Are You Eating the Right Food When You Finish Your Workout?
By: Robert William Locke
Most people tell you that you have to have a full breakfast. It probably is true that breakfast provides a great start to your day. What about your post workout snack?
This could well be the most important meal for you.
Why is it so important to eat something after your workout? After a pretty hard workout your muscle glycogen is depleted and the cortisol levels are high because they are doing that very important task of breaking down muscle tissue. This is called a catabolic state and is not great because you want to get to an anabolic sate. How can you do that? The best way is to eat something as soon as you are out of the gym after your workout.
Try to have a snack or meal which contains 300-500 calories. If you are female and weigh about 120lbs, then you will need 300 calories. A man who weighs 200lbs will definitely need about 500 calories. Try twice the rate of carbs to protein with a maximum of four times as many carbs as protein. You need fats too but NOT in your post workout meal – you can have those with all your other meals.
This is because any fat you may consume definitely slows down your digestion and that is NOT what you want at this crucial time. You do not really need any of those post workout supplements which you see in all the fitness magazines. Go for something natural. Here are some ideas:- any fruit, raisins, honey or maple syrup will all spike your insulin levels which in turn is going to restore your levels of muscle glycogen and encourage the anabolic effect which will build your muscles. For the protein bit, I usually try low fat yogurt or denatured whey protein isolate.
Try a smoothie recipe for some great post workout meals Pineapple Vanilla – This will give you 35grams of proteins, about 70 grams of carbs and has almost no fat . Calorie total is about 400. Whiz together in your blender 1 cup water, ½ cup vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw), and 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder . Delicious.
If you really want to lose some body fat, you should remember that all your daily meals should be the opposite of the post workout snack. What are you eating during the day, then ? During the day, your meals have a low glycemic carbs, lots of slow release protein which is easy to digest, healthy fats and carbs which are slowly digested. That is in stark contrast to the post workout snack, where you are going for high glycemic carbs, quickly digested proteins and hardly any fat.
So, if you are really serious about getting leaner and fitter, try out the points I have mentioned above. Just think, you will be able to satisfy your sweet tooth and still not put weight on around your belly ! You will be having sweet things at the right time and they will be helping your body to repair the muscle tissue.
Article Source: http://www.ezarticles.info
|
