Some Strategies to Eat Healthier When You’re Busy

Some Strategies to Eat Healthier When You’re Busy

by | Jun 9, 2023

Not “having time” in regards to eating better is something I hear often with many of my clients. Admittedly, I also “don’t have” time, some times too. I’m using “quotations” because you’ll make time for something you want bad enough. That being said, time is a limited resource and using the tips below will help you get some time back and eat better.

So, what can you do?

1. Prepare meals in bulk

Whenever you make a meal, make more servings than you need.  That way you can package the intentional leftovers in tupperware containers and reheat later.

2. Find quick, convenient, and healthy recipes

Not all healthy meals take a long to make, so try to find recipes that you enjoy and are healthy that you can make with limited time. I personally really enjoy the Protein Packed Peanut Butter Oatmeal, or Fiber Loaded Peanut Butter Jam Protein Bowl recipes for breakfast. They are quick, nutritious, and keep me full for a long time. And, I get to sleep in longer in the morning because I know I don’t have to get up earlier to ensure I have enough time to make food – this will always make me happy.

3. Pay for convenience

We live in an era where everyone seems to be busy. As such, convenience is now a product and can be bought as an add-on to regular everyday items. You are going to see parts of this point sprinkled into the other points below, but for this point I want to talk about convenience as it pertains to grocery stores. There are convenient and healthy food options at almost all grocery stores now. Yes they are more expensive, but if you want to save on food prep time then there’s value in that. Let me give you a few examples that you can use:

The above are just a few examples, but you get the picture. Are pre-cooked as nutritious and healthy as home-cooked versions? No, but, they are usually a better alternative than whatever other convenient option you were going to choose.

4. Shop for you groceries online

I’ve written a post about this (I Order My Groceries Online, You Should Too) before. Shopping online for groceries really does save a lot of time. You simple create your “cart” online, checkout, and then pick up at the scheduled time. It’s also a lot easier to search certain ingredients online instead of scanning the isles in person.

5. Pay for Pre-made Meals

There are companies out there that will cook your food for you. For example, MealKraft a company based out of Edmonton makes all of its meals on Saturday and drops them off  to their clients sunday.

From a price standpoint, it’s quite affordable for individuals; especially if you’re like me and it’s hard to shop fresh foods in bulk since you likely won’t get around to using them all. For more information about my opinion on pre-made meals, read this.

6.  Use The Microwave

First off, if you haven’t read my post about Microwaves and the nutritional value of foods, no microwaves don’t ruin the nutritional value of food. In fact, of all of the cooking methods out there they retain the nutritional value of food the best. Secondly, I’m not talking about microwavable dinners, I’m talking about preparing everyday foods with the microwave. There are many frozen food items that are healthy and just need to be heated up. Also, frozen is better than canned since it contains much less preservatives – salt usually being the biggest culprit.

You would be surprised what the microwave can do, and how many of the common foods and meals you can prepare with it. I wouldn’t recommend using it for large family gatherings or when the in-law’s come over, because it doesn’t always ensure thorough and even cooking. But hey, when you’re in need of something quick, it works and still allows you to eat healthy.

  • My favourite is making scrambled eggs: whip up some eggs in a mug (+ egg whites if you want extra volume and protein), add whatever vegetables you like, plus a sprinkle of cheese if you love cheese like me, then nuke it for 1 minute. Click Here for some mores ideas.

It can be somewhat of a catch 22 just cooking for yourself, you want make as many extra servings as you can to capitalize on the time spent cooking, but you also don’t want to eat the same thing everyday for the next week. But, It’s hard justifying spending 1 hour to make 1 serving of Salmon, potatoes, and asparagus…

Making home cooked meals is definitely the healthier approach and is usually more cost-effective. How you choose to save time, or not save time, is up to you. My goal was to just talk about a few options that you could use.

Till next time,

-Mike

How & Why You Should Get More Fibre In Your Diet

How & Why You Should Get More Fibre In Your Diet

by | May 10, 2023

Daniel Neuman, RD, has contributed to information in this blog post.

