Timing of your nutrition intake is makes a huge difference to your performance during your workout and the results. Every body is different but here are some basic guidelines. Try to eat a healthy breakfast full of complex carbs.
Complex carbs are give you long lasting energy. Some of my favourites are quinoa, brown rice, oats, beans, sweet potato and broccoli. You should ideally finish at LEAST 3 hours before a workout. We want to be working out on empty stomachs so our bodies are forced to burn that excess fat for energy. If you feel like you may dip in energy, bring a banana (depending on the size of the banana and yourself, you might want to just have half. Just enough to keep you going).
Also, if you’re a coffee drinker, have one right before a workout. It increases blood flow, boosts performance, helps fight exhaustion and helps with muscle pain. Don’t use sugar, and drink it black if possible. Also drink it right before the workout.
However, it will dehydrate you so be sure to rehydrate properly during and after a workout.
After the workout, you’ll want to eat a meal consisting of mostly proteins. (Loading up on protein within 45 mins post workout will help with recovery) you’ll want some complex carbs in there too. And good fat! You can get complete proteins from meats, but for vegans, you’ll need to combine complementary proteins (•nuts and beans, •beans and rice, •hummus on wholewheat bread• yoghurt with nuts •peanut butter sandwich – whole grain bread, •nuts and seeds trail mix, whole grain pasta and peas etc).
So… More protein than anything. Tuna, chicken breast, eggs, salmon, Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese are all high in protein and low in fat. Carbs. Always complex carbs! Simple carbs will just turn into sugar and get stored as the fat you just burned off! Brown rice, oats, quinoa, banana, broccoli (and most other dark green and leafy veg) and sweet potatoes are good.
A lot of people out there say to load back up on complex carbs but this is the only the case if you’re a marathon runner or some other endurance athlete.
Fat. Yes, fat. There are good fats like nuts and avocados. A small portion should be fats.
So in summary, pre-workout meals should be mostly carbs, some proteins and a little fat consumed around 4 hours before a workout. Post workout meals should be mostly protein, some carbs and a little fat, consumed about 30 mins after a workout. (Sometimes that’s not possible which is why you see people with protein shakes after a workout.)
Happy conditioning, folks!
I welcome any questions you may have, so please go ahead and contact me.
Mina Martinez Fitness Coach 