Tuesday, August 25, 2009
What to Eat After you Work Out
What to Eat After You Work Out
Refuel and Recover with a Post-Workout Meal or Snack
-- By Dean Anderson, Fitness Expert
Here are some sample food combinations for your post exercise meal:
Bread, a bagel, or an English muffin with cheese or peanut butter
Dried fruit and nuts
Cottage cheese with fruit
Fruit juice with cheese
Yogurt with fruit
Veggie omelet with toast or roll
Chocolate milk
Cereal with milk
Eggs and toast
Turkey, ham, chicken, or roast beef sandwich
Vegetable stir-fry with chicken, shrimp, edamame or tofu
Crackers with low fat cheese
Rice or popcorn cakes with nut butter
Smoothie (with milk, yogurt, or added protein powder)
A protein or energy bar
A protein or energy shake
Pancakes and eggs
Any regular meal that contains lean protein, starch, and vegetables
As a moderate exerciser, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to timing your meals and choosing your foods. The most important thing is getting to know your body and how it responds to exercise, so that you can give it what it needs to perform at its best. Eating the right things at the right times after you work out is essential to keeping your energy up, your workout performance high, and your body in fat-burning mode.
To read the rest of this article, please click on this link
Refuel and Recover with a Post-Workout Meal or Snack
-- By Dean Anderson, Fitness Expert
Here are some sample food combinations for your post exercise meal:
Bread, a bagel, or an English muffin with cheese or peanut butter
Dried fruit and nuts
Cottage cheese with fruit
Fruit juice with cheese
Yogurt with fruit
Veggie omelet with toast or roll
Chocolate milk
Cereal with milk
Eggs and toast
Turkey, ham, chicken, or roast beef sandwich
Vegetable stir-fry with chicken, shrimp, edamame or tofu
Crackers with low fat cheese
Rice or popcorn cakes with nut butter
Smoothie (with milk, yogurt, or added protein powder)
A protein or energy bar
A protein or energy shake
Pancakes and eggs
Any regular meal that contains lean protein, starch, and vegetables
As a moderate exerciser, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to timing your meals and choosing your foods. The most important thing is getting to know your body and how it responds to exercise, so that you can give it what it needs to perform at its best. Eating the right things at the right times after you work out is essential to keeping your energy up, your workout performance high, and your body in fat-burning mode.
To read the rest of this article, please click on this link
Labels: What to Eat After you Work Out
What to Eat Before you Work Out
What to Eat Before You Work Out
Eating Before Exercise for Maximum Results
-- By Dean Anderson, Fitness Expert
If you are a moderate exerciser who tends to perform better with a pre-exercise snack, there are two ways to handle your needs:
1. Eat a small (100- to 200-calorie) snack about 30 minutes before you work out. This snack should include fast-digesting (high glycemic index) carbohydrates and very little fat (which digests slowly), so that you digest the meal quickly and the fuel is available during your exercise session. Here are some ideas:
Fruit juice
Fruit smoothie
High-glycemic fruits like pineapple, apricots, banana, mango, and watermelon
Sports drinks
Pretzels or bagels (but not whole grain varieties, which digest slowly)
Energy bars (look for 3-5 grams of protein, at least 15 grams of carbs, and very little fat)
2. Eat a nutritionally balanced meal 1-2 hours before your exercise. This is the best option for many people. The larger the meal, and the more fat and protein it contains, the longer you may need to wait before exercising. Ideally, try to eat enough calories to equal about half the calories you expect to burn during your upcoming workout. So if you burn about 600 calories during your workout, aim for at least 300 calories during this meal — or a little more if your exercise is “high intensity” (over 75% of your maximum heart rate). At least 50-60% of these calories should come from carbohydrates, which should keep your blood sugar and energy levels fairly stable during your exercise session. Include some protein to help prevent the breakdown of muscle for fuel and give your muscles a headstart on recovery after exercise. Some good food choices and combinations for this kind of meal include:
Fruit and yogurt
Nuts
Oatmeal
Cereals (with more than 3 grams of fiber) and milk
Trail mix with nuts and dried fruit
Hummus and raw veggies
Hard boiled eggs (or egg whites)
Cottage cheese and fruit
Half a peanut butter or turkey/chicken sandwich on whole grain bread
Whole grain crackers with nut butter or cheese
Whole grain fig (or fruit) Newton cookies
Milk (especially chocolate milk)
Tomato or vegetable juice
Yogurt smoothie (with added protein powder, if desired)
Most protein/energy bars
As a moderate exerciser, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to timing your meals and choosing your foods. The most important things are getting to know your body and how it responds to exercise, so that you can give it what it needs to perform at its best. Eating the right foods at the right times before you work out is essential to keeping your energy up, your workout performance high, and your body in fat-burning mode.
To read the rest of the article, click on this link!