 ***

You have probably heard that fibre is important for your health. But, you may have not fully understood why or how much fibre you need daily. This post will review this by highlighting the health benefits of fibre, and give you a better understanding of what an adequate amount of fibre intake per day looks like.

What Is Dietary Fibre?

Dietary fibre is non-digestible carbohydrate found in plant foods like vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grain cereals, nuts, and seeds. Another way of understanding this: fibre is something we eat but our body can’t breakdown, and there are benefits to this (more on this later).

Fibre can be grouped in two main types – Insoluble and soluble fibre, each type having separate and combined health benefits. Soluble fibre helps control blood sugars and lowers cholesterol. It is found is some fruits and vegetables, and grains like oats and chia seeds (it’s why things like chia pudding and overnight oats absorb water). It is also found in legumes like beans and lentils. Insoluble fibre helps keep you regular. It is found in vegetables and fruit, whole grains, and wheat bran.

How Much Fibre Do You Need?

This article highlights the different recommended amounts, but on average most adults need about 25g per day; this value will change depending on your energy intake requirements (it’s suggested to have 14g for every 1000 calories), which is based on your sex, age, weight, height, and activity level.

Side note: there are no dietary intake recommendations for infants, 1 y of age, because it is assumed that most of the nutrients will be provided by milk for the first 6 mo of life, and there are no data on fiber intake for infants until after 1 y of age.

Health Benefits of Fibre:

  • Promote regular bowel movements
  • Lower cholesterol, and decreased risk of coronary heart disease (2)
  • Diets high in dietary fibre help manage blood sugars more effectively, especially in those with diabetes (12)
  • Diets high in dietary fibre can help with weight management, and improve weight loss outcomes

How Can Fibre Help With Weight Loss?

Getting enough fibre is super important – Average fibre intake in the general population is only about half what is recommended by health organizations like Health Canada and the Heart & Stroke Foundation (14g/day versus the recommended 25-38g/day).

Ample research shows that a getting enough dietary fibre, in addition to many other health related benefits, can help with appetite regulation, adhering to diets, and improved weight loss outcomes.

What Else Does The Research Say?

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (basically, the highest quality study you can have, looking at many well done research studies) found that diets high in dietary fibre improved body weight and waist circumference, especially in overweight and obese adults. Some studies showed increasing fibre helped weight loss independent of how much calories they ate, and that people on high fibre diets stuck with their diet plan longer.

Similarly, two other recent systematic reviews found that dietary pulses (high fibre foods including beans, lentils, chickpeas, and dry beans), as well as soluble fibre supplementation can lead to weight loss even when the diets are not meant to be lower in calories.

The individual research studies on fibre show that dietary fibre may improve your metabolism, improve your gut health (including the bacteria that support digestion), help you stick to your diet longer, and many that look at specific conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, constipation, diverticulitis, and more.

If you haven’t been convinced yet of the magic of fibre, just try increasing fibre in your diet and see for yourself! Or connect with a dietitian to see how you can maximize the benefits of increasing fibre in your diet.

Other Common Questions Answered:

Can I just take fibre supplements to ensure I’m getting enough fibre instead?
Well, you can, but you may be missing out on the synergistic and varied benefits of all the different fibres found in so many different foods.

There is a growing market for fibre in the supplement and food fortification industry. However, supplements usually just use one or two inexpensive forms of fibre that allows them to use fibre in their product health claim. Claims that in some cases may be misleading.

Whole foods on the other hand, contain a variety of different fibres you are unlikely to see in these types of products. I recommend to eat more whole foods. Whole foods naturally have a diverse array of fibres, each with their own health benefit.

I suggest to save your money on supplements and instead buy more vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains!

What happens when you don’t have enough fibre?
The most notable response to diets providing very low levels of fiber intake is an increase in constipation. However, several negative physiological responses occur in individuals who consume low levels of dietary fiber over time, particularly an increased risk for coronary heart disease.

