Fueling Your Workout: Pre & Post Workout Snacks

I would venture to say that everyone knows that working out has a ton of health benefits, but did you know that what you eat before and after you workout could really make or break your workout? The way you fuel your body can be just as important as the actual workout itself. 

First of all, if you're an avid gym goer you should be consuming enough calories throughout your day to support your workout. This is probably the biggest nutrition crime I see out there. Working out a lot and not eating enough doesn't necessarily mean weight loss, and it certainly doesn't mean healthy. If you're wondering more about calories read my previous blog post here.

There's debate about whether working out on an empty stomach is more beneficial blah, blah, blah. Here's what the science says: eating before a workout as opposed to not eating before a workout (the fasting state) has been shown to improve exercise performance. So, I guess if you don't really care about improving your performance then you don't really need to eat before you hit the gym... but honestly, does anyone that works out not care about improving? It's recommended that 1-3 hours prior to your workout you eat a meal or a snack. I know 1-3 hours seems like a big time gap, but that's where individualization comes in. Experiment and see what works best for your body... one hour might be too soon and you'll end up with stomach cramps, three hours might be too long. Play around with it and figure out what your body needs. 

So what should you eat before your workout? Carbs!! You want a little protein too, but carbs should be your main focus. Here's why: carbs fuel your muscles and your muscles fuel your workout. Lets talk about the science for one tiny second (I promise I'll try not to get too nerdy and boring). Carbs are glucose, glucose gets stored as glycogen in your liver and muscle cells. Why does this matter to you? Well, glycogen is the energy source your body uses for exercise. For longer bouts of exercise your body will start using fat for fuel, but it still needs glycogen to help break the fat down into something it can use. Maybe the most convincing argument for needing carbs preworkout for some of you is the fact that without them... your body will use protein to get what it needs, aka you won't see much improvement in your muscle growth. Bottom line: carbs are your friends. 

Pre-Workout Snack Ideas:

- whole wheat bread with nut butter and a banana

- greek yogurt with berries

- oatmeal with fruit

- apple or banana with nut butter

Alright, your workout is over and you're super impressed with how much you killed it at the gym thanks to your preworkout snack, but now what?! Replenish, replenish, replenish! After your workout it's important to restore fluid, electrolytes, muscle fuel (aka glycogen, aka carbs), and protein for muscle building and repair. It's best to have a snack with a 3:1 ratio of carbs and protein within 15-20 minutes after your workout, followed by a balanced meal 3-4 hours later. 

Post-Workout Snack Ideas:

- protein shake (need advice on protein powders? click here)

- low fat chocolate milk

- greek yogurt with berries

Questions? Preparing for a race? Wanting more info on how to up your gym game? E-mail me!

Leslie 

Protein Powder Basics

Recently in meeting with clients I've been asked a lot about protein powders and how to choose a good one. As a woman navigating the aisles of a health food store where some guy with huge muscles is trying to hit on you and up-sale you a billion things, I totally get the struggle. It's kind of like buying a car, better to do some research and know what you're looking at before you take the salesman's word for it. 

First of all, lets talk about why you might even want to consider including protein powders into your every day menu planning. Gym rats looooove their protein powders if you haven't noticed. Why is that? Well, protein is important when it comes to muscle recovery after a workout. Not only that, it helps maintain and promote healthy weight, build your immune system, and even plays a role in hormone production. Click here to read a previous post with all the basics on protein. 

Here's an important key to protein powders: They should be enhancing your protein experience, not taking away from it. What I mean by that is that the bulk of your daily protein intake should come from whole food sources (lean meats, dairy products, nuts, beans, etc). Protein powder should be a supplement to your intake. It's a good on-the-go way to add a little more protein without adding extra fat or carbs. 

If you go to the store, you'll find a million different powders and kinds of powders and then even more complex versions of each powder. It honestly gets really confusing. So what do you really need to know to make a good decision?  First rule of thumb, not all powders are created equal. There's a couple of different ways these powders are divided…. 

Animal Source vs. Vegetable Source: Hopefully the difference between these two is glaringly obvious. One comes from animals, the other from plants. Animal sources include milk proteins like whey and casein or egg white protein. Veggie sources include things like soy, rice, pea and even hemp.

