Eating after Exercising

I teach exercise classes at a Y and am AFAA certified. I subscribe to the theory that after you do cardio, you have several hours of afterburn. If you are trying to lose (which I suspect you are), then DON'T eat right after cardio. Wait up to two hours (but NOT longer than that). Your body will turn to stored calories and fat to fuel that afterburn. If you eat right afterwards, yes, your body is revved up and will burn those calories as soon as your body makes them available. But if you wait up to two hours to eat, your body is still revved up and will burn those calories faster than if you didn't do cardio. Now, if you lift weights, eating some kind of protein right after is a good idea to feed the muscles so they can grow (just 8 oz milk or yogurt, nothing too big). If you wait too long to eat after cardio or weight training, then your body becomes afraid you're starving it and all that good afterburn and muscle growth is slowed or stopped -- don't want that!!!!

Yes eat within an hour after your workout but you should have carbs and protein...no fat...

Post Workout Protein

Now that you know that time is of the essence when it comes to your post workout meal, this part is going to make a whole lot of sense. See, eating this meal soon after a workout is important, but just because you are putting the food into your body quickly doesn't actually mean the food is being digested and used by your body equally as quick. While egg whites, chicken and tuna fish are fine sources of protein that I personally eat daily, they aren't the ideal type of protein for the meal after your workout.

These foods are whole foods, and the protein in whole foods digest pretty slowly. You may have eaten a high protein food in your post workout meal, but by the time the protein is digested and finally ready to be used by your body, a whole lot of time would have passed. This is why the ideal source of protein to eat after your workout is a whey protein powder mixed with some type of liquid thus creating a whey protein shake.

A whey protein shake will be digested by your body much quicker than a whole food because it will be a liquid. And, not to mention, whey protein is the fastest digesting protein there is. This is what makes whey protein pretty much the official choice of most people as their post workout meal protein source. As for how much, try to consume between 0.15-0.25 grams of protein per pound of your body weight (so a 175lb person would shoot for between 26-43 grams at this time).

Post Workout Carbs

Yeah yeah yeah. "Carbs are bad! Carbs are the devil! I am scared to death of carbs! Get them away from me!!" Settle down. First of all, they aren't so bad. Secondly, after your workout they are actually an extremely important part of your post workout nutrition. Carbs will be used by your body to restore muscle glycogen. If your post workout meal doesn't contain carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose. That would be a bad thing. Carbs also create an insulin spike which helps to move nutrients into your muscle tissue quicker.

So, now that you know you need them after a workout, what kind do you need? Well, you know all about good carbs and bad carbs by now, right? Funny enough, this is actually the only time when "good carbs" and "bad carbs" switch roles. This doesn't mean start eating cookies, this just means that typical good carbs (whole wheat bread, brown rice, etc) contain fiber, and fiber slows down their digestion. This is actually what makes them "good" any other time of the day. But by now you know the post workout meal is all about speed. And when it comes to speed, simple carbs beat complex carbs.

A food like a baked potato is an okay choice for a carb source after a workout. However, just like protein, whole foods in general aren't really the most ideal choice at this time. This is where a little something called dextrose comes in. Dextrose is not a supplement... it's actually just a type of sugar. I know, I'm basically saying you should eat sugar. While that would be insane any other time of the day, your post workout meal is the one exception.

Along with whey protein, dextrose has also become almost an official choice for a post workout carb. Most people should look to consume somewhere between 0.25-0.4 grams of carbs per pound of their body weight from dextrose (a 175lb person would shoot for between 40-70 grams). I think most people should stick more towards the lower/middle end of their range rather than higher end.