What to Eat before and After your Workout!
Today I am going to be telling you what you should be eating before and after every workout so you can get the MOST out of each and every one of you workout sessions! These tips will help you MAXIMIZE your gains AND progress!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teKCyiz1PGo[/embedyt]
Before your workout…
OPTION 1: NO BREAKFAST!
Option one is definitely the option I go with most often! The first thing I do when I wake up, to start my day off, I make myself a nice warm glass of lemon water!
Lemon water will give you a nice energy boost, will keep you hydrated AND will give your immune system a nice boost!
I choose this option most frequently because most days I practice intermittent fasting which means in order for me to reach my 16 hour fasting goal, I hold off eating until later in the day. Lemon water DOES NOT break your fast! After drinking lemon water, I can go into my workout in a fasted state! I also save TONS of time when I choose option number one! No need to worry about the time it takes to cook, eat and clean up, instead, I can wake up, drink my lemon water, have my black coffee and head straight to the gym in no time!
As I just mentioned, along with my lemon water, I also drink a black coffee in the morning. A black coffee WILL NOT break your fast! I like to use my coffee as my ‘pre-workout’. It boosts my energy levels, increases alertness, and awareness and is proven to help improve performance wether you are hitting the gym or going to play a sport!
No food before a workout also benefits your workout! Since our bodies are depleted of glycogen stores once in a fasted state, our bodies rely on our fat stores as our main source of energy. Therefore, throughout a workout, you will be a LEAN MEAN FAT BURNING MACHINE! Our bodies use energy to digest food. By skipping breakfast, your body has MORE energy to put into your workout since there is no energy needed to digest food!
Now, I totally understand that fasting is not for everyone! For those of you who do not practice fasting OR choose to workout later on in the day, there is an option for you!
OPTION 2:
If you want to EAT before your workout, focus on eating a meal that is high in protein, high in healthy fats, and LOW in carbs! I like to call this a LEAN MEAL! To get some great examples of LEAN MEALS, check out my instagram page! Also check out my #90daylean plan where I can give you customized recipes to fit your specific needs, whether you choose to fast before a workout or not!
POST WORKOUT…
Okay so you worked out, your body is burning, you are back from the gym and you are READY TO EAT! This meal is the most important one of the day! Before I go into detail, one important thing to note is you DO NOT have to eat right after your workout! For years, it was believed you had to eat within 30 minutes of your workout. More recent studies have shown that this is NOT THE CASE! You can actually wait up to 24 hours if you wanted to before eating post workout! Although I wouldn't recommend that specifically, I do usually wait beyond 30 minutes before eating after a workout. For more details on that check out this blog post! Back to my post workout meal, I usually eat within 1-3 hours after my workout! I don’t stress about eating at a specific time I usually just eat whenever I get hungry which is the key! If you are feeling super hungry post workout, then go ahead and eat! If you aren’t particularly hungry or are fasting then don’t stress! The most important thing to remember is to make sure that post workout meal is a healthy one!
We need to get the right nutrients in our bodies to make sure we maximize the effects of our workout! How do we do this?! Well, we use a base of CARBS and PROTEIN! Unlike the lean meal, our post workout meal needs to be HIGH in protein to replenish out muscles after a workout! The main difference between these two meals is the addition of carbs! After a workout, especially when fasted, we are depleted of our glycogen stores. In order to replenish that, we need carbs! Carbs aid our body in recovery and help keep us satiated!