When to eat what? Carbs or protein after a workout?

HayleyMcFadden

Just wondering if anyone has any advice about the best time to eat certain food groups i.e. carbs versus protein. I've never been one to eat a lot of carbs anyway, but have found a delicious ready to eat risotto that I have started to have for dinners after my workout. But I have also noticed that it's been harder to lose weight recently despite keeping under my calorie goal (mostly). I know you shouldn't have carbs late at night and I generally don't eat dinner late but if you need to get some carbs in (to help maintain the correct portions of food groups), is it ok to eat carbs for dinner rather than load up on protein after a workout?! HELP!

jamiesadler

It is best to eat your carbs before a work out to give you that extra boost of energy. Just make sure they are good carbs. Other than that I just eat a good mix throughout the day.

Kolohe71

Carbs before workout and Protien after works best for me.

MikeSEA

It kind of depends on the type of workout. If you're lifting, protein after a workout can be helpful. So can some fast carbs (ie a banana).

As far as time of day goes, you're your own person on that. There's no solid evidence that eating carbs after a certain time of day does anything bad or good that can be generalized out to the population as a whole. If eating carbs later for you doesn't seem to work out, don't do it, but there's no general rule to follow there.

Personally, I have both a fair number of carbs and proteins both before and after my workouts. I try to have slower carbs before (steel cut oats), and faster carbs (the aforementioned banana) after.

kellyscomeback

Depending on how intense your exercises are, water for regular non intense workouts and/or something that's a 4:1 carb/protein ratio like chocolate milk or a recovery drink like Accelerade, which is already at that ratio. Protein is great after strength training.

I will only do a recovery drink if I burn 500+ cals in an hour or I need to eat more cals.

aippolito1

Both. You're going to be burning off carbs during your workout so you should have a good protein/carb ratio. I eat a protein bar which also has carbs in it after I workout. Beforehand, I typically just eat a balanced meal 45 minutes or so before I workout and that keeps me fueled during cardio or strength training. Find what works for you, though.