Be Careful about Before and after Workout Foods !
09-07-2017 | Posted By: Rajni Joshi | 2885 View(s)
We all must give ample attention to Before and After workout foods but unfortunately, these two meals are often ignored and neglected. All of us want to get the most out of our workouts but do we make the right efforts to do so? Don’t you think before and after workout foods can actually increase the time you spend on your regular workouts as well as can help refill the energy you spent during work out?
When talking about fitness, there are a lot of universal questions that every fitness trainer or expert may hear almost every day. How to lose weight faster? How to gain weight faster? Do you ask these questions too? First of all, everything takes time, Losing or gaining weight is not like an exam that you can just mug up everything overnight, and you are ready to do well! Losing and gaining weight may take some time and require some efforts, but they aren’t that tough to do!
Now, fortunately, if you have finally thought of working on your body, just doing rigorous exercises and workouts can not do what you have desired for if you do not eat the right foods in the right amount and that too at the right time. Giving your body before and after workout foods is essential for burning the most calories, losing weight, staying energised and speeding up recovery.
The importance of before and after Workout Foods?
Do you know what happens when you regularly work out on an empty stomach? Here’s the answer, if you do so, you may cause muscle loss because your body goes into survival mode when you are hungry, and it draws protein from your muscles instead of drawing from your kidneys and liver. You start losing muscle mass which can slow down your metabolism and ultimately make it harder for you to lose weight. When you feed your body on time, it can give fuel to your body needed to build muscle!
Your body taps the fuel(glycogen) stored in your muscles for energy when you work out. So isn’t it important to refuel your body after a hard workout? When you eat something good and healthy, mainly a combination of carbohydrates and protein, around an hour after your workout refills energy, refuels your body, builds as well as repairs the muscles which were broken down.
Some easy to make before and after Workout Foods?
We have come up with these healthy yet tasty foods you can eat before and after your workout
1. Sliced Banana and Cinnamon whole wheat Toast
Carbs can be called your gym BFF! You may have a combo of complex and simple ones so that the energy is released slowly and steadily throughout your routine. Eating whole wheat toast with sliced banana can give you both types of carbs which are easy to digest. Eating this can add an extra kick of energy. Adding cinnamon can give a great flavour, and the spice is also believed to work well in stabilising blood sugar and improving brain function.
2. Peanut butter and banana chia seed Toast
Peanut butter and banana can be your perfect before workout snack! When you go for a longer workout, have this snack and making this is super easy! Just take one slice of whole-wheat toast, spread peanut butter and banana slices on it and add a pinch of chia seeds to add a new flavour to this snack!
3. Smoothies
You can have this on-the-go on your way to the gym! They are very time friendly! Slice your favourite fruit, take a cup of yoghurt, and you can add some granola to make it thicker. Choose the one made from whey or milk-based proteins. You can build your blend which has a bunch of exercise benefits!
Best three after Workout Foods
1. Chocolate Milk
Recent research reveals the latest craze of chocolate milk as an after workout snack! It can be because a chocolate milk glass has everything we need in one glass! It has carbs and protein which can help in muscle recovery whereas the water content can replace the fluids lost in the form of sweat. Calcium, sodium and sugar or we can say all the ingredients that can help recover faster as well as to retain water and regain energy.
2. Egg and Veggie Omelette
Don’t get confused with the fancy name! It’s simple and easy. This recipe is extremely healthy, and you can easily opt this as a post workout snack. Just take a medium bowl, whisk egg whites and water together and season with pepper and salt. Take a nonstick skillet and heat oil over medium heat. Now, add spinach, again season with salt and pepper and stir for some time. Now, add egg whites and cook until it’s set. Spread cottage cheese on the top once the omelette is cooked and sprinkle with parmesan. Now, folding each side of the omelette over onto itself, cover the cottage cheese. You can serve this with some diced tomatoes and sauce!
3. Banana Bites
This recipe is super easy and healthy to eat after a workout. Just combine bananas, yoghurt and peanut butter, and you get carbs, protein and fat in one go!
So, these are few before and after workout foods which are healthy yet easy to make. We hope you understood why you should give equal attention and importance to before and after workout foods. You should not miss these two meals if you work out to stay healthy and fit. Apart from your workout, eating right food at the right time is really very important.
