This question comes up almost daily: What should I eat/drink before and after my workout?"
Below are answers.
"Thirty to 90 minutes before exercise, have a snack of easily digested carbohydrates... If you only have the 15 minutes between, say, leaving your office and hitting the gym to grab something, go for a sports drink or a few Saltines." Fuel your workout: exercisers who eat before they work out have more energy and stand to burn more fat------------------------------------------------------
"Most people can eat snacks right before and during exercise. The key is how you feel. Do what works best for you.""To help your muscles recover and to replace their glycogen stores, eat a meal that contains both protein and carbohydrates within two hours of your exercise session if possible.""You'll feel better when you exercise if you eat foods high in carbohydrates and low in fat. Your body stores excess carbohydrates as glycogen — primarily in your muscles and liver. Your muscles use stored glycogen when needed for energy.""When it comes to eating and exercise, everyone is different. So pay attention to how you feel during your workout and your overall performance. Let your experience guide you on which pre- and post-exercise eating habits work best for you."Mayo Clinic: Eating and Exercise------------------------------------------------------
"To make sure you have enough energy, yet reduce stomach discomfort, you should allow a meal to fully digest before the start of the event. This generally takes 1 to 4 hours, depending upon what and how much you've eaten.""Because glucose is the preferred energy source for most exercise, a pre-exercise meal should include foods that are high in carbohydrates and easy to digest. This include foods such as pasta, fruits, breads, energy bars and drinks.""Suggested Pre-Exercise Foods:
Eating before exercise is something only the athlete can determine based upon experience, but some general guidelines include eating a solid meal 4 hours before exercise, a snack or a high carbohydrate energy drink 2 to 3 hours before exercise, and fluid replacement 1 hour before exercise."Sports Nutrition: Eat for Exercise------------------------------------------------------
"The first nutritional priority after exercise is to replace any fluid lost during exercise.""It is also important to consume carbohydrate, such as fruit or juice) within 15 minutes post-exercise to help restore glycogen. Research has shown that eating 100-200 grams of carbohydrate within two hours of endurance exercise is essential to building adequate glycogen stores for continued training. Waiting longer than two hours to eat results in 50 percent less glycogen stored in the muscle.""Research shows that combining protein with carbohydrate in the two hours after exercise nearly doubles the insulin response, which results in more stored glycogen. The optimal carbohydrate to protein ratio for this effect is 4:1 (four grams of carbohydrate for every one gram of protein). Eating more protein than that, however, has a negative impact because it slows rehydration and glycogen replenishment."Sports Medicine: Nutrition------------------------------------------------------
"For your post-workout meal, the best things to eat after a workout are foods that are low in fat, high in lean protein and have a mix of simple and complex carbs." Answer Fitness: Should I eat before or after exercise------------------------------------------------------
"What to Eat Before You Work Out …Most of the fuel you use during exercise doesn’t come from the food you’ve recently eaten! It actually comes from the carbohydrates (called “glycogen”) and fat that’s stored in your muscles, liver, and fat cells. That’s enough to fuel 1-2 hours of very intense exercise or 3-4 hours of moderate intensity exercise. This means that if your overall diet is adequate to keep your fuel tanks topped off, you may not need to eat anything before you work out.""Eat a small (100- to 200-calorie) snack about 30 minutes before you work out. This snack should include fast-digesting (high glycemic index) carbohydrates and very little fat (which digests slowly)...""What to Eat After You Work Out …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. …Roughly 60% of the calories you eat at this time should come from carbohydrates. …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."SparkPeople: Eating after exerciseSparkPeople: Eating before exercise------------------------------------------------------
And keep in mind:
"...it takes the body four to six hours to digest fat, about three hours to digest protein and about two hours to digest carbohydrates…" Fuel your workoutSo if you’re following Scooby’s recommendations and eating 5-6 small meals every day, your body should
always have fuel available, except when you first wake up in the morning.