Eating Before Exercise for Maximum Results
-- By Dean Anderson, Fitness Expert
If you are a moderate exerciser who tends to perform better with a pre-exercise snack, there are two ways to handle your needs:
1. Eat a small (100- to 200-calorie) snack about 30 minutes before you work out. This snack should include fast-digesting (high glycemic index) carbohydrates and very little fat (which digests slowly), so that you digest the meal quickly and the fuel is available during your exercise session. Here are some ideas:
Fruit juice
Fruit smoothie
High-glycemic fruits like pineapple, apricots, banana, mango, and watermelon
Sports drinks
Pretzels or bagels (but not whole grain varieties, which digest slowly)
Energy bars (look for 3-5 grams of protein, at least 15 grams of carbs, and very little fat)
2. Eat a nutritionally balanced meal 1-2 hours before your exercise. This is the best option for many people. The larger the meal, and the more fat and protein it contains, the longer you may need to wait before exercising. Ideally, try to eat enough calories to equal about half the calories you expect to burn during your upcoming workout. So if you burn about 600 calories during your workout, aim for at least 300 calories during this meal — or a little more if your exercise is “high intensity” (over 75% of your maximum heart rate). At least 50-60% of these calories should come from carbohydrates, which should keep your blood sugar and energy levels fairly stable during your exercise session. Include some protein to help prevent the breakdown of muscle for fuel and give your muscles a headstart on recovery after exercise. Some good food choices and combinations for this kind of meal include:
Fruit and yogurt
Nuts
Oatmeal
Cereals (with more than 3 grams of fiber) and milk
Trail mix with nuts and dried fruit
Hummus and raw veggies
Hard boiled eggs (or egg whites)
Cottage cheese and fruit
Half a peanut butter or turkey/chicken sandwich on whole grain bread
Whole grain crackers with nut butter or cheese
Whole grain fig (or fruit) Newton cookies
Milk (especially chocolate milk)
Tomato or vegetable juice
Yogurt smoothie (with added protein powder, if desired)
Most protein/energy bars
As a moderate exerciser, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to timing your meals and choosing your foods. The most important things are getting to know your body and how it responds to exercise, so that you can give it what it needs to perform at its best. Eating the right foods at the right times before you work out is essential to keeping your energy up, your workout performance high, and your body in fat-burning mode.
To read the rest of the article, click on this link!
Labels: What to Eat Before you Work Out
Monday, August 24, 2009
Trying to Lose Weight with Dancing? Resisting Food Advertising
Resisting Food Advertising (from Duke Diet and Fitness)
Have you ever noticed that the foods advertised the most heavily also tend to have the highest calorie counts and lowest nutritional value? Promoting junk food and fast food is big business. Companies spend millions of dollars a year in an attempt to get you to choose their burger or chip over another brand. These highly advertised foods are plentiful, easy to get, inexpensive, and engineered to taste good.
Ironically, there is little advertising promoting the foods we should be eating — like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and beans and legumes. Bombarded with powerful advertising images saying that nutritionally poor foods are best, it's no wonder we're reaching for the wrong foods! Some have compared the effort of trying to eat healthy in modern society with trying to be a recovered alcoholic in a town with a bar on every block.
How can you maintain a healthy weight in spite of the pressure to eat unhealthy foods? Try these tips:
Get the info. After you see an ad that makes junk food look tempting, boot up your computer, check out the manufacturer's Web site, and find the nutrition information for that food. When you see that the food is packed with calories, fat, or sodium, it probably won't seem so appealing.
Empower yourself to make healthier choices. We've all been in a situation where we need to eat and the only options for miles around aren't particularly healthy ones. If you find yourself with nowhere to go but a fast-food restaurant or convenience store, you need to know which choices are better than others. Reach for fresh foods like salads and sandwiches with lean meat and vegetables. Hold the dressing, mayo, and other high-calorie toppings, or have them on the side so you can easily control them.
At the grocery store, stick to the perimeter. Most heavily advertised, processed snack foods live in the inner aisles of the grocery store. To avoid temptation, skip those aisles altogether (or just pop in to retrieve healthy items on your shopping list). The perimeter aisles, which typically house fresh foods, are where you want to be.
Question the ads. Would you be as tempted to eat that cheeseburger if it were promoted by an overweight and out-of-shape model (which would be more realistic) rather than the thin, fit, happy-looking one taking a bite? Is the food really the best choice for you and your waistline? Do you really "need" it? Probably not!
Social bookmark this blogHave you ever noticed that the foods advertised the most heavily also tend to have the highest calorie counts and lowest nutritional value? Promoting junk food and fast food is big business. Companies spend millions of dollars a year in an attempt to get you to choose their burger or chip over another brand. These highly advertised foods are plentiful, easy to get, inexpensive, and engineered to taste good.
Ironically, there is little advertising promoting the foods we should be eating — like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and beans and legumes. Bombarded with powerful advertising images saying that nutritionally poor foods are best, it's no wonder we're reaching for the wrong foods! Some have compared the effort of trying to eat healthy in modern society with trying to be a recovered alcoholic in a town with a bar on every block.
How can you maintain a healthy weight in spite of the pressure to eat unhealthy foods? Try these tips:
Get the info. After you see an ad that makes junk food look tempting, boot up your computer, check out the manufacturer's Web site, and find the nutrition information for that food. When you see that the food is packed with calories, fat, or sodium, it probably won't seem so appealing.
Empower yourself to make healthier choices. We've all been in a situation where we need to eat and the only options for miles around aren't particularly healthy ones. If you find yourself with nowhere to go but a fast-food restaurant or convenience store, you need to know which choices are better than others. Reach for fresh foods like salads and sandwiches with lean meat and vegetables. Hold the dressing, mayo, and other high-calorie toppings, or have them on the side so you can easily control them.
At the grocery store, stick to the perimeter. Most heavily advertised, processed snack foods live in the inner aisles of the grocery store. To avoid temptation, skip those aisles altogether (or just pop in to retrieve healthy items on your shopping list). The perimeter aisles, which typically house fresh foods, are where you want to be.
Question the ads. Would you be as tempted to eat that cheeseburger if it were promoted by an overweight and out-of-shape model (which would be more realistic) rather than the thin, fit, happy-looking one taking a bite? Is the food really the best choice for you and your waistline? Do you really "need" it? Probably not!
Labels: Trying to Lose Weight with Dancing? Resisting Food Advertising
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