Eating and working out.

[peekawho]

Its a hot topic amongst dieters.  What to eat before you work out, IF you should eat before you work out, what should you eat after, and how much should you eat?

There are a couple schools of thoughts on this.  One camp holds that you should not eat prior to exercising heavily, that it diverts some of the much needed blood flow from your muscles and takes it to the stomach, to aid in the digestive process.  This camp claims that when they eat prior to exercise, they get stomach cramps or feel sluggish.

The other school of thought (which I agree with) suggests that you  have a light meal or snack prior to a work out, and a small snack afterwards.  

The reason I agree with the second school of thought is simply that your muscles need glucose to do their work.  That's an irrefutable fact.  The food you eat is converted to glucose, which your body can use for energy.  Without it, your muscles will fatigue more rapidly.  Some people can tolerate this muscle fatigue better than others, but it still occurs.  Feed your muscles.  They need it, poor things.

What should you eat, and when should you eat it?

Again, people differ on this.  But you don't need a lot of food.  This is a common pitfall of the chronic dieter and beginning exerciser.  We get a diety mentality.  We think "Exercise = lose weight.  Lose weight = I can have more food on exercise days".  For the most part, not true.  

The purpose of exercise should NOT be about losing weight.  Its essential to our bodies that we exercise to maintain our cardiovascular health, first and foremost.  There are other reasons to exercise, great reasons,  but simply to exercise thinking "Oh, I'll lose weight" should be erased from your mind.  Do it to feel better, not to get into a smaller size pair of jeans.

Anyway, what I recommend you eat is some form of protein, and some form of complex carb prior to exercising, about 1/2 hour before your  workout or walk...whatever you have chosen to do.
This provides some quick, easily usable energy for your workout, and the protein provides a bit of "oomph" during and after your workout.
Some things you can eat:  1 egg, scrambled and a slice of low cal, whole wheat toast.   A half a whole wheat bagel and low fat cream cheese, a slice of cooked lean meat on a slice of whole wheat bread, or mixed with 1/2 cup brown rice or other whole grain, etc.  You get the idea.

Afterwards, resist the temptation to reward yourself with a stop by Baskin Robbins for an ice cream, thinking "I worked it off".  Again...that's a dieter mentality.  You only need about 100 cals worth of what I call a "recovery" food, something to ward off a blood sugar crash that sometimes follows a vigorous workout.  100 calories worth of a snack is not much.  I'm not terribly particular about what I eat after a work out, but I do religiously stick to the 100 cal rule.  Usually, I'll have a protein or granola bar, or swing by Starbucks for a Skinny Latte, or something of that nature.  

Happy exercise!  Remember, its about getting healthy, NOT getting skinny!  The skinny part is just a side benefit.  Feed your muscles.  They'll thank you for it.

[marissposa]

Hi, I'll weigh in with what I do.  I start the day light a banana and some oj.  Doesn't weigh me down, gives me sugar and potassium.  My rehearsal days can get long, so I eat throughout the workout.  Dried fruit, nuts, cliff/luna types bars, more juice, lots of water.      
Foods rich in easily metabolized fruit sugars and not-too heavy proteins.  I eat as soon after a workout as possible.  I have been told that it jump starts the body on it's way to rebuilding damage done to the muscle tissues during the workout.  I try to have another natural sugar source (again for the quick metabolization) and a protein  for the muscle tissues.  Maybe non-fat yogurt, cottage cheese and fruit,  pb banana and honey sandwich.  
Amen peakawho!  

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Thanks for this very useful information.