Last Updated on July 28, 2019

Lots of people assume they should eat before and/or after they exercise… so I get really excited when questions like this pop up in my email inbox…

Hey, Christina! How soon should I eat after I exercise? I assume it depends on the duration and intensity of the workout. I am aware that my body is still burning calories after I leave the gym. But if I eat at the wrong time, will I wipe out all of the good of my workout?

Any info or advice would be great! Thank you so much!

Malia

Eating before or after you exercise depends on how much you exercise and how you want to look. Do you want to look like a Bodybuilder?  Then, yes, you should eat… if you want to lose fat… then you have to eat/exercise for your goal and body type…

So yes!  Eating the ‘wrong things’ at ‘the wrong time’ can wipe out all of the good from the exercise you’ve just done.  See me explain why and then what, how much, and when to eat before and after you workout in today’s episode of CCtv.

Why Should you Eat After you Exercise?

The point of eating before or after you exercise is all about 2 things, recovery and replenishing. Meaning post-exercise, you need to help your body recover and replenish the energy stores that your workout has wiped out. But what, when, and how much you eat is directly related to your exercise routine (frequency, duration, and intensity) and how you want your body to look.

In a nutshell, the longer, more intense, and frequent you exercise the more eating for recovery and replenishing becomes.

A sports medicine pro at ESPN explained post workout meals by saying: “athletes need carbohydrate and fluid to replace glycogen and water losses during the exercise. The muscles store more glycogen immediately after exercise than they do later.” Did this help you? Survey says Hell No!  Why?

Why You Shouldn’t Eat Before you Workout

You’re probably are not an athlete. I’m also willing to bet that you want to lose the giggly stored fat from your tummy, thighs, and arms… tighten and tone your muscles to see sexy definition and feel confident in your skinny jeans, swim suit, and every time you step on the scale… for you, my dear, you need to eat a completely different way than people who workout vigorously for at least 1 hour every day fall into the ‘athletic’ category.

Vigorously – heart rate above 140 beats per minute and are visibly sweaty for at least 40 consecutive minutes, daily. That means if you’re training to enter a fitness competition, in which you’ll be flexin’ on a stage, you’ll need to eat a specific way post workout.

Pre workout Meal?

If you’re trying to melt away fat these are my 3 keys for eating when you’re exercising, what, how much, and when.

Always Drink Water When You Exercise

Step One… before, during and after you exercise you need to be drinking water. I could give you an equation sorta like, drink 3 times the weight you’ve lost during your workout… that’s annoying. In addition to doing math, you’d have to weigh yourself before and after, do math, then measure water. Life is hard enough!

Here’s what I recommend… drink enough before and during your workout so that you have to pee halfway through your workout. Then continue drinking so that you have to go again 1 hour after your workout has stopped. Then continue drinking so that you have to go at least 1 time every 1.5 to 2 hours. If you go to the bathroom 3 times a day… start chugging aqua… like right now!

When it comes to things you can chew you’ll want to stick to complex carbs and lean protein.

should I eat before or after I exercise? christina carlyle

Your Preworkout Meal Should Have Lean Protein

The proteins provide nitrogen and amino acids, the building blocks of muscles. Think of your muscles like legos. When you work out, some of the legos pop off the tops of your towers, protein gives you the glue needed to not only re-attach your legos, but also add more to your tower. It’s the popping off and repairing of the towers that builds lean sexy, metabolism maximizing muscle.

Lean protein also increases the absorption rate of water improving muscle hydration. The amino acids can also stimulate the immune system, making you more resistant to illnesses, infections, and disease.

Should my Preworkout Meal Have Carbs?

You may have heard of the expression ‘carbing up’ or ‘carb loading’ for working out.   Again, you only need carbs to make sure you have sustained energy for your workout. Only Complex Carbs though! Simple carbs are fat storing, insulin spiking carbs…

Complex carbs aren’t sticky, aren’t sweet, and have little to no sugar (less than 3 grams per serving) Check your nutrition labels, if you see sugars over 3 grams a serving, or anything that ends with ‘ose’ or ‘ol’ in the nutrition label, avoid it like the plague.

Sweet potato, brown rice, plain 100% whole grain oatmeal, and vegetables are the best complex carbs you can choose. Complex carbs replenish the glycogen stores you’ve wiped out during your workout.  I recommend opting for vegetables.  The boost in vitamins and minerals will help you recover faster… plus they’re lower in calories and high in fiber and antioxidants.

Preworkout meal
Also, don’t bother eating carbs if you’re not pairing them with protein… When it comes to fat loss don’t eat carbs if you’re the kinda person who drops weight quickly on ‘low carb diets.’

One study found that athletes who refueled with carbohydrate and protein had 100 percent greater muscle glycogen stores than those who only ate carbohydrate. Insulin was also highest in those who consumed a carbohydrate and protein.” The magic ratio seems to be 4:1—for every four grams of carbs, you should have one gram of protein. Again, notice that word athlete pops up again… You really don’t need to worry about carbs too much if you’re not training for a 10k, 7 days a week.

What is the best Preworkout Meal?

For people just trying to get our sexy on, our ratio should be 1:1, that’s 1 serving of Lean Protein + 1 serving of a complex starchy carb. It’s not a meal either… think snack like appetizer sizes. Your lean protein should be the size of your palm without fingers. Your complex carb should be the size of a fist.

If you’re the kind of person who “works out 2-3 times per week, you need not worry as much about post-exercise foods because your body will have enough time between workouts to recover,” says the study from Columbia University

I say… for the best results, eat a lean protein and skip the carbs altogether. 99.99% of the time you’ll have plenty of glycogen (complex carbs) stored anyway… but the protein will definitely keep you feeling satisfied and building lego towers like a champion. I only recommend eating carbs before, to prevent fatigue and crashing… like if you’ve been going low carb for a while and going to a spin class, for instance. Or if you’ve been following an Adkins-like low carb diet and have been feeling moody, tired, and ‘over’ exercise.

When Should I Eat My Preworkout Meal?

You have 2 choices: 2 hours before or within an hour after.

If you eat before you’ll make sure your glycogen stores are full (or overflowing), and will have sufficient energy to power through your workout. But… you’re also minimizing the ability for your body to burn stored body fat as fuel. You’ll be burning what you’ve eaten… not the giggly fat that you’re trying to get rid of. If you’re hungry, though, eat.

Post workout eat within an hour after your workout has ended.  This hour window is the time your muscles need amino acids the most.

If your workout is 30 minutes on the elliptical never ever drink a Gatorade before or get one of those sugar bomb protein shakes after you’re done.

For the best possible results follow a meal plan, cardio, and full body weight training program that’s a good match for your body type and goal look. If you truly want to lose weight and improve your health and confidence join my Total Transformation Challenge.  You’ll get noticeable results in DAYS not weeks!!  Guaranteed.

It only works if you work it, so work it.  YOU are so worth it!

Your Coach and Biggest Cheerleader

xxoo

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Preworkout meal

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