7 Secrets About What to Eat After Workout

Whether it’s a beer, a coffee or dare-we-say-it a muffin, everyone loves the post-run/workout meal.  Let’s face it, it’s a bit of a reward, a celebration of having worked your butt off, and it’s also a fantastic excuse to eat some of the sugars and simple carbs that we avoid most other times. But, while you may be fond of reaching for that glass of chocolate milk, thinking it’s the perfect post-workout meal (it does after all a good carb-to-protein ratio), chocolate milk usually brings with it high-fructose corn syrup, and always the many downsides of dairy.

In search of a better way to refuel, we talked to the team at Eat Fit Food, our go-to for healthy & fresh pre-prepared meals, to help you decide what to eat after exercise, and when to eat it. According to Eat Fit Food, "Inadequate muscle stores of fuel leaves the body in a depleted state hence potentially compromising both immune function and athletic performance. The correct nutrition promotes muscle recovery, allowing your body to be refuelled for the next day."

Ok so, what is the correct nutrition? Here're their 7 secrets about what to eat after your workout:

1. Respect the fuel window

While many of us might be inclined to just jump straight into our cars after a long run or head for the beer tent (Beach Road Hotel anyone?!) immediately after a run event such as City2Surf, nutrition is in fact a key part of recovery. Be sure first to take advantage of that 30-minute post-race recovery period when your body is craving nutrients to replenish itself and your muscles are primed to receive fuel to start the repair process.  “Give your body what it needs when it’s most open and able to absorb it,” says Bianca Monley, Director of Eat Fit Food. It’s ideal to consume a shake, energy bar, piece of fruit, and/or sports drink immediately following a workout or race. Do this BEFORE anything else. 

BUF loves: Eat Fit Food’s fruit beverages and snack bars are the perfect higher GI options to assist in restoring immediate energy losses post exercise.

2. Make it easy to digest

Your muscles need blood to deliver nutrients to them.  The more of that blood that’s tied up in digesting that post race sausage sizzle — sorry, any solid food — the less that gets to your muscles.  Ideally, you should get your immediate post-workout fix in liquid form (we love a superfood smoothie!) BUT here’s the first strike against chocolate milk: Dairy is NOTORIOUSLY hard to digest.

BUF loves: Try this seriously - SUPERfood smoothie

• 1 cup of almond milk (or rice milk)
• 2 scoops of vegan protein powder (animal protein powder’s are notoriously over-processed and acid-forming – see below)
• 1 frozen banana 
• ½ an avocado
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• ½ teaspoon of maca powder
• ½ teaspoon of spirulina
• 3-5 leaves of Kale, washed and chopped roughly.
• Blend and enjoy. Add water if it’s too thickshakey.

3. Get your numbers right

If you like data and need hard numbers, the food or supplement you choose should provide about 0.8 gram of carbs per kilogram of body weight and include protein in a 4:1 or 5:1 carb-to-protein ratio according to "The New Science of Recovery Nutrition."

Carbohydrates replenish glycogen losses (stores of glucose), this protects the immune system from the damages of intense exercise. It is important to be aware of the significance of fast acting carbohydrates (high GI such as  Eat Fit Food fruit juices, the glucouse found in dates or a smoothie) shortly after intense exercise followed by slower acting carbohydrate (such as a lower GI Eat Fit Food meal) within a couple of hours of your long run. This assists with avoiding ‘HITTING THE WALL’ and the promotion of glycogen replenishment, respectively. Protein is essential for Muscle repair; amino acids replenishment straight after an event assists in protein rebuilding/ muscle recovery.

And don’t forget the fat — include about half as many grams of healthy fat as you do protein.  Healthy fats that contain essential fatty acids (e.g. omega 3 oils) help to decrease muscle damage and inflammation following intense exercise.

4. Get out of the acid state

Intense exercise (including a long run) creates an acidic environment in your body.  If you don’t neutralize the acid with what you eat, such as greens or other vegetables and fruits your body will use the calcium from your bones and nitrogen from your muscle tissue to neutralize it.  Also, the vitamins and minerals C, E, glutamine, zinc and probiotics (&prebiotics) found in these foods assist the body in repairing muscle damage, strengthening the immune system and utilizing energy. While intense exercise creates acid,  greens, vegetables, and certain fruits like lemons and limes have a neutralizing effect on your body.  (Yes, we know it’s weird, but lemons and limes are considered alkaline, not acidic, in the body.)   

5. Water & electrolytes

Drink 2 cups of water per pound of body weight lost during exercise. Replace 25-50% on-top of the amount of water and salts lost from sweat and urination during and post intense exercise. While many of us are in the good habit of drinking plenty of fluid when training, the importance of hydrating for a number of hours after finishing training is often overlooked.  Fully re-hydrating the body post event is an essential component of optimal recovery.  

BUF loves: Drinking coconut water to replace lost electrolytes.

6. Nourish your adrenal glands

After the stress of an intense workout (or from caffeine if you included that in your pre-workout drinks), your adrenal glands work hard to release hormones to help you recover and can become fatigued.  To help them recover, add a teaspoon of ground maca, a Peruvian root that provides the added benefits of better sleep and increased libido.  Who says we aren’t always thinking of ways to help our readers!

7. Watch the clock again

An hour or two later, you’ll want to eat again. This time focus more on quality protein.  Eat Fit Food meals are the perfect choice for replenishing after intense exercise as they contain premium-protein meats, complex carbohydrates and the freshest of seasonal vegetables and fruits; which are all essential for muscle repair, minimizing inflammation, immune system protection and energy level restoration.

“We use the best in fresh & seasonal produce by choosing and evaluating each ingredient. Only those with the nutrients which are able to sustain, energise and rehydrate individuals are selected to ensure a quick recovery from exercise,” says Bianca, Director of Eat Fit Food.

If you’re lucky enough to have your  Eat Fit Food meal waiting in your fridge door for you when you get home from your run then don’t forget there’s more you can do that doesn’t involve food — stretching, self-massage and foam rolling, rest, and even wearing compression socks.  

If you’re needing to cook your meal, try this delicious  Eat Fit Food Citrus Marinated Salmon with a Quinoa Salad:

Prep time: 25-35 minutes, Cook time: 10-15 minutes, Serves: 4

Ingredients for salad:

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa 
• ½ cup grated carrots
• ½ cup chopped capsicum
• ¼ cup chopped parsley 
• ¼ cup chopped coriander
• 1 Spanish onion
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp of lime juice
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh ginger
• 1 tsp of fresh chilli
• 1-2 tbsp sheep’s milk yoghurt 

Marinate for the salmon: 

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp of lime juice 
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1 tbsp orange juice 
• 1 tsp orange zest 
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp of lime juice
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 4x 150-200 grams salmon 

Method:

• Rinse quinoa and drain. Add 1½ -2 cups of water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.
• Mix carrot, capsicum, parsley, coriander and Spanish onion in large bowl. Add room temperature quinoa and toss to combine. Whisk together lemon, orange and lime juices, tamari, ginger, garlic and chilli. Pour over salad and combine well. 
• Place all the citrus dressings in a bowel including the salmon and let it marinate for 10-15 minutes. Lightly pan-fry the salmon until slightly pink in the middle. 
• Serve salmon on a bed of the Quinoa salad and a dollop of sheep’s milk yoghurt.

Utensils:

• Chopping board
• Mixing bowl
• Small bowl for ingredients
• Frying pan 
• Pan for the quinoa
• Measuring spoons
• Lemon juicer
• Lemon zester
• Grater

Enjoy!