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After a workout, here’s what we need to eat and drink to get the results we want!

Your Post-Exercise Fluid Needs
Most moderate exercisers will lose about one quart (4 cups) of fluid per hour of exercise, so try to drink about 16-20 ounces of water shortly after your workout to aid the recovery process. If you sweat a lot or the weather is hot and/or humid, consider weighing yourself before and after exercise, and drinking an ounce of water for every ounce of weight you’ve lost. Because heavy sweating also causes loss of minerals and electrolytes, consider using a sports drink with electrolytes if you need to replace more than 2-3 cups of fluid.

Your Post-Exercise Meal or Snack
As long as you’re staying within your overall range for the day, you don’t need to be obsessive about matching the following calorie and nutrient ratios perfectly.  Just be careful not to fall into the very common trap of thinking that it’s OK to eat anything and everything in sight because you just worked out.

Believe me, as a spin instructor, this is very common. I see it all the time, and it’s easy to do if we do not properly fuel our bodies before the workout. Many people are very hungry after a workout, making it easy to eat more than you really need, or choose foods that won’t really help your body. Eating too much of the wrong thing can do the opposite of what you want—and cause your body to store those calories as fat instead of using your post-workout food to refuel and repair your muscles.

So what does the ideal meal or snack look like?
Awe. Great question… Ideally, try to eat enough calories to equal 50% of the calories you burned during your workout. So if you burn about 600 calories during your workout, try to eat 300 calories afterward. This is not hard to do.

First, please do not worry about undoing the calorie-burning benefits of your workout–that’s not how weight loss works. In fact, eating will fire up your metabolic rate a bit. So, when we combine a fat burning workout, with the thermogenics of eating. That’s a powerful fat burning combination. As long as you’re eating
within your recommended calorie range (whether for weight loss or maintenance), you’ll be on your way to reaching your goals.

Carbohydrates.
After a hard workout, roughly 60% of the calories you eat at this time should come from carbohydrates. Contrary to popular belief, your body needs more carbohydrates than protein after a workout, to replace the muscle fuel (glycogen) you used up and to prepare for your next exercise session. Moderate
exercisers need about 30-40 grams of carbohydrates after an hour of exercise, but high-intensity exercisers need more—around 50-60 grams for each hour they exercised.

If you have some favorite high-carb foods that are lacking in the whole grains and fiber that are often recommended as part of a healthy diet, this is a good time to have them! Your body can digest refined carbohydrates faster during your “refueling window,” but if you’re a whole foods foodie, don’t force yourself to eat processed foods.

Protein.
While carbs are essential, it’s also important to include some high-quality protein in your post-workout meal or snack. This protein will stop your body from breaking down muscle tissue for energy and initiate the process of rebuilding and repairing your muscles. About 25% of the calories you eat after a workout
should come from protein—that’s about 10-15 grams for most people.

Fat.
Fat doesn’t play a big role in post-workout recovery, and eating too much fat after a workout won’t help your weight control or fitness endeavors. Only 15% (or less) of your post-workout calories should come from fat—that’s less than 10 grams.

How soon should you eat?
The ideal time to eat after a workout is within 30 minutes to two hours, when your body is ready and waiting to top off its fuel tanks to prepare for your next workout.

But if your appetite or schedule doesn’t allow you to eat a meal right after you exercise session, don’t panic. Your body can still replace your muscle fuel over the next 24 hours, as long as you’re eating enough food to support your activity level. If you can, have a smaller snack that contains carbs and protein as soon
after exercise as possible. Liquids like smoothies, shakes, or chocolate milk, and/or energy bars can be especially effective snacks after a workout.

Here are some sample food combinations for your post exercise meal:
Bread, a bagel, or an English muffin with cheese or peanut butter
Dried fruit and nuts
Cottage cheese with fruit
Fruit juice with cheese
Yogurt with fruit
Veggie omelet with toast or roll
Chocolate milk
Cereal with milk
Eggs and toast
Turkey, ham, chicken, or roast beef sandwich
Vegetable stir-fry with chicken, shrimp, edamame or tofu
Crackers with low fat cheese
Rice or popcorn cakes with nut butter
Smoothie (with milk, yogurt, or added protein powder)
A protein or energy bar
A protein or energy shake
Pancakes and eggs
Any regular meal that contains lean protein, starch, and vegetables

As a moderate exerciser, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to timing your meals and choosing your foods. The most important thing is getting to know your body and how it responds to exercise, so that you can give it what it needs to perform at its best. Eating the right things at the right time after you work
out is essential to keeping your energy up, your workout performance high, and your body in fat-burning mode.

Wanna go from moderate to turbo-charged?
Do it right and get your body ready for summer. Check out some free tips and fat burning workouts from one of the top fitness experts I recommend, Craig Ballantyne