Concentrate vs. Isolate: Concentrated means the non-protein parts have been removed. That means you'll get a powder that's 70-85% pure protein. Isolation removes even more of the non-protein parts, leaving you with a powder that is up to 95% pure. In both cases the rest of the protein is comprised of carbs and fat. What would make you choose one over the other? Well, for one… price. Isolates are a little more expensive because they require more processing. However, they do have more protein per serving. It just depends on what your goals are. My recommendation? For the average gym goer a concentrate will work just fine. 

Complete vs. Incomplete: If you read the post in the link earlier in this post you know the difference between complete and incomplete proteins. The really short version is that complete proteins contain all of the essential amino acids and incomplete proteins do not. 

So now that we know the basic categories lets dive into some of the more popular types. Also, now is a good time to mention that you'll also see a couple different types of flavors or sweeteners used within each category. They range from no flavors or sweeteners, artificial flavors and sweeteners, natural flavors and sweeteners, or a combo of the last two. 

Whey Protein

Whey is the watery part of milk that remains in the cheese making process. You'll have no problem finding this type of protein at any store. It's quickly absorbed by the body which makes it great for post-workout recovery. It's fairly inexpensive and it's a complete protein. The downside is that you'll find lactose in it… which can mean lots of gas for some of you lactose intolerant readers. The other downside is that some of the really yummy flavors it comes in also means artificial sweeteners and chemicals. 

Casein Protein

Casein is the main protein present in milk. It's benefits are similar to whey protein... except that you digest it slower. That being said, it's not ideal for a post-workout supplement. A couple of downsides is that it's more expensive than whey powders and can have a lot of artificial ingredients to make it taste better. 

Egg Protein

Egg protein comes from wet noodles. Just kidding… making sure you're still paying attention. Egg protein comes from eggs, specifically the egg whites. It's a complete protein that's rich in vitamins and minerals. However, this protein is one of the most expensive ones on the market. Also, if you're allergic to eggs, this isn't the supplement for you. 

Soy Protein

Protein from soy beans may help with your immune system and even bone health. It's also one of the few plant based proteins that is considered complete. It's a great choice if you're on a more plant based diet. The downside is that a lot of soy is genetically modified… this may or may not bother you. I'll leave it up to you to decide. 

Rice Protein

Not only does rice protein powder have protein, but it also includes a good source of complex carbs, B vitamins and even fiber. Downside is that it's not a complete protein… but if you're looking for a good hypoallergenic option, this could be the powder for you. 

Pea Protein

Pea protein has become a rising star in the protein world. It's hypoallergenic, vegan friendly and has few additives or artificial ingredients. It's a great choice for those looking for a protein powder closest to the whole food source. The downside is that it's not a complete protein. 

Hemp Protein

This superfood has a great mix of essential fatty acids (aka aids in brain function) and a great fiber content. It's also a complete protein, hypoallergenic, and vegan friendly. Sounds great, right? There is a downside (womp, womp) it's often the most expensive protein powder you can buy. 

As you can see, the protein powder world is pretty vast. Hopefully now you feel a little better equipped to navigate those aisles… you may even teach those health store workers a thing or two. Another thing to keep in mind is you get what you pay for. Low cost proteins usually mean artificial ingredients and inexpensive blends. If you suffer from bloat or a tummy ache after drinking your protein powder, it may not be the type of protein… it could be that your tummy has more expensive taste and that cheap protein blend isn't cutting it.   

Have more questions about protein and powders? E-mail me, I'm happy to help you out!

Thanks for reading!

Leslie 

I couldn't think of a clever name for this one, so we're just gonna call it protein.

I can't decide if this is the easiest or the hardest subject to talk about. I guess it depends on who's reading. Protein is one of those things that people can really go overboard on… or not have enough of it at all. At least in my humble opinion.

Protein differs from fat and carbs in that it contains nitrogen. They're composed of these little things called amino acids that are linked together by peptide bonds. BORING. Lets skip the structure stuff for now and talk about what proteins do. The main roles for protein in the body include structue, enzymes, hormones, transport and immunoproteins…. code for you need them. Just like carbs and fat… surprise! 

