What to Eat Before and After the Gym

 

We all go to the gym with the intention of being as healthy as possible and looking as great as we can. Maybe meeting the person of our dreams there does cross our mind, but first two reasons are usually the main reasons. Get the most out of your strenuous workouts by providing your body with proper nutrition before and after your sweat session.

If you are in that ‘weight loss’ frame of mind, you may be reluctant to eat at both of these times. It makes sense to think that no calories in plus extra calories burned results in weight lost. While that math may make sense, take into account that if you are not eating your body will not work as efficiently and it will start to burn muscle as a way of compensating for lack of fuel. I know there are those people who are just not a fans of eating before a gym session, and I always tell them to try to get something, even if it’s small, in your stomach for your body to work off of. To wake up and go to the gym without eating is not uncommon, but remember that after sleeping for 8 or so hours, your body is kind of in a shut down, fasting mode. If you work out without waking your metabolism up with food, your body may slow down even more, as a defense mechanism. Start your metabolism going even before you hit the gym so you will burn fat, instead of muscle.

To be simple, similar snacks can be eaten before and after working out. Try and eat a slightly larger portion after your workout, and be sure to eat it in that 1-hour window after your workout ends, while your body is sill burning calories at a elevated rate. The ratio of your meal should be 40/30/30, meaning 40% of it is protein, 30% is complex carbohydrates, and 30% is fat.

Some examples of what I like to fuel my body surrounding my exercise are:

½ a protein bar before, ½ after. I like ThinkThin bars, Zone, or CarbRite bars.

A cup of Greek yogurt mixed with a scoop of no-sugar whey protein powder.

A protein shake (whey powder, ice, almond milk or coconut milk, and any extras you like i.e. unsweetened cocoa powder, instant coffee, frozen fruit) and a handful of almond.

Egg white sandwich with the bread being a hearty, complex carbohydrate such as a multigrain English muffin.

Gluten-Free: Diet Trend or Healthier Alternative?

A few years ago if you mentioned a gluten-free diet to anyone, you probably would have seen a lot of shrugs and raised eyebrows in return. Well those times are long gone. Thanks to the celebrities who glamorize this style of eating, ‘gluten-free’ has turned into a full on movement that seems to have everyone looking twice at the source of their carbs. Gwyneth Paltrow praised it on her blog, Elizabeth Hasselback wrote a book exclaiming she ‘couldn’t live without this diet’, while Victoria Beckham, Rachel Weisz, and Zooey Deschanel are all vocal about strictly cutting gluten out of their lives. It is not hard to see how people might want to emulate this hot new trend among Hollywood A-listers, and these days it is hard to find a restaurant or coffee shop in southern California who’s menus do not include some ‘gluten-free’ options. But is this diet that is taking the country by storm actually the healthier choice, or are we being blindly influenced by the media?

As with any diet, there are pro’s to this one, especially for people with Celiac disease. As many as 1 in 100 people have Celiac disease, although 95-97% of them are undiagnosed. In addition, it is estimated that 20 million Americans are gluten sensitive, a milder form of the gluten-intolerance known to those with Celiac. One good thing about the gluten free craze is that it has brought a lot of light to the harmful effects that gluten can have (if you are in fact gluten sensitive or intolerant) causing many people to get tested and finally, diagnosed.

Celiac disease is an auto-immune digestive disorder that causes damage to the small intestine and is triggered by the consumption of gluten. This damage (caused by the protein found in gluten) prevents the body from properly absorbing nutrients and fat, and often leads to weight loss. The lack of vitamins, resulting from this malabsorbtion, can potentially cause damage to the brain, nervous system, and various organs. The only treatment for Celiac is a lifelong diet that excludes gluten. This disease is hard to diagnose because its symptoms, including abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, unexplained weight fluctuations, fatigue, and headaches, can be caused by a number of other ailments. Manifestations are generally seen within 20 minutes of consuming gluten and because they are often dismissed or attributed to other conditions, it unfortunately takes an average of 11 years for a person to be properly diagnosed.

Often people will praise the ‘G-Free diet’ as the cause of their weight loss. However, this may not be because of the lack of gluten, but rather because of a new awareness of caloric intake. People tend to be more conscious of what they are putting into their bodies if they make a committed decision to stick to a regimented eating plan. The gluten-free diet will also cause people to pay special attention to all of the carbohydrates they are consuming, likely resulting in eating less carbs all together.

Because adopting this diet is a current trend of celebrities, it is frequently assumed that gluten free equals health and fitness. There are, however, some negatives that may go along with the diet that can easily be overlooked thanks to its famous promoters.If you’re not careful, going gluten free can actually cause an increase in your weight. When you remove gluten from food, its texture will change. Mass-produced gluten-free products can easily have twice the amount of fat, carbs, and or sugar as those with gluten, in order to get a similar texture. If that’s not enough, many ‘gluten-free’ foods are lacking in vitamins and minerals compared to their regular counterpart. One may think he or she is making the ‘healthy’ choice, while unknowingly consuming nutritionally inferior foods.

According to the Nielsen Co., the sale of these gluten-free products is estimated to become a $2.6 billion dollar industry by next year. ‘Gluten-free’ products are already two to three times more expensive then foods made with wheat, oats, etc. and sales are still on the rise. This craze shows no signs of slowing down and while it does have positives, don’t assume that you are bettering your health by switching to gluten-free. Basically, if you’re body can tolerate gluten, stick to eating as much unprocessed foods as possible, as that is always the healthiest route.

If you want to experiment with making the switch to ‘gluten-free’, or just try to cut down a little on the gluten that you consume, you may initially feel confused about where you are supposed to get carbohydrates. Don’t worry, as soon as you start looking, you’ll find there are gluten-free options everywhere (just try to make sure that they are as natural and unprocessed as possible). Products made with corn, quinoa, buckwheat, almond flour, and black or brown rice are all great (slow-digesting carbohydrate) options. If you start buying products such as corn tortillas, brown rice pasta, and wild rice, you’ll find your desire for those starchy ‘white’ carbs will diminish naturally.

Some of my favorite gluten-free options:

Johann’s Bakery

Food For Life

Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Pasta

My Philosophy

I have been working in the nutrition field for 20+ years and have grown a lot over the years of continuing my education and working with thousands of clients.  The biggest problem I have encountered that seems to get people in trouble, confused, and unhealthy, is believing in a certain “diet” program and trying to follow it no matter what.

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Q: Should I Be Counting Calories?

Coreen: I usually get this question about counting calories a few minutes after discussing a menu plan I set up for a client.  The reason is that many people panic when they see the amount of fat I include in their plan.

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Overcoming Guilt About Dieting

Is guilt your motivator for dieting?  How is that working for you?

Most of us have fallen into a fad diet at some point and find ourselves feeling guilty throughout the diet.  From all the clients I’ve seen, I can tell you that neither guilt nor popular diets are the way to a trim waist or a stress-free life.  Watch this video below to learn the truth about:

• Why popular diets don’t work and why the weight always sneaks back on
• What the best indicators for success are for fat loss
• How to stop yo-yo dieting and overcome the guilt
  

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