Your Fitness

 We put a lot of thought and effort into our three main meals of the day but we rarely give much thought to maybe what is the second most important meal of the day:  your post workout meal.

If you have just finished an exhausting workout, you have depleted your body of  glycogen, amino acids, nutrients and oxygen.  You body is in a state of what is called catabolism.  In this state you body is breaking down muscle and tissue.  You need to reverse this.  You want to put yourself in a state of muscle and tissue repair.  And you need to do this rather quickly, within the 30 - 45 minutes.  You must give you body what it is craving.

So what is the best thing that you can give to your body at this point?  I would start with carbohydrates, not complex carbohydrates but rather simple ones.  You wants foods that can be quickly digested so that your glycogen levels with begin to restore to their previous levels.  Something like Gatorade (or another sport drink) will do the trick or you can eat a piece of fruit.

But carbohydrates are not the only thing your body is needing.  You muscles have been beaten and damaged and need some protein to help build them back up.   Again you want a food that will be quickly digested.  So I would suggest that you use a Whey Protein supplement.  Whey protein is easier to digest than other protein types.  If you don’t want to spend the money on protein supplements then I would suggest a few glasses of chocolate milk.  Milk is always a great protein source.

Strive for a ratio of 2 grams of carbohydrates for every 1 gram of protein.  You can adjust the size of what you eat according to your particular calorie intake.

By the way, stay away from fat in this meal.  Although you need fat in your diet you don’t need it in you post workout meal. Fat will slow the rate at which the nutrients get into your system.

So make sure you spend some time thinking out your post workout meal.  It is essential to your progress in achieving your goal of overall fitness.

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