Post Workout Meal Nutrition -

 

The post workout meal (the meal you eat after a workout) is probably the most important meal of the day for anyone who is into nutrition and fitness. However, in a lot of cases this importance also leads to confusion. Maybe it's because of the many ready-made shakes available. Maybe it's the trouble with fitting it in with the rest of your diet. Maybe it's just generally not knowing whether you should even eat anything after you've worked out. Whatever it is, something about it confuses people.

The truth is, once you understand the basics of what nutrients your body needs and doesn't need after your workout, and what the best sources are to get this nutrition from, the post workout meal will probably become the most simple and quick meal of your day. And, luckily for you, I just so happen to be explaining all of this information in this very article.

What you should and should NOT eat after a workout.

Simply put, aside from water (which you should already know you need) your post workout meal needs to contain 2 things, and it needs to not contain 1. You should be eating protein and carbs. You should NOT be eating fat. More on the protein and carbs you need a little later. First, let's start with a quick explanation of why you shouldn't eat fat after a workout.

Many times throughout this website I explain why fat is NOT a bad thing (when it's the "good" fat) and why it is an important part of everyone's diet. However, there just happens to be a certain time when fat (good or bad) wouldn't be good to eat. This of course is in the post workout meal. Simply put, fat slows down digestion. In this case, it would be slowing down the digestion of protein and carbs. This, as you're about to find out, is the exact opposite of what you want to happen.

At this point you should really have just 3 questions about your post workout meal:

1 - How soon should I eat it?
2 - How much protein and how many carbs should I eat?
3 - What foods should the protein and carbs be coming from?