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Refuel Your Body after Exercise

As you may be aware, the key to burning fat and keeping it off is to add more
lean tissue (muscle) to your frame. This is achieved by exercising and eating effectively, but most people fail to eat what they need at the most crucial time, which is straight after exercise.

Exercise of all kind breaks down muscle tissue. When muscles are worked they develop small tears. To repair these tears and bring your muscles back stronger, you need to eat soon after exercise, ideally between 15-30 minutes after finishing your session. This food should be a combination of protein and carbohydrate that will refuel your energy stores while providing the materials needed to rebuild your body.

With every passing minute, from the time you finish your last exercise, your body is in breakdown mode and becoming less efficient in the recovery process. If you want to drop body fat and build lean tissue to take its place, you need to rehydrate, refuel, and repair your body as quickly as possible.

A combination of carbs, protein, and fluid in the first 30 minutes after your training will speed up your recovery and improve your performance. If you finish your exercise session close to your next meal - breakfast, lunch or dinner within 1 hour then you are covered. If however you finish training mid morning or afternoon you need to ensure that you eat something soon after, and not wait 2-3 hours (maybe more!) until your next meal. By then your body tissue will have broken down considerably and you will not be capitalising on the muscle rebuilding that could be taking place.

Fluid should always come from water. Your carb and Protein needs can vary. Ideally, both for time and effect, you should choose a liquid 'meal' that hits your body fast and gets to work straightaway. Heavy food choices can take too long to digest at this crucial stage. Simply grabbing a piece of fruit will not give you what you need. A fruit smoothie blended with natural yoghurt, on the other hand, will. Other alternatives include something as simple as a glass of milk and an apple. If you are on the run opt for a quality energy bar that is higher in protein. You can find these in the health section of your supermarket.

Alternatively, be prepared and buy a quality protein powder from your health shop, which you can mix with fruit juice, milk or even water.

If you TRULY want results from your exercise then you need to have food on standby afterwards. I don't care how busy you are. It only takes a couple more items a week to be thrown into your supermarket trolley to make a difference.

Gaining lean tissue to combat body fat is hard enough - don't sabotage your efforts by not giving your body what it needs, when it needs it!