Can you have too much fibre?
Toxicity: No tolerable upper intake level has been set for dietary fiber (2). However, the IOM suggested that there may be a need for a tolerable upper intake level in the future if supplements or foods with added functional fiber were to become ubiquitous. Very high levels of consumption could lead to reductions in the absorption of some minerals. Yet, it is not thought that this could create mineral deficiencies in areas where diets are not limiting in minerals.

Are all sources of fibre created equal?
Types of fibre out there: Inulin, fructooligosaccharides, Psyllium-containing products, β-D-glucan, Galactooligosaccharides, Polydextrose, Resistant starch (RS2 and RS3)

No. Like mentioned above, you have two main groups of fibre – Insoluble and soluble. And each group many different fibre types within each group, with many different positive effects. For example beta-glucan is one type of soluble fibre found in oats that has been shown to lower cholesterol and improve heart health.

Understanding nutrient label claims

Content claims “source of fibre”, “high source of fibre”, and “very high source of fibre” can be made for foods containing respectively a minimum of 2, 4, or 6 grams of dietary fibre per serving. 

General Tips to Get More Fibre

At breakfast:

  • Add chia seeds and ground flax (each have about 4g fibre per tbsp) to oatmeal or smoothies
  • Top cereal or oatmeal with nuts and/or seeds (eg. pumpkin seeds, or chopped up almonds, pecans, or walnuts)
  • Add cinnamon (1.5g fibre in 1 tsp) or cocoa powder (1.8g fibre in 1 Tbsp) to oatmeal or smoothies

At lunch and supper:

  • Eat more vegetables (and fruit), nuts, and legumes; these are typically low calorie, nutrient dense, and have a lot of fibre.
  • Add chickpeas to pasta
  • Add lentils to soup
  • Add black beans to chili

With snacks:

  • When possible eat a fruit
  • Eat more nuts and seeds
  • Add berries or kiwi with yogurt
  • Apple with cheese
  • Banana with peanut butter
  • Berries, such as blueberries raspberries blackberries and strawberries.
  • Baby carrots with hummus Mini bell peppers with hummus
  • Roasted edamame beans
  • Air popped popcorn with smoked paprika
  • Low-fat plain or Greek yogurt topped with flaxseed

 In general:

  • Swap regular grains for whole grains (brown rice, quinoa)
  • Whole wheat bread for white bread
  • Include high fibre foods in your baking, such as bananas or applesauce instead of sugar, or adding in oats, flaxseed, bran flakes, and other whole grains. You could even make a sugarless chocolate zucchini bread.
  • Read food nutrition labels – Compare brands of the same type and choose the one higher in fibre.

 

Sample one day fibre menus

25g fibre (Adequate) 38g fibre (High)
Breakfast One homemade oat-bran muffinFruit smoothie (one banana, one cup frozen strawberries, and one cup skim milk). Smoothie bowl: Two cups greek yogurt, 1 cup blueberries, 60g rolled oats and 2Tbsp flax.
Snack One hard-boiled egg and a fruit. Two cups baby carrots and celery3/4 cup hummus.
Lunch Two cups homemade minestrone soup with 6 whole grain cracker Two cups white bean and turkey chiliOne medium whole grain pita
Dinner Teriyaki tofu vegetable stirfry (two cups mixed vegetables) with one cup brown rice (or quinoa) and one glass skim milk. Lemon garlic chicken breast with two cups cup cauliflower/broccoli, and one cup wild rice.

 

Take home message:

Good sources of dietary fiber include whole grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and fruits.

Fiber supplements can be used to increase the intake of dietary fiber, however, most experts recommend that fiber should be obtained through the consumption of foods, because this form allows consumption of many micronutrients and bioactive compounds contained in high fiber foods – which provide their own nutritional benefits

Make sure that when increasing fibre in your diet, you drink more water (at least 2-3 litres per day). – This will help prevent constipation.

Appropriate amounts of dietary fibre are only one part of a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle.

