When is the best time to eat???

[DiDi]

Is it better to eat before of after your workout?
I have been eating my dinner right after my workout. I tend to eat around 7:00pm. This would be my biggest meal of the day.
I usually have Special K and a cup of coffee in the morning.
An apple around 10:00. Lunch will be salad with tuna and dinner is what ever the family is having. I also allow myself a cup of tea and small lowfat snack before going to bed.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should improve my way of eating? I only need to lose about 5 pounds but would like to gain alot of muscle. I am currently 5'3" 120 pounds.
I am on the S&H rotation for three weeks doing cardio every day and power hour on sunday.
Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[Bobbi]

Hi, DiDi,

Eating a little after your meal to replenish your depleted glycogen supplies is a great idea. On the other hand, if your meal was a few hours before your workout and quite large, the nutrients you consumed are present and your body can utilze them. Looking at your intake, I would recommend that you eat a larger breakfast. Add some yogurt, cottage cheese, or egg whites to add protein which slows digestion and makes you feel more full. Do you get hungry during the hours between breakfast and lunch? Your lunch looks fine. As for dinner, if you make your breakfast hardier and perhaps add something to your snack, like nuts or soybeans, you can easily lighten up your dinner. That way whether you eat before or after, you'll be less likely to experience any problems. Have you ever heard the adage that you should: "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper"? You might take a look at your daily nutrient requirements, and break all your food into smaller meals, eating every few hours. If I had coffee and cereal for breakfast I'd be starving by 10:00! If I work out before I eat, I eat a large breakfast of coffee, 4 egg whites with salsa and feta on toast or a tortilla, plus fruit. I follow it with green tea and honey. If I eat breakfast first, it's fruit and cereal. Then after the workout, I'll eat a combo of carbohydrate and protein to replenish and repair muscles. Good luck with whatever you decide! I know you'll get some great advice here and you'll find something that works for you!

Bobbi http://www.plauder-smilies.de/chicken.gif Chicks Rule!

 

[Kath]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-22-02 AT 12:35PM (Est)[/font][p]Didi, I just got two excellent books at the library on this subject, I think I learned about them here. One is Strong Women Eat Well by Miriam Nelson, the other (my fave) is Eat Smart Play Hard by Liz Applegate. Liz's book seems more athlete-minded and I am learning a lot about how to eat based on my exercise schedule and needs. For example I would eat a skimpy dinner, followed by no breakfast, and try to go for a morning run...then end up walking halfway. You can't perform if you don't eat, and you don't get thinner and fitter if you can't peform.

The book also has detailed examples of how to plan your meals if you're an am, midday, or pm exerciser.

She gives examples of foods that are healthy but should not be eaten before exercise anyway (apples, oranges.) There is a lot of surprising info. I highly recommend these books, I plan to buy copies of both and they'll be well used. Kath

 

[DiDi]

>[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-22-02
>AT 12:35 PM (Est)[/font]
>
>Didi, I just got two excellent
>books at the library on
>this subject, I think I
>learned about them here.
>One is Strong Women Eat
>Well by Miriam Nelson, the
>other (my fave) is Eat
>Smart Play Hard by Liz
>Applegate. Liz's book seems
>more athlete-minded and I am
>learning a lot about how
>to eat based on my
>exercise schedule and needs.
>For example I would eat
>a skimpy dinner, followed by
>no breakfast, and try to
>go for a morning run...then
>end up walking halfway.
>You can't perform if you
>don't eat, and you don't
>get thinner and fitter if
>you can't peform.
>
>The book also has detailed examples
>of how to plan your
>meals if you're an am,
>midday, or pm exerciser.
>
>She gives examples of foods that
>are healthy but should not
>be eaten before exercise anyway
>(apples, oranges.) There is
>a lot of surprising info.
> I highly recommend these
>books, I plan to buy
>copies of both and they'll
>be well used. Kath
>

 

[DiDi]

Thank you ladies for the excellent advice.