All beginners and persons with advanced skills realise that an important element of doing sport is the need to properly adjust menu to a given person. You probably frequently asked yourself a question: „What to eat after a workout to lose weight?” Well, lots of sacrifices, crossed kilometres and burnt calories, and side fat is still there.
Therefore, what to eat during workout to have lots of strength and energy as well as lose weight? What to eat before and after strength training to maximise your results?
What to eat before a workout?
Before a workout, remember to provide your body mainly with easily digestible products. A meal should be eaten around 1-1.5 h before a workout, so as the body does not lose unnecessary energy to digest food remaining in the stomach. Eating a meal directly before a workout may also take revenge you and result in constant belching which will cause huge discomfort during exercise. Anyone who has tried at least once to carry out exhaustive workout routine right after eating a meal knows what I mean ☺.
A balanced meal containing all macronutrients , i.e. carbohydrates, proteins and fats, is a perfect boost of energy. Basic sources of energy are complex carbohydrates with a small addition of simple carbohydrates, thanks to which we can be highly focused from the beginning of a workout. Remember to avoid eating huge amounts of saturated fat directly before the training because it disturbs digestion.
You can safely replace them with MCT oils (e.g. coconut oil) which also give additional energy but are not metabolised in the liver.
Thanks to such meal, you will have lots of energy, and you will avoid the energy shortage during exercise.
What should an exemplary meal look like? Classic chicken with rice fried in coconut oil with the addition of, e.g. raisins, will be perfect.
What to eat after a workout?
After the end of a workout, you must have a meal to quickly rebuild your energy reserves. It should contain easily digestible protein which helps you rebuild muscles and regenerate your body. The second important ingredient are carbohydrates which help you replenish glycogen (energy source stored in muscles and liver).
In contrary to a pre-workout meal, after training we can safely go for a bigger amount of simple carbohydrates which will instantly boost our energy. Personally, I love rice with apple, banana and cinnamon washed down with protein powder or protein and banana shake with a little bit of honey. They are both tasty, and they quickly get me back on my feet, even if I eat only a small portion ☺. After around 1,5h one can safely eat a meal similar to the one consumed before a workout.
What to eat after an evening workout?
Actually, everything depends on when you go to sleep.
For example, when you finish a workout at 20:00 and go to sleep at 22:00, you eat a standard post-workout meal. Remember not to go to bed right after a meal because it will make it difficult for you to fall asleep, and the quality of sleep will be much lower. In such case, the best solution is to drink an easily digestible shake with proteins and carbohydrates. Firstly, you will quickly absorb all macroelements and microelements. Secondly, thanks to serotonin and tryptophan secretion, you will wake up relaxed and full of vigour.
What to eat after a workout to lose weight? What to eat after mass building?
In both cases you eat practically the same food. Actually, it does not matter whether we are after fitness, strength or endurance training. Remember that losing or gaining weight depends mainly on a daily amount of consumed calories.
Eat and work out to be healthy
Pre-workout and post-workout meals are incredibly important part of each menu. They give you lots of energy which is necessary to work out. They replenish and rebuild your body directly after a workout. Remember to draw energy from the least processed products and drink lots of water (you will certainly hear about it once again ?) Good luck!
