The best way to eat around your workouts

Fasting before a workout does not help you burn extra calories. In fact, it’s downright terrible for you, especially as you get older.

So, if you are one of those that thinks that by not eating before hitting the gym, your body is going to burn your stubborn fat stores away more quickly? Think again.

Some folks think that doing that is a great way to jumpstart their metabolism, but that’s just a myth.

What will happen instead is you will starve yourself, deplete your energy stores, and burn right out to the point that, not only will you NOT make it through your workout; but you could even hurt yourself!

Some of the consequences of not eating enough to sustain your workouts include:

1. Depleting energy and blood sugar levels.

2. Burning muscle instead of fat

3. Burn out, feeling too tired to push through.

Not too much, not too little

While it is definitely possible to out-eat your workout and negate the entire process, meaning you might as well have just skipped the whole thing, eating too little is just as bad for you, if not worse.

Your body needs you to give it calories via the food that you eat to perform even its most basic functions, like breathing air, and pumping blood. And you get calories from the food that you put into your body.

Waking up and going for a jog without anything in your system could be the reason you don’t feel able to push through, unless you have a small snack. So what do you need to do? Grab a little cereal bar!

This will be just enough food to keep your engine running during your jog, much like tossing ten-bucks in your gas tank. It’s enough to get you where you need to go, but not so much that you’ll feel too full or heavy for your jog.

Before, during and after

Aim to eat a full meal at least three hours before your golf game, jog, or workout; another high-carb snack, such as a cereal bar, two hours before; a smaller, high-carb snack, such as a banana, about 30-mins before you hit the green; a high-carb snack during your workout if it’s going to surpass the 60-minute mark, and some protein and a full meal afterwards.

Here’s a quick look at the best way to eat around working out:

• Meal 3 hours before

• Carb snack 2 hours (max), to 30 mins (min) before

• Carb snack during, if your workout is 60+ minutes

• Protein snack at least 60 mins after

• Meal 2 hours after

Here’s why

Fuelling up with a small snack about 30-minutes before you exercise will optimize your workout. The boost in calories will help you burn more calories, resulting in an increase in endurance levels, decrease your hunger afterwards, and keep you from burning muscle instead of fat! Talk about a good return!

An expert in the field of sport nutrition, Heidi Skolnik, MS, CDN, FACSM, says that it’s important to balance your nutritional intake with fitness in order to support and balance your body’s hormones! If you don’t, the consequences could range from: irregular periods (in females); low libido and erectile dysfunction (in males); and brittle bones leading to an increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures as you age.

“Even if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s essential to make sure you’re taking in enough energy to fully benefit from your workouts and achieve the strength, endurance, agility and flexibility that you hope to gain,” she explains. “Eating a balanced diet and being smart about snacking can help you stay fueled throughout your workouts.”

Check out our Vacation Flex Meal Guide for more ideas on how to build your own perfect meal plan without having to count calories.