How I Eat after Exercise

I’m just sick of feeling bad when I eat after working out. How do I eat after exercise? Eating and exercising are two things I love. But my current approach, making one big effort to have healthy food at home and work out, seems like it’s just going to be a big stress on my body, and I’ll feel like my nutrition and energy levels will plummet. The workouts are going to suffer too.

I don’t know why I don’t do it after workouts. But after a workout, I usually find myself feeling like my energy is zero, and I’m going to have a big sugar crash. I eat a meal, but it’s just whatever is left in my refrigerator, and it’s probably not very balanced. (I did find one day that a smoothie helped make me feel good, but I just ate way too much!) I don’t like to take the time to stop and eat during my workouts. Usually, I just eat in a hurry before heading out, and usually something that’s quick and healthy.

But then I usually find I’m hungry again by the time I’m done working out. So then I eat something like a piece of toast (which I’ll feel a lot better about than a bag of chocolate chips!), and eat again at dinner. Even if I ate a meal like that, which probably would have helped me feel better and also helped my muscles recover, it’s not going to be the end of the world. And I’ll probably be better prepared for the next workout!

Would a workout after the workout help? That’s the question. After, I would feel like I was working out twice, or maybe even more than that, because I wouldn’t have made the effort to eat a healthy meal. A workout would still be healthy, right? And so would eating something like a salad after working out.

Here’s how it could work for me. For the workout, I would eat something like an apple, carrot sticks, a banana, a yogurt, or a bagel (I would probably eat that soon after I was done with the workout), and then stop eating for the day. When I got hungry, I’d eat a vegetable shake.

On the other hand, eating after exercising keeps the hunger down and keeps the body hydrated. If you try this type of eating, go for a protein shake, a banana and some fresh fruit. A protein shake is a great option if you’re starving and trying to lose weight.