Post Workout Food
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dr sunshine
Question:
Asked by dr sunshine - 8 answers - 1 year 4 weeks ago
Post Workout Food
Hi!
It's been ages since I visited this site and it's good to be back!
I have a question about post workout food. Just a bit of background before I launch my question:
1. Female, 45yrs old, 5'1" medium build.
2. Exercise regime: 5 days a week. 3 days of running+brisk walking (7.5km) and 2 days of running+brisk walking (3.25km)+ Resistance training. 2 days of rest.Total duration of exercise, including stretching & cooling: 1hr 30 mins.
3. Personal goal: Fit & fab :-)with lean muscle
4. No health issues, no real weight issues, but need to build lean muscle and also tone up midriff.
5. Exercise has always been part and parcel of life, but not am a professional athelete nor do I play any sport.
6. Food intake: I follow Dr D'Adamo's Genotype Diet meant for my Blood Group 0, Hunter category. That translated, means lots of lean red meat, lots of veggies, fruits, limited grains and limited legumes compliant for my type. It's a completely balanced diet.
Here's my question pertaining to my own personal challenges:
1. I used to have a protein shake+ a small banana soon after my exercises and then about an hour later a home cooked b'fast of red meat, vegetables and flaxmeal bread. I never liked drinking protein shakes despite interesting ingredients...and now I have quit forcing myself to drink. So I experimented with eating a bowl of fruits and it really made me feel good. However, I started noticing my midriff expanding! Now that's not good if you have a short neck on a short torso and longer legs. And then came the revelation that fruit sugars arent all that good for us, especially if we eat fruits in large quantities. My total intake of fruits per day was 4C. I thought I was supplying good sugars to my muscles!
OK so now what do I do? I cant eat my big bfast soon after exercises-any smell of food is nauseating. Would a small banana suffice as a post workout energy supplier? I dont want to build muscle and then lose it all to ill planned eating.
I have red meat and fish for bfast & lunch. A soft boiled egg late afternoon and dinner is normally sweet potato, pumpkin, string beans, legumes and green leafy veggies. Dinner is at 7pm, latest 7:30pm and I dont snack after that. Rice is reserved for Sat & Sun.
For building lean muscle and for effective fat burning, am I doing the right thing?
Looking forward to advices and suggestions.
Thanks!
scousemouse78
Hello.
The main fundamentals of weight loss (and it is a very complex subject if you are wanting an eating plan) are: -
1. Eat smaller amounts more often. Eating every 2.5 to 3 hours keeps your metabolism higher and also regulates your blood glucose levels, preventing onset of type 2 diabetes.
2. When you eat, you should have all 3 macro-nutrients - unsaturated fats, carbs and protein. Stick to low-medium GI carbs and vary your proteins as they contain different amino acids.
3. Post-workout you can get re-stock with half a pint of skimmed milk and some a banana. The protein in the milk serves two purposes of saturating the muscle with the essential amino acids, and also combining protein with carbs slows down the carb breakdown, essentially lowering its GI.
Apart from that if your diet is working then i would stick to it.
Chris
dr sunshine
Thank you for your detailed and quick reply Chris, much appreciated!
Dairy and Whey protein give me heart burn and indigestion. So I have to work around traditional foods categories advised normally.
I have a Rice Protein powder, which I used to drink previously. It's just that drinking shakes and smoothies is a chore, and that's why I wanted to know what would be the best food immediately after workout.
There are advices about not eating fat & fibre within the 1st 3 hours...and then there is eating potato and fish/turkey/chicken etc etc., But they all advocate protein shakes as the immediate fuel post workout.
If I ate a small banana soon after my workout and ate lean red meat, leafy green vegetables and seed based carbs say about an hour after that, will I be sabotaging muscle build up and fat burning?
Thanks........
scousemouse78
You want to restrict as much saturated fat as you can while taking in essential amino acids. Your last suggestion for post-workout sounds excellent. You would not need the banana, and make sure your portion of red meat is fist-sized.
