How To Adjust Your Meals Schedule To Your Exercise Routine

Diet and exercise go hand in hand. It is clear that meals should be spaced out five times a day in the appropriate proportions for a healthy lifestyle. When exercise gets in the picture, more questions arise. There is always controversy on how much time should be scheduled after a meal before working out, as well as the best kinds of foods to be eaten both before and after exercising.

Preparation Facts

The food eaten, timing, and the portions all matter before working out. Eating a heavy meal before exercising may result to sluggish feelings, muscle cramps or one may even experience nausea. Since the body requires energy to digest food, blood flow intensifies in the digestive tracks leaving less energy for the muscles, thus the sluggish feelings. Skipping meals before exercise leads to low sugars that make one feel weak and light-headed. 

In order to create moderation between the two, light meals are ideal as they intensify the fat-burning potential of the body. The body requires enough time to digest food and the more food eaten the more the digestion period. 

While heavy foods require one to wait for hours before workout, with a light meal one can engage in exercise after only two hours. The right types of food should also be eaten in order to fuel the workout process. 

Pre-Exercise Diet

Carbohydrates feature the best foods to consume before a work out. The body requires carbohydrates for fuel therefore the pre-exercise diet should feature things like bread, pasta, and energy bars. Fruits and vegetable or low fat yoghurt can also be included in the diet. Protein and fat are not a bad choice either although they are not recommendable an hour or two before a work out. High fiber foods like beans and lentils should be avoided completely, as they are likely to cause cramping. It is also essential that the foods taken tolerate each other to avoid stomach upsets.

Meal Schedule

If you work out early in the morning, you should have a pre-exercise meal early enough. Daytime exercise requires very light pre-exercise meals, although energy drinks are a better option as they digest very fast. Evening workouts should be scheduled hours before dinner so that the dinner can become the after meal.

Proper Nutrition after Exercising

Eating after a workout is very essential as it replenishes the glycogen in the body as well as keeps the muscles recuperated. However, this should not be confused for overeating. If the portions are not well managed one is likely to even gain more weight. The first step after exercising should involve replenishing the body with plenty of fluids like water and healthy juices. 

The foods eaten should feature all the elements of a balanced diet from complex carbohydrates to protein to healthy fats and of course the vitamins. However, a combination of protein and carbohydrates should not be taken within the first two hours after workout. This is likely to cause a double response in the operation of the insulin, which results to the buildup of excess glycogen in the tissues.

Fluids

It is clear that plenty of fluids are required before, during and even after exercising. Two cups of water should be taken before exercise but the intake should remain continuous with the exercising process. 

Dehydration is determined by checking the color of the urine and a light straw color is a good sign that the body is receiving enough water.

Victor Daily is a marketing consultant for 1stavailable.com. He is a passionate blogger with experience in writing about health, fitness and travel related topics.

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