So, there's these things called essential amino acids. What that means is our bodies can't make these amino asicds in the right amounts so we have to get them from our diets. There happens to be nine of these… some that might be familar are luecine, isoleucine, phenylalanine… and tryptophan. That's right! That sleepy effect we get from eating too much turkey aka tryptophan is an essential amino acid. You learn something new every day, huh?! 

Ok, so we know that there's essential amino acids now, and you probably could have guessed that there's non-essential amino acids… but did you know that there's limiting amino acids too? (I promise there's a point to all this, a method to my madness if you will). This leads into the idea of complete and incomplete proteins. Without getting super technical, complete proteins contain ALL of these essential amino acids whereas incomplete proteins will be lacking in some. Make sense? Good. So what actual foods are considered incomplete and complete proteins?

Complete Proteins:
Chicken

Turkey

Red Meat

Fish

Dairy

Eggs

Tofu

Chia seeds

Quinoa

Incomplete Proteins:

Legumes

Fruits

Veggies

Nuts

Grains

Seeds

Now for some more good news… you can turn incomplete proteins into complete proteins with a little thing I like to call nutrition magic. First I have to mention that the incompletes have to be separated into two groups. Legumes, fruits, and veggies all have the same limiting amino acids (meaning they don't have enough of the same kind) and nuts, grains and seeds are missing the other essential amino acids. Here's where that magic comes in… Combine one food from each incomplete group and tah-dah!! you have yourself a complete protein. For example, combine almonds and a veggie and you have a complete protein. Impressive?! I think so, but I'm pretty easy to please. 

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: Protein, specifically lean protein, is the key to getting lean. Yep, that's right kids. No magic cleanse, no special pills, just good old fashioned lean protein. It can help boost your metabolism and balance your blood sugar and even help you to stay feeling full. Pretty neat huh?! It takes your body more to digest them which is part of why they can help keep you trim. So, if this is the secret to getting lean then that means if I eat a crap ton of protein then I will have the body of my dreams, right?! Nope, not necessarily. Again, balance should become your best friend when it comes to what you eat. 

Lets talk really quickly about what happens when you eat too much protein. There's this thing called nitrogen balance. Remember how I said that protein is different from carbs and fat in that it has nitrogen?! Well, here's where that becomes important. Nitrogen and other toxins that build up from a very high protein diet can cause some really yucky problems for your kidneys. Maybe not right away, but even if its ten years down the road is it really worth the risk? I have a feeling I'm going to get some grief for this so let me be clear about two things: 1) I won't debate you or argue with you if you disagree with my protein views and 2) I'm not the boss of you so if you eat a ton of protein and love it and know deep in your heart that I don't know what I'm talking about… then guess what, you can eat protein to your hearts content and I can't and won't try to stop you. 

So what's the recommendation? Well for your average person it would be calculated out using 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. If you can figure out what that means for you, in my eyes you would get a gold star for the day. Truth is, it's not a hard equation… but I'm not gonna give step by step instructions and give away all my secrets. Basically if you weigh 140 pounds you would need about 51 grams of protein per day. Now if you're an athlete or work out a lot… and I'm talking like a lot… like ladies you don't wear make up to the gym a lot… then you could increase that to 1.2-2 grams of protein per kilograms of body weight. To put it in perspective, based on your personal goals and activity levels your protein intake should be 10-35% of your daily intake. 

This was a long post. I'm gonna stop while I'm ahead…. or at least while I think I'm ahead. Hopefully you're not completely confused. Remember just because something is a good thing doesn't mean that consuming a ton of it makes it an even better thing. And on the opposite end, lets make sure that we are eating enough of it. I'm telling you, once you unlock the glorious world of nutrition you will see changes in your body, mood, sleep, output, everything else, that you wouldn't have imagined. In case I haven't said it enough in the last few posts, I'll remind you one more time: BALANCE. On another note, I totally did two blog posts this week. If that's not an accomplishment, I don't know what is.

Until next time,

Leslie