After 50, we need to be more intentional about our workouts, and that includes AFTER our workouts. After a vigorous exercise session, you may wonder what to eat after a workout, or even if you should eat after a workout. Whether your workout is for muscle gain or weight loss, the right nutrition and timing afterwards can be beneficial. There are however, some small differences you should consider, depending on your workout goals. This is particularly important for us folks over 50–we can’t metabolize as efficiently as we used to. In this article we offer some easy tips and suggestions of when and what to eat after a workout. After all, readers here are looking for a Better Life After 50. One quick reminder, this article is about what to EAT after a workout, but don’t forget to also drink plenty of water to hydrate.
Is It Okay To Eat Immediately After A Workout?
Let’s get right to the point. Some studies have shown that you should eat within 30 minutes of a workout, although newer research shows that you can wait for up to two hours and still get the benefits. The amount of time you should wait before eating depends, to a good degree, on whether your goal is muscle gain or weight loss.
When it comes to muscle building, it is important to replenish your body with nutrients after a workout. Our muscles use up glycogen (fuel) during a workout, and because muscle resynthesis (growth) and glycogen replenishment are most active right after exercise, we want to refuel fairly quickly. While the optimal time to eat after (and before) a workout depends on the person and the activity, the general rule is intake of a healthy meal 30 to 45 to minutes afterwards. If your goal is weight loss, the best time to eat after a workout is similar but slightly relaxed. The recommended time is 45 to 60 minutes after your workout.
What To Eat After A Workout To Build Muscle
Many people mistakenly think they need to shove in the protein right after a workout, but this is not necessarily the best approach. A balanced meal of protein, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and fat is ideal for muscle recovery. It is not always practical to have the perfect mix. Just remember protein and carbohydrates help build muscle and repair damaged tissue. Making sure to include at least protein and carbohydrates will not only help with recovery, it will help you avoid overeating the next day.
A good post-muscle building work out meal is a can of tuna with crushed whole grain crackers, pepper, and extra-virgin olive oil. It contains protein and carbohydrates that will help boost your insulin levels (which will drive nutrients into your muscles) and a healthy fat. Other good food choices include grilled chicken and fish, and quinoa–a complex whole grain containing protein, carbohydrates, and fiber. As an extra tip, try adding spices to your meal to increase nutrient absorption and speed up muscle repair.
What To Eat After A Workout To Lose Weight
We are still talking a mix primarily of proteins and carbs here. There is a lot of information floating around about limiting carbs, so do your research. When our goal is weight loss, don’t forget carbs are important for recovery after a workout. Carbohydrates replenish our supply of glycogen, which is a storage form of glucose. This refueling will give the body the energy it needs to recover. Again, a proper balance of carbohydrates and protein is what we are looking for.
So what is a proper balance of protein and carbs for an after weight loss workout? Assuming we are talking about cardio, the National Library of Science thinks the optimal mix is 1 part protein to 3 parts carbohydrates. Try a chicken breast with brown rice, tuna on wheat toast, or turkey in a tortilla wrap. There are almost endless combinations, depending on your taste. It is also best if you don’t have a heavy meal after the workout. The combinations work fine as a small snack and don’t forget you could simply opt for a protein shake, since most of them contain carbs and fiber too.
What To Eat After A Workout In The Morning
Replenishing the body’s fuel after a workout by eating the right kinds of proteins and carbs, is especially important if you workout in the morning. This is because your body needs energy to perform for the rest of the day. The best post-workout breakfast is one that combines carbs and protein in either a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio. After 50 folks, like me, should probably stay in the 3:1 range. If your workout is in the morning, you may not always have time to consume a full meal. Fortunately, a small snack will do the trick.
What To Eat After A Workout At Night
A late-night gym session can be great, but it can also leave you feeling hungry and affect your sleep. We are going to add one more slight wrinkle for night workouts. In addition to the ubiquitous protein/carbs mix, we need electrolytes. Electrolytes are just minerals in your blood that carry an electric charge. They can affect how your body functions. When we work out we lose electrolytes through sweat. We need to replenish them either through food or drink. Unfortunately, water does not contain electrolytes, but there are easy alternatives. For instance, coconut water and supplements are easily available and there are many foods high in electrolytes. These include spinach, kale, avocados, broccoli, beans, almonds, peanuts, watermelon, bananas, fish, and many more.
Adding electrolytes to our protein and carbohydrates are the perfect fuel to help you recover from a late workout without jeopardizing quality of sleep.
What Not To Eat After A Workout
Avoid food high in fat content and sugar. Bad choices after a workout, any workout, include salty snacks and highly processed foods, like delicious sour cream and onion potato chips. These are not only unhealthy but also don’t replenish nutrients we need after working out. By contrast, foods like bananas or avocados are beneficial in replacing nutrients and (in the case of avocados) healthy fats.
Now, olives are a good source of electrolytes and electrolytes are important. But putting olives in a martini brings up another issue. Alcohol after a workout is a no-no.
Conclusion
The importance of refueling our bodies after a workout is often overlooked, especially by us over 50 folks. We tend to focus on the workout and getting it over with and done. But the work doesn’t stop there, if we want to make real gains in either building muscle or losing weight, or both, we need to consider replacing nutrients lost during exercise. Fortunately, it’s a pretty easy fix. We don’t have to go overboard, we just need to put a little thought into when and what we consume after working out. We hope we have given our readers some easy tips to consider. We will update this page periodically as we discover new and relevant content. We welcome your thoughts and questions on this article and, as always, we welcome your thoughts and comments below.
Very educational and to the point. I appreciated the information and it didn’t take 80 paragraphs to get to the point.