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Exercise is not only beautifying, it is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, protecting your heart and lungs, helping you maintain blood sugar levels and providing strength, endurance, and flexibility. Some studies even show that regular intense exercise helps , an essential factor in preventing osteoporosis. In order to sustain quality workouts, however, you must provide your body with the fuel it needs for energy and repair, before, during and after you exercise. Because of this, you need to eat foods from high quality nutrition sources both pre and post-workout.
The foods we eat contain three macronutrients: fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Each of these macronutrients supplies the body with energy. Carbohydrates are our body’s most direct source of energy. This is why you hear of athletes carbohydrate loading before an event – because to do so provides the body with a ready supply of energy for use during intense exercise.
When we eat carbohydrates, our bodies store them in the muscles as glycogen, which it then uses for energy throughout the day. As we exercise, we begin to deplete glycogen from carbohydrates – it typically lasts for about an hour and a half. According to , a fact sheet from Colorado State University, about 50 percent of our body’s energy comes from carbohydrates when we exercise.
Drinking coconut water is a great way to replenish electrolytes lost through sweating during a workout. This is especially important if you are exercising in a hot environment. I recommend drinking coconut water during sustained workouts, as well as after exercising. Look for natural, unsweetened brands in the bottled beverage section of your grocery store.
If you workout later in the day, eating some quinoa at lunch can provide you with carbs and protein for energy and muscle repair. It’s a fantastic energy food. Eat this superfood a few hours before you workout.
If you will be participating in a sustained workout, eating an avocado a few hours beforehand can provide valuable healthy fat for that energetic boost when carbohydrate depletion occurs.
Eating nuts and seeds at dinner can give you energy for evening workouts because they cover all of your macronutrient bases, containing carbs, protein, and fat. Eating a few nuts and seeds during sustained exercise can also provide a boost of energy to keep you going during endurance activities.
Banana is one of the most perfect pre and post workout foods as they are full of complex carbs, minerals such as potassium and fiber. Our close genetic relatives, chimps, eat bananas in bunches and thrive. Once you’ve stabilized a Candida condition, you too can enjoy bananas and other sweet fruits. I personally eat 3+ bananas a day when I’m active, especially in the summer. I find them to be such perfect human foods, and I never gain weight from them as my body is balanced to handle fruit sugars. I actually just ate my third one today while writing this blog…but the day is not over yet!
Eating about ½ cup of this hearty grain an hour or two before exercise will provide you with carbohydrate energy necessary for quick, intense workout sessions.
A great post-workout snack, veggies and hummus will help you replenish glycogen stores while providing a small amount of plant protein for muscle repair and fat for sustained energy. Try my , which substitutes zucchini for chickpeas but has all the protein and calcium included from the tahini (sesame seeds).
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