Kicking start your exercise routine? Congrats. You have made a right move towards developing healthy body and life! Exercises are meant to overcome so many obstacles. Regular workouts aids in staying fit, weight loss, weight management, pain management, pain relief, controlling over few life style conditions, etc. Now, here comes the most chaotic question, should I eat before or after exercise? What do you think? The answer is simple! You should eat before exercise and avoid doing any moderate to vigorous exercises in an empty stomach! Let us look at briefly why you should eat before exercise!
Should I eat before or after exercise!
Exercises in an empty stomach – No Fat Loss only Muscle Loss
Should I eat before or after exercise, no exercise on empty stomach! The common myth behind exercising on an empty stomach is fat loss! Many believe that doing exercises without eating anything before the session will motivate the body to burn more fat! It is purely a myth! Your body doesn’t have the capacity to burn fat in a starving mode. Rather, it starts to eat away your healthy muscles, which is detrimental to your health.
Whether it is jogging or a training session in gym or yoga, your entire body indulges in vigorous activities. You need energy to work out the muscles, so your body should have sufficient energy to fuel the workout session.
Sugar gives you energy and fuels your body. You need to retain the energy level to perform workout session. When there is no sugar in your body, you will feel lethargic and exhausted! It is impossible to do any exercises feeling lethargic. Again, empty stomach workouts won’t burn fats and calories. According to a recent study on examination between two groups, who followed a workout session on fasting mode and who had sufficient food before the routine, there was no difference in the calories burnt. Beside, the fasting group lost around 10 percent of calories from muscles, not fat!
There is nothing like harming your body hitting the road in the morning without fueling! You can’t burn fat, but also fumes! So, food is fuel!
Should I eat before or after exercise? Only after mild eating!
Eating before exercises helps,
- Fuelling your body muscles and gives strength and stamina
- Minimize hunger pangs as you perform intensely
- Prevents tiredness, headaches and low blood sugar
- Prepares your body and mind to involve in doing the workouts
Even if you walk for 20 minutes in the day, you should not step of your home without having at least a glass of water!
Next, what should you eat before a workout session!
Now, next some what should I eat before or after exercise! What should you eat before you kick start a workout session depends on the intensity of your workout.
Carbohydrates provide instant energy and you can munch on carb foods as well as fruits or veggies before exercises. A glass of milk with a banana, a bowl of cereals, salads, hard boiled eggs and fresh fruit juice provides fuel to workout. A handful of almonds or peanuts or mixed nuts, give loads of instant energy! Guess what, you can get of instant boost in a cup of coffee! Granola bars, smoothies, sandwiches, energy bars, nutty balls, etc are ideal pre-workout foods.
When you pick the foods, make sure you don’t choose fatty foods. Limit your choices with low fat and low carb foods, fruits and veggies, and include proteins.
Quick tips on should I eat before or after exercise:
- Don’t forget to drink fluids before and after exercise as you will feel de-hydrated after an intense workout session.
- Don’t eat any raw sugar foods even they are good source of carbs.
- No eating before and after half an hour exercises.
- Avoid having heavy meals immediately before or after exercises.
So, it is apparent that exercise and eating go hand-in-hand. Follow this religiously to boost your workout sessions effortlessly. Hope you have the answer for should I eat before or after exercise!
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