People who go to the gym need to obey different nutrition rules than those who chose not to exercise, even if we are talking about losing weight and keeping strict diets. In order to deal with all the effort, your body needs your “before and after” the gym meals to be in accordance with your workout.
Whether you are trying to increase your muscle mass, lose weight or simply maintained a fit body, specialists advise you to follow a simple set of rules in order to stay healthy and obtain better results. Let’s find out more about these rules and what you should eat before and after going to the gym.
About the Rules
These nutrition rules are extremely important if you want to regain your perfect shape with the help of gym exercises and physical workouts. How many people have you met who were complaining about bad workout results? Did you ever think that these impediments in our weight loss journeys and workout routines might happen because of improper nutrition?
The first thing you need to know about food and working out is that you need to properly consume carbohydrates, and not give them up altogether. They say that professional athletes usually follow a low-in-carbohydrates diet. Forget about this myth. In order to achieve efficient workout sessions, you need to eat carbs. The right kind of carbs, of course. Also, each meal needs to include proteins and it is important to maintain a balance between the substances in your body in order to avoid feeling hungry.
How Much Time in Advance of Going to the Gym Should we Have a Meal?
Whether we are working out at the beginning of the day, at lunch or in the evenings, we need energy to sustain the body’s capability of resisting under effort and obtain better results. But don’t think that because calories are energy you can just eat a bunch of stuff and get your power from high-calories meals and not worry about anything else. It is recommended to eat two hours in advance of any workout. Why two hours? Because in the time needed for the food to be processed the energy resources will be used to synthesize the foods at a cellular level, and not for sustaining physical effort. If you walk into the gym with a full stomach your workouts will not have the desired outcome and you will also feel very tired during your session.
What to Eat Before Working Out
The ideal meal before a workout needs to respect the 1:2 protein to carbohydrates ratio. You need to eat a generous portion of carbs such as oats, whole-wheat bread with seeds, brown rice or whole-wheat pasta with milk, yogurt, eggs, meat or fish. This will offer you the energy you need in order to work out.
Also, you need to feed your body a little bit of sugar, and for this, you can try fruits, such as an apple or a banana; fruit smoothies or a cereal bar with dried fruits. Don’t forget about hydration, as it is tremendously important for the success of your physical workouts.
Going to the Gym in the Morning?
If morning is your favorite time for working out, you should opt for a consistent breakfast. You can eat an omelet made from egg whites with a slice of whole-wheat bread and a few vegetables or oats with nuts or dried fruits.
Going to the Gym in the Afternoon?
In this case you can eat chicken breast, fish, or beef with a side dish of green vegetables, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, potatoes or fats such as avocado, vegetable oil, nuts or seeds. Your food needs to vary so make sure that you are not always eating the same thing.
What Should You Eat After the Gym?
Noe that you are all done with your workout and you’re feeling energized, you also feel the need for a good meal, right? This happens because the level of glycogen in your muscles needs to be redone, which is why you need to eat carbohydrates. Here are some after-the-gym ideas for meals or snacks:
- A glass of cold milk
- A protein shake with up to 10% carbohydrates
- A cup of yogurt with fresh fruits
- A fruit such as a banana (they are rich in potassium and magnesium)
- Unprocessed cereals with milk
- Nuts and dried fruits (rich in iron)
For proteins, make sure that you always have foo quality turkey or chicken meat, fish and beef. Next to these, you can have a salad made from seasonal vegetables. With this combination, your vitamin and minerals needs will be satisfied and your gym results will be outstanding. Don’t forget about your daily cup of Teatox, the easiest way towards a healthy and effective weight loss.
What are your “before and after” the gym meals? Share your experiences with us via Facebook or Instagram.