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What to eat before and after exercising

 

Accompanying the practice of sports with a good diet is essential for our health. We are aware that before exercising we must eat properly and in a healthy way, this is just as important once our exercise is finished, we must also eat precise foods so that our body recovers correctly.

Leading a lifestyle in which sports is key is important, in the same way that accompanying it with a healthy and correct diet, these two factors will help us achieve complete well-being.

What to eat before exercising?

Before exercising we must prepare our body, and provide it with enough energy so that we are able to finish the proposed exercise normally and without harming our body.

We must know that our digestive system does not need the same energy as our body to function, it needs just half. Knowing this, we will look for foods that do not require a lot of energy to be digested, in this way, we will have more energy to perform correctly in the physical activity that we are going to develop.

Carbohydrates and proteins

As we have indicated before, we have to look for foods that are easy to digest. Traditionally, pasta or cereals are sources of carbohydrates, but at the same time, to properly digest these foods, our body needs a lot of energy, in addition to time, between two to four hours.

Thus, since we do not want our body to consume our energy in digesting the food we have eaten, because we need this energy to practice physical exercise, we will look for foods that provide us with the same or similar amount of energy but that are easier to digest .

The importance of carbohydrates in exercise

The best option to fulfill our mission will be vegetables, more specifically green leaves, sweet fruits and also those vegetables that are rich in starch. A good way to consume this type of food is by making a smoothie, known as green smoothies. These recipes will be a good source of nutrition for our body and will allow our body to obtain the energy it needs gradually. Although this is an easy and simple way to eat all the necessary food, we can also eat whole vegetables and fruit.

Protein is also a great source of energy and a good choice to recharge your batteries before playing sports. In the same way that it happens with carbohydrates, there are also foods rich in proteins that our body absorbs more easily and using less energy.

In this case, proteins of animal origin, it is true that they provide us with everything we need to create human protein, but it is more difficult for our body to absorb. If we choose vegetable protein, our body will receive the cleanest proteins and will be able to absorb them more easily.

If what we want to achieve with physical activity is muscles, we must nourish our body with proteins, both essential and non-essential, for this, we can eat a wide range of plant foods, such as cereals, seeds, nuts or dried fruits. legumes, among many others.

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Green smoothie recipe for before exercise

Well, one of the options that we can choose before doing sports is a good green smoothie that gives us a lot of energy and at the same time helps us lose fat and define muscles.

Ingredients:

  • 2 slices of melon
  • Fresh mint
  • Fresh spinach
  • ½ mango
  • ¼ cucumber
  • 2 green apples

Preparation: once we have all the ingredients, clean, chop, blend and… ready to serve!

What to eat after exercising?

Once we finish exercising, our body needs energy and hydration again, which we must provide in the form of food and water.

If we have performed a “cardio” exercise, with intensity and duration, our carbohydrate stores, which are what provide energy to our body and muscles, will be empty due to the effort. In addition, we have also consumed protein during physical exercise.

To recover from this loss of energy and protein that our body has suffered with physical activity, we must provide again what our body lacks, we can do it in the form of food, which provides carbohydrates and protein.

We need to repair and recharge our body, we will achieve this with foods that are very rich in carbohydrates and that are easy for the body to assimilate. Some perfect foods for these cases are fruits, cereals, rice, potatoes or cookies and sweet foods such as raisins, plums or dried apricots. These foods will provide the energy that our body lacks.

In addition, we have also lost protein, so we will also include foods such as milk, cheese, eggs or yogurt, which will help us repair our muscles after exercise.

We must remember that, although we have done physical exercise, it does not mean that we can eat everything and in large quantities to recover energy. We must take into account that we ingest depending on the energy we have used during training. It is important to avoid fatty and unhealthy foods.

Although it is important to eat after physical activity, we must always remember that proper nutrition will help us keep our bodies healthy.

After-workout snack

  • To gain muscle: in addition to hydrating our body with plenty of water, if we want to gain muscle, the ideal ingredients for after exercising will be easily digestible proteins and a little sugar. For example: a glass of milk and a banana, milk with cocoa, an orange juice with honey, a yogurt with oats or a glass of milk and dried apricots or raisins.
  • To burn fat: the main objective is to rehydrate our body, therefore we must drink plenty of water, and if our objective is to burn fat it is advisable not to consume solid food immediately after the effort. For example: an apple, a yogurt with fruit, a glass of milk with dried fruits such as walnuts or almonds, a glass of milk with oatmeal or half a sandwich with whole wheat bread, fresh cheese and tomato.

 

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Hello Readers, I am Nikki Bella a Psychology student. I have always been concerned about human behavior and the mental processes that lead us to act and think the way we do. My collaboration as an editor in the psychology area of ​​Well Being Pole has allowed me to investigate further and expand my knowledge in the field of mental health; I have also acquired great knowledge about physical health and well-being, two fundamental bases that are directly related and are part of all mental health.

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