When you cook the meat try and extract as much of the fat as you can too.
Can you eat eggs ?? If so, try a couple of poached eggs on wholemeal toast, eggs contain all the essential amino acids you need ;o)
Take care
dr sunshine
Hey thanks a lot for responding!
Yes, fist sized it is-can't do more. In fact all my meals have shrunk in portion size with age ;-)!
OK, when is the best time to have good oils? I take 1 tablespoon flaxoil to get things *moving* first thing in the morning...and that happens to be before I commence my exercise. Is that OK? What about adding extra virgin olive oil to veggies for b'fast? Or should I reserve good oils say for lunch & dinner?
Also, when you say I wont need the banana-well, I thought that was a stop gap fuel measure since my cooked b'fast is almost 1hr after exercise. And I cant eat cooked stuff immediately after workout, the smell of food is quite over powering. So what say you? I ditch the fruit or not..? :-)
So when, do I eat fruit? I notice I get peckish say 2-2 1/2hrs after b'fast...so is eating a small piece of fruit with say a table spoon toasted pumpkin seeds OK?
The reason why I'm asking so many questions is that, I think I over did the fruit in the past...and I dont want to sabotage myself again.
Is soft boiled egg as good as poached egg?
I really appreciate you taking the time and effort in replying my post. Thanks a million!
scousemouse78
all eggs are fine, the damage comes when you cook them in shitty fatty oils like lard.
You can have your banana, its not essential you have it so long as you are eating within that hour though.
try and eat every 2.5 - 3 hours to regulate your metabolism, so yes your fruit is fine then. the british government say you should eat 5 portions of fruit n veg a day... more veg than fruit though definitely.
If you take one portion of flaxeed oil in the morning then take something, try a B cmoplex vitamin, about an hour before bed, as you digest food while you sleep.
and finally, your will want to eat smaller meals either due to what you have eaten previously, or if its a persistent thing then maybe your stomach has shrunk a little.
keep it going
dr sunshine
Thanks Chris!
B Complex before bed keeps me too alert the whole night..so I pop one first thing in the morning with the flaxseed oil.
The Blood Type Diet and the Genotype Diet explained a lot of stuff with regards to *traditional food* that is recommended for anyone who's into actively exercising and sports. If I may suggest...since you're a personal trainer, do take a peek into these 2 books and you'll see that popular diets and nutritional advice are based on one size fits all theory. With your background knowledge on sports and with this new information all your clinets will enjoy the best of what you can advice-like what I gained from you here :-)!
I did badly on wholemeal toast(all wheat products) and potatoes, whey, dairy, orange juice etc., for years and years and couldnt understand why such *good* healthy stuff made me bloated with heartburn, indigestion and joint pains. Then I discovered Dr Peter D'Adamo's works and also discovered to my horror that for a blood type O I was eating all the wrong foods! Once I eliminated these toxins and added my super foods, life has never been the same!
Anyway, thanks a lot for responding to my messages. There will be more questions which will pop up again and again, and I hope you'll continue to respond to them :-)))))))))!
Keep well Chris!
dr sunshine
OK I've had a good week of *restructured* food planning as per the above advices and it seems to sit well with me. Too early to comment elaborately really...
My next question is related to good carbs. My carb intake immediately after exercise and for b'fast is higher compared to protein & fat. Now, what about after b'fast onwards? I eat 6 small meals during my exercise days. Can lean red meat & good fats take a slight precedence over carbs, especially grain derived carbs for meals after b'fast? How does it affect fat burning, repair & building of muscles etc.,?
And what about rest days? I have 2 rest days and I notice that I tend not to want to eat much those days. I dont skip meals but I reach out for a handful of lean meat and greens. Any thoughts...?
Looking forward to hearing from the experts, thanks very much in advance!
dr sunshine
Any one...?