What to Eat/Drink Before and After Workout: What You Need to Know
If you’re not a professional yet, it might be difficult to decide what you need to eat or drink before and after your workouts. Sometimes you can eat something that you usually eat, but during your exercises you may suddenly feel nausea or hunger. That’s because the choice of food and drinks was way off, so let’s dive into what to consume before and after gym.
What to Eat and Drink Before Gym
Focus on protein and complex carbs to create the best pre-workout meal, because it’s only possible to go for a journey to a fitter healthier life when you actually feel healthy. Make sure you have enough time before gym, because exercising right after eating may make you feel nausea. If you eat on time, the meal will provide your body with enough energy that will keep you going, give you enough micronutrients, and not make you feel like you’re starving after the workout.
Some of the meal/snack ideas are:
- Apples or bananas and any nut butter (the almond one usually has more protein)
- Brown rice with broccoli or black beans
- Whole-wheat toasts with some nut butter and a banana
- Proats (protein powder added in your oatmeal)
There are much more meal ideas, but these are very easy and yummy. As to the drinks, make sure you drink water and take some with you to the gym. If you need some extra energy boost, drink a cup of coffee after your meal, but make sure you tolerate it well. There are also special pre-workout powders, but the mostly use caffeine as their base.
What to Eat and Drink After Workout
Eating after your workout is crucial for muscle restoration and growth. After you finish that last rep, your muscles are glycogen-deprived and damaged. This is how they grow: you damage them a bit during training (these are microbreaks, don’t worry), you give them some building materials (protein), and they grow.
So, after the workout, focus on protein but also give your body some carbs to restore the energy it lost during your gym session. You should eat a protein-rich meal or drink a protein shake 30-90 minutes after the workout to give the muscles a boost so they start repairing as soon as possible. Also, the protein will keep your metabolism running for a long time.
Here are some of the meal ideas for you:
- Protein shake (half or full banana, your norm of protein powder (see on the package), milk (regular or almond), and hemp seeds)
- Chickpea salad
- Veggies with tofu as a salad or sauté
- Quinoa bowl with fruit
- Omelet with veggies and avocado.
Make sure you have healthy meals before and after workouts, as they are even more important than the gym. The main key to fat loss is a healthy diet, and gym helps you make the muscles toned and give your body a desired shape. And in combination diet and gym will help you achieve your healthy goals and adopt a completely new lifestyle!
