Do you eat before exercise or not? What to eat after?
Sonia Jones ND
Eating before exercise.
How long are you going to exercise for?
The type of exercise are you going to do.
Of course your health and fitness levels.
Good nutrition plays a vital role in building and maintaining fitness and health.
Food is fuel to the body’s muscles and brain. What you choose to eat before you exercise can make a big difference to your workout. It is a very good idea to eat before a workout because -
* food fuels your muscles with what you ate two hours before and what you ate the day before.
* helps avoid hunger
* helps maintain blood sugar levels, avoiding symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and headaches
* fuels the brain keeping you focused
So what to eat? This depends on the time of day, and the level of training. There are no hard and fast rules, here are some suggestions -
Firstly, to get the most of training, health and fitness you should be eating a healthy diet 24/7, this ensure long term energy and well nourished muscles.
What would be a good snack before training that lasts less than an hour – banana
What would be good snack before training that last over and hour – natural yogurt and banana
What ever you eat, what ever the exercise – don’t allow yourself to get dehydrated, drink plenty of water.
Generally people who exercise early in the morning tend to on and empty stomach, jogging with no fuel as they haven’t eaten since the day before. Not a good idea to run on empty.
Allow-
4 hours after a big meal before you train
2 hours after a light meal before you train
1 hour to 30 minutes after a snack before you train
Eating after training
for a professional athlete it is very important what you do after training but for most people they need not worry as much about post-exercise foods because their body will have enough time between workouts to recover.
Some people lose their appetite after exercise, for exercise make them hungry. How long should you wait before you eat? Anything from 15 minutes to an hour. After exercise you want to eat whole foods (replaces your energy loss) and protein (helps recovery and repairs muscles).
A fresh fruit smoothie with some protein powder is quick, delicious, nourishing, and hydrating.
Going around the golf course can take four hours – take with raw nut like walnuts or almonds and some dried fruit.
Remember eating regularly maintains your metabolism and stabilizes your blood sugar levels a very important aspect to maintaing your weight.