It’s important that our body gets all the essential nutrients while we workout. Without proper diet, our body won’t be able to function. What we eat before and after a workout matters a lot if we want to get the best result from our workout. Usually, many people are confused about whether to eat or not before a workout. Just like any vehicle to run needs fuel, our body also needs a diet before we hit the gym. When we are light exercising for around 30-45 minutes, we may not need to eat before but for a longer period of an intense workout, we will definitely need some diet.
Tips To Eat Before And After A Workout
After working out, our body loses all of its stored energy and needs to be refueled. Eating an adequate amount of food and fluid will help our muscle to recover and build strength. It’s better for our health if we could eat within a few minutes after working out. If we don’t concentrate on our diet before and after a workout, all the hard work in the gym can go in vain.
Food before and after a workout depends upon the weight of a person and exercise routine. Hence, eating rule can be different from person to person. However, if we follow certain tips to eat while working out, we can achieve the desired outcome. Here are 7 tips on how to eat before and after a workout:
Before:
Go for Some Carbs
If you think having carbs is a bad idea before the workout, think twice. Carbs are the main source of energy which breaks down quickly into glucose and can be easily digested by our body. We need to eat a small amount of carbohydrate 2-3 hrs before we hit the gym. But, we can’t afford to eat a lot of protein because it can slow the process of digesting carbs which leads to lack of energy required for a workout. We can eat oatmeal, crackers, a rice cake, dried fruit, etc to get the carbs.
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Stay Away from Fatty Foods
Before heading for the gym, we have to stay away from foods that are rich in fat. Since fats are not soluble in water, they are hard to digest. This can cause lack of energy while working out. Even if we want to eat something that contains a small amount of fat, we should eat it for 2-3 hrs before the exercise.
Try an Adequate Amount of Protein
If we are doing weight training, we can eat food that contains a small amount of protein. Protein can help to recover tore muscles and build them stronger. We need to eat protein foods that are easily digestible such as nuts, soy milk, Greek yogurt, etc.
Analyze your Workout Intensity
Our workout intensity can dictate what we eat before the exercise. If we are doing an intense workout for a short period of time, we don’t need much to eat. On the other hand, if we are going for weight training, we will a small number of carbs and protein. Thus, we should know our workout routine before eating anything.
After:
Get Something to Eat Soon
After finishing our workout, it’s important to eat something within 30 minutes or so. Right after the workout, our body can efficiently use the food to refuel the lost energy. We can have some snacks if a full meal isn’t available at the moment.
Go for Carbs and Protein
After the workout, our energy level drops a lot and body muscles are also pumped up and tore down. In such a condition, we must eat the right amount of protein and carbs needed for the body. We can go for complex carbs like brown rice, nuts, quinoa and proteins like tofu, fish, beans, etc.
Don’t get Carried Away while Eating
We work so hard to burn those calories and get into the shape. We have to spend hours daily in the gym and be aware of what we are eating. After a tiring workout routine, it’s normal to feel hungry. But, that does not mean we can eat anything and everything. A single slice of pizza contains high amount of calories. So, if we eat that slice, all the hard work in the gym goes in vain. Thus, we need to be smart while eating post workout.
We must know how to eat healthy pre and post workout if we want to have a great body. The right amount of food at the right time is what we have to learn.