Workouts feel great and let endorphins flow so the time after your workout can be wonderful. However, powerful training consumes your body’s energy and challenges your muscles. So you need to refuel to feel good all day long.
However, if you eat the wrong thing after your workout, you can undo all the good that you have just done for your body and feel flabby and tired again. However, choosing the right one can be exhausting. We think it’s easier to avoid the bad things and leave lots of great foods to choose from after your workout.
The following are the foods you should avoid when taking an endorphin.
1. Sugary Shakes
There are many protein shakes and powders advertised as healthy, but many of them contain too much sugar to be honest. Others contain absurd amounts of fillers, chemicals and other fillers.
You can still shake quickly after your workout. It’s a quick and easy way to replenish your body. It is important that you choose a brand that is low in sugar and free of problematic additives. A good powder brand is Form Nutrition, which is delicious in a smoothie that contains unsweetened almond milk, whole oats, some ice cream and the fruits of your choice.
2. Processed Energy Bars
Convenience is king in a world where we can fight to find time to exercise, let alone to prepare a healthy meal after training. Energy bars are a big help when you need to run away. However, the same problems affect many brands of energy bars like protein shakes: too much sugar and too many unspeakable ingredients.
If comfort is a top priority, a banana or a handful of walnuts is just as simple and natural. But if you need something that can be carried in your sports bag, Rxbar and Sakara are low-sugar energy bars.
3. Low-carb Meals
Despite popular belief, carb ohydrates are not the enemy, especially after exercise. Our body needs carbohydrates as a ready fuel source and exercise burns through its supply. Your post-workout meal needs to be replaced.
But not all carbohydrates are the same. Highly processed carbohydrate sources, like everything that is made with white flour (bread, pasta, cookies), increase blood sugar and then burn quickly. A better option for post-workout carbohydrates is fruit.
Bananas, kiwi, strawberries and blueberries are a great source of carbohydrates, as these carbohydrates are provided with enough fiber to modulate the rate at which natural sugar gets into the bloodstream. This means sustained energy all day long. The fruit is also filled with antioxidants and important nutrients to keep your body strong.
4. Sports Drinks
Despite the tireless marketing on the contrary, most physically minded people do not need energy drinks to stay healthy. If you don’t really struggle all day every day, normal water is perfect for rehydration.
You feel great with sports drinks because they contain a lot of sugar, but this rush is temporary and will eventually leave you in a hole. The so-called electrolyte balancing component is sodium, which is lost through sweating. Most of us, however, are already consuming too much sodium all day long, so there is no real consumption after training.
If you are concerned about electrolytes, raw coconut water is a better option not to raise your blood sugar level.
5. Salty Processed Foods
It is natural to crave salt after training because we lose something through sweat. Sodium works in conjunction with potassium to support your kidneys and control blood pressure. Potassium and water are also lost during exercise.
This explains why we may want to have a sports drink after training, but there are much healthier ways to replenish lost electrolytes. The above banana and a handful of walnuts and a glass of water balance your electrolytes without the addition of processed sugar and chemical additives.
However, it is important to note that you have not drained your electrolytes significantly unless you have exercised vigorously for 90 minutes or more.
6. Fried Foods
If your workout makes you hungry, fried foods can fill you up quickly. But they also slow down your digestion, making you feel slower than being revived. The high trans fat content does not really benefit your body, clogs your arteries and increases the risk of heart disease.
Instead, look for a post-workout meal that contains micronutrients and other nutrients that nourish and protect the body. Fish or chicken that has been baked or steamed instead of fried, along with brown rice, grilled vegetables, or baked sweet potatoes, make for a hearty meal that increases your energy rather than exhaustion.
7. Caffeine
Caffeine can give you a good boost of energy before training, but you can wait a few hours for another cup of coffee after training. Caffeine can dehydrate and the time after exercise requires attention to return the lost water to the body.
Another problem with caffeine after exercise is that it increases cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is critical to healthy functioning, but increases inflammation too much and causes cardiovascular problems and hormonal imbalances.
Cortisol is released when we exercise and when we consume caffeine. In the recovery phase after training, it is therefore better to let the body process cortisol naturally than to add more.
8. Nothing
Even if you are not very hungry after training, it is important to eat something. Your body has just done hard work and used up all of its energy. So eating extends the benefits by offering what you need to rebuild muscles and make all body systems work optimally.
If you really don’t like the idea of eating solid foods, a good low-sugar shake or protein shake can provide you with water and critical nutrients without weighing you down.
Ultimately, post-workout nutrition involves rehydrating and replenishing your body with the nutrients it needs to relax. Avoiding food can cause your body to break down muscle tissue to find energy, which is the opposite of what you want. So the best rule of thumb is to rely on fresh fruits and vegetables, lean sources of protein, and whole grains. Skip the rest and you will be golden.
