You want to get the most out of your workout but sometimes it’s hard to time eating – and eating the right food – with exercise, especially if you are a keen early morning exerciser, or even if you work out in your lunch hour. You need energy to fuel your workout and keep you feeling strong, but food consumed before exercise is only useful once it has been digested and absorbed.
Food Provides Energy Needed For Workouts
As a general rule, if you train early you should aim for a light snack about an hour before exercise, so for those early risers, that means getting up a little earlier, having a quick snack before you get dressed and head out the door to give your body time to digest it. Options include some fruit - bananas are great – or a cereal bar along with some fluid such as a glass of milk or juice. Make up for your smaller carbohydrate intake prior to exercise by having carbohydrates after the training session. You don’t want to work out with food still in your stomach – it may cause cramps and could make you nauseous.
A number of studies suggest, however, that if you want to strip fat, it could be a good idea to postpone eating anything till after you exercise, as a greater proportion of fat is used as fuel. This is certainly easier to do if you like to exercise first thing in the morning.
If you work out in your lunch break or after work, the same rules apply, though you will have had breakfast (you have had breakfast haven’t you? There are no points for skipping breakfast!) so you may need a snack mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Again, fruit, a muesli bar, some yoghurt or a handful of nuts and dried fruit and plenty of fluids would be beneficial.
Let Your Own Body Be Your Guide
Most experts agree that you should wait between one to three hours between eating and exercising – an hour for a smaller meal or snack, or three hours for a heavier meal. Your best guide is your own body – do what feels best for you. You may need to experiment with timing and food choices to see what is optimum for you.
One thing is clear – exercise and healthy eating go hand in hand.
