What You Need To Know About Post Workout Meals.

Most people tell you that you have to have a full breakfast. It is most likely true that breakfast provides a great start to your day. But have you thought carefully about your post workout meal ?

This could well be the most important meal for you.



WHAT should you eat? You want to restore the muscle glycogen that you have just lost and quickly digestible carbs are your best bet. You also need some protein to give your body the amino acids which are essential to repair your muscle tissue. So an easily digested meal made up of carbs and protein will spike your insulin levels which in turn will trundle some nutrients into those muscle cells.

Try to have a snack or meal which contains 300-500 calories. A woman who weighs, let us say 120 lbs can do with a 300 calorie meal. A man who weighs 200lbs will definitely need about 500 calories. Try twice the rate of carbs to protein with a maximum of four times as many carbs as protein. You need fats too but NOT in your post workout meal – you can have those with all your other meals.

Your digestion will be slowed down by fat so best to avoid it at this time.
You do not really need any of those post workout supplements which you see in all the fitness magazines. Go for something natural. Here are some ideas:- any fruit, raisins, honey or maple syrup will all spike your insulin levels which in turn is going to restore your levels of muscle glycogen and encourage the anabolic effect which will build your muscles. For the protein bit, I usually try low fat yogurt or denatured whey protein isolate. Try a smoothie recipe for some great post workout meals

Chocolate Banana. This has about 450 calories, 35 grams of protein and 75 grams of carbs, just .5 grams of fat. Blend the following ingredients :- 1 cup water, ½ cup skim milk, one and a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp organic maple syrup, and 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder.

If you are committed to losing weight
you should remember that all your daily meals should be the opposite of the post workout snack. What are you eating during the day, then ? During the day, your meals have a low glycemic carbs, lots of slow release protein which is easy to digest, healthy fats and carbs which are slowly digested. That is in stark contrast to the post workout snack, where you are going for high glycemic carbs, quickly digested proteins and hardly any fat.

If you want a leaner body, try these suggestions I have just mentioned above. The great thing about them is that you can satisfy your cravings for sweet things without even a pang of guilt! The extra sugars you are eating go straight to the muscles and not around your waist!

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