protein AFTER a workout.
- Protein is full of amino acids. Amino acids are used by our bodies to rebuild the protein our body's cells, organs and tissues are made of. Our bodily proteins are constantly being broken down and used by our body to survive through growth. When we workout we break down the protein in our body's cells, tissue and organs much faster and therefore we need to replace them much faster as well.
4. Always drink plenty of fluids BEFORE, AFTER and sometimes DURING a workout.
- You have heard the saying that you can survive 7 days without eating but will die within 2 days of not drinking right? Well, now you have! Keeping the body hydrated is enormously important. In fact water is the second most important nutrient for the body (oxygen being number one!). Water is used by the body for circulation, respiration and converting food nutrients into energy(fuel). When you work out your body ups all of these processes that need water - your circulation increase, your respiration increases and your body converts nutrients quicker to create more fuel. When you work out you also sweat, meaning you use and lose water faster than you do at rest. If you lose more water than you take in dehydration begins to occur in the body. Dehydration will deplete all of your energy reserves and make you "bonk" quicker than anything else. In fact if you have to make a choice between fluid and food before working out choose the fluid, WATER IS THAT IMPORTANT!
5. Save your coffee, tea or caffeinated beverages for AFTER your workout.
- To put it bluntly caffeinated drinks mixed with physical activity equate to a sort of systemic laxative (i.e. you will need to have a bowel movement, fast!). Also, caffeine is a diaheretic so it depletes your body quickly of precious fluids, which we just learned are the most important nutrient (after oxygen) that your body has. Wait til after the workout to enjoy your caffeinated beverages, they really do taste better then as well!
When should I fuel my body?
Before a Workout: It is important to give your body time to process the fuel you are giving it so that it can use this fuel when you need it; during your workout.
Before Hydration - Try to drink 16-20 ounces of water 1-2 hours before you workout.
Before Meal - 1-2 hours prior to the workout. Most of the fuel you get to workout comes from the stored fat and carbs your body has already had a chance to process. Therefore if you eat RIGHT before a workout your body does not have time to process the food and most likely you are just going to upset your stomach. If you eat 1-2 hours prior and you still have a sick stomach during the workout then this may mean that your body already has the energy stores it needs to workout with and you do not need to eat before you workout. If you get hungry during the workout or feel ravenous after then you should pre-fuel. Again, watch and listen to your body to figure out what you need to do.
Before Snack - 20-30 minutes prior to your workout. If you workout at a fairly high intensity and you find that, more often than not, you are hungry during the workouts or starving after then you should look into having a small and quick pre-fuel snack. This needs to be something very simple, high gylcemic index carbohydrates and low in fat - meaning they digest very quickly turning into fuel. (Ex. Fruit Juice, Fruit Smoothie, Pineapple, Banana, Watermelon, Mango, Apricot, Pretzel, Bagel (no whole grains!), Sports Bars (with low fat 3-5 grams and high carbs 15+)
After a Workout: Do not tell yourself that now you can go on a free-for-all and eat whatever you want. Most often you will be hungry after a workout but you want to eat food that will refuel and repair your muscles not cause you to store fat.
After Hydration - You will most likely go through that 16-20 ounces of fluid and should very shortly after the workout consume the same 16-20 ounces. A good way to figure out exactly what your fluid loss is would be to weigh yourself before and after a workout. You will want to drink an ounce of water for each pound you have lost to replenish.
After Snack - 30 minutes after a workout is optimal to eat something to begin refueling your body. Follow the same guidelines as the before snack with your choice here. Something high in carbs and low in fat. Your body will use this snack to refuel it's energy stores so what you eat now most likely will not be expended quickly. So the healthier choice is always best here. You may find you are not hungry immediately after the workout though, if this is the case then wait until you have your meal to refuel. Again, listen to your body.
After Meal - 1-2 hours after the workout. It is at this point that your body will need more protein to rebuild with. Carbs and fat at this point will be processed and stored as fuel for use later. It is important to make sure you are eating a complete protein during this time to rebuild with and that you focus on complex carbs (low gylcemic index) for this meal.
Listen to YOUR Body
Just to reiterate it is important that you listen to your body. It really will tell you what it needs and when. All of the above advice may be too much for certain workouts and it may be perfect to follow for others. It really is about you and figuring out what your body needs to run as efficiently as possible.
~TigressSky~
Excellent post, Ember. Well written and informative. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt's important to eat what works for your body. As a runner I ate a ton of bananas. Sometimes they would work well for me but then they started to make me crash--the sugar in bananas were awful for me. Eating a banana with peanut butter slowed down the sugar crash but for the most part I've stopped eating bananas because of it.
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