#6 Andrea “I need some baby stuff! I have bookmarked so many of your recipes by the way! I want to try them all!!”
Congratulations Andrea, email me for your prize!
Now before we talk the skinny, head on over to The Girl Who Ate Everything where I’m sharing one of my very favorite Holiday cookies as part of her 12 Days of Christmas Cookies!
Now let’s forget about sugar for a minute and get down to business…
Do you guys eat before and after you workout? I don’t, not always (at least not both). But I do like to stop and get a huge diet coke from Sonic on my way home from the gym. Is that bad? Don’t answer that…and don’t tell my husband either.
I’m Jody and I recently started a blog called Good Blog Food, Made Better. As a lover of food blogs I found myself trying recipes I find online all the time. But I would always alter the recipes slightly to make them just a tad bit healthier. After a little consideration, I thought others might benefit from some of my revisions as well. So check it out!
I’ve tried a few of Kristy’s recipes on my own blog and when I saw that she was doing “Fit Fridays”, I thought that would be a perfect collaboration! I work as a Registered Dietitian in a fitness facility. I see clients day in and day out who are kicking their own butts in the gym and not seeing the results that they want. They feel they are eating healthfully at meals and just can’t understand why their work outs are not producing results.
What a lot of people don’t realize that what you eat BEFORE and AFTER your work outs can play a big part in the results that you see.
BEFORE A WORKOUT: You need to make sure that you are providing appropriate fuel so that your body can become a calorie-burning, fat-blasting, muscle-building machine. So if you’re doing an early morning workout, make sure you grab a quick bite to eat before you head out to the gym. Or if you’re heading to the gym after a long afternoon at work, grab a quick snack in the afternoon. Ideally you should be eating a PRE-workout snack about an hour before a workout. A PRE-workout snack should consist of mainly simple carbohydrates and a little bit of protein such as a peanut butter sandwich, banana with yogurt, or a handful of cheese and crackers. Avoid foods that are greasy or are high in fiber since your body will then work hard to digest these foods, instead of working hard to provide blood to your muscles. Also make sure that you are well hydrated before a workout by drinking 14-20 oz of water in the two hours before your workout.
AFTER A WORKOUT: After a high intensity workout like intervals or heavy lifting, your body is most willing to take in and utilize protein. Specifically the 30-60 minute window AFTER your workout. But eating protein alone isn’t going to help refuel your body best. You actually need a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein. To figure out how much YOU need, multiply your body weight by 0.5 to find out the grams of carbohydrate needed. Then, divide that number by 2 to figure out how much protein you need. For example, a 150 pound individual would need 75 grams carbohydrate and 37.5 grams protein within 30-60 minutes after a hard workout.
Sometimes this can be accomplished just by having a full meal after your workout, other times you may need to plan specifically a post workout snack. Here are some ideas for post-workout snacks:
- Cereal with low fat milk and dry milk powder added
- Low fat chocolate milk
- Whole grain bagel with natural peanut butter
- Sandwich with lean protein and reduced fat cheese
- Protein bar with a piece of fruit
Next time you’re hitting the gym, think about your fuel – before AND after your workout. In a short time you’ll notice that you have more energy for your workout and are seeing results faster.
Leave a Reply