What should I eat before and after a workout?
Anyone that works out regularly must’ve thought of this at least once. What should you eat before and after a workout? Your trainer probably teaches you everything you need to know about the exercises, but who advises you on what to eat? Let us help you out there.
Before a workout, your focus should be on giving your body enough fuel to spend exercising. And your body’s primary source of energy is – carbohydrates! Eat something light and try to include healthy carbs. Some good pre-workout food options are banana, oats, curd, peanut butter or any other fruit. Now as for when you should eat it, try to eat at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before your workout session. This is so that your body gets enough time to start digesting the food and don’t feel full or heavy during the workout.
A strong cup of coffee is also great shortly before your workout. The caffeine present in coffee stimulates you and helps you focus more, apart from making you feel more active.
Now, coming to the food that you eat after a workout! When you work out and especially if you lift weights, your body undergoes micro-tears in the muscle. Your body then repairs the muscle, making it stronger than before – hence, bodybuilding! What your body needs most importantly for building muscle is nothing other than… protein!
So, it is always best to include lots of protein in your meal after a workout. Vegetarian options for protein include soya granules, dal, paneer, tofu, green peas, milk, curd and other milk products.
For those finding it difficult to consume enough protein from food, you can always start having whey protein. Whey protein is nothing but protein extracted from milk sources. Even when you make paneer at home, the leftover water contains whey!
For non-vegetarians, it is comparatively much easier to consume enough protein. Eggs, fish, chicken and other meats are all great sources of protein. Eggs are a very popular choice of protein, because it is cheap and very easy to prepare. But, a lot of egg yolks may not be good for you due to their high cholesterol content. Try to limit egg yolks to around 2 a day. The rest, you can separate the yolks and eat just the egg whites.
Now you know just what to eat before and after slay your workouts! Eat better & stay healthy!