Till next time,
-Mike

In text citations will have [1] and hyperlinked to original source, as well as listed below.

  1. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/nutrients/fibre.html
  2. https://www.heartandstroke.ca/get-healthy/healthy-eating/fibre-and-whole-grains
  3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31897475/
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6722715/
  5. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/106/6/1514/4823179
  6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6306953/
  7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27030531/
  8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31174214/
  9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11396693/
  10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6315720/
  11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6073249/
  12. https://www.unlockfood.ca/en/Articles/Fibre/Getting-more-fibre.aspx
  13. https://www.unlockfood.ca/en/Articles/Fibre/Focus-on-Fibre.aspx
  14. https://www.unlockfood.ca/en/Articles/Fibre/?page=2
How To Get More Protein In Your Diet – and From Food, Not Supplements

How To Get More Protein In Your Diet – and From Food, Not Supplements

by | Apr 14, 2023

As a Registered Dietitian, I often get asked about the best ways to increase protein intake in one’s diet. Protein is an essential nutrient that is necessary for building and repairing tissues, making enzymes and hormones, and supporting immune function. Many people turn to protein supplements to meet their daily protein needs, but it’s important to know that you can get enough protein from whole foods as well. In this blog post, we will discuss some simple ways to increase your protein intake from food, not supplements.

What is Protein?

Protein is a macronutrient that is made up of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are essential for many functions in the body. There are 20 different amino acids, and the body can make some of them, but others must be obtained through the diet. These are called essential amino acids.

Protein is found in many different types of foods, including meat, fish, poultry, dairy, eggs, legumes, nuts, and seeds. The amount of protein in these foods varies, so it’s important to choose a variety of protein sources to ensure you’re getting all the essential amino acids your body needs.

How Much Protein Do You Need?

The amount of protein you need depends on many factors, including your age, sex, weight, and activity level. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. However, this is just the minimum amount needed to prevent deficiency. Many experts recommend higher protein intake for optimal health and weight management.

For example, athletes and people who are physically active may need more protein to support muscle growth and repair. Older adults may also need more protein to prevent muscle loss and maintain strength. If you’re not sure how much protein you need, consult with a Registered Dietitian who can help you determine the right amount for your individual needs.

How to Get More Protein From Food

Now that we’ve covered the basics of protein, let’s talk about how to get more of it from whole foods. Here are some simple ways to increase your protein intake:

Eat More Meat, Poultry, and Fish
Meat, poultry, and fish are some of the best sources of protein. These foods are high in protein and contain all the essential amino acids your body needs. For example, a 3-ounce serving of cooked chicken breast contains about 26 grams of protein, while a 3-ounce serving of cooked salmon contains about 22 grams of protein. Other high-protein animal foods include beef, pork, turkey, tuna, and eggs.

Choose Greek Yogurt or Cottage Cheese
Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are great sources of protein, and they’re versatile enough to be used in many different ways. For example, you can add Greek yogurt to smoothies or use it as a substitute for sour cream. A 6-ounce serving of Greek yogurt contains about 17 grams of protein, while a 1/2 cup serving of cottage cheese contains about 14 grams of protein.

Include Legumes in Your Diet
Legumes are a group of plants that includes beans, lentils, peas, and chickpeas. These foods are high in protein, fiber, and other important nutrients. They’re also a good source of complex carbohydrates, which provide sustained energy. For example, a 1/2 cup serving of cooked lentils contains about 9 grams of protein, while a 1/2 cup serving of cooked black beans contains about 8 grams of protein.

Snack on Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are a great source of protein, healthy fats, and other important nutrients. They’re also convenient and easy to snack on. For example, a 4 ounce serving of almonds contains about 6 grams of protein, while a 2 tablespoon serving of chia seeds contains about 4 grams of protein.

Incorporate Protein-Rich Vegetables
Many vegetables are surprisingly high in protein. Broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus are all good examples of protein-rich veggies. For example, a 1 cup serving of cooked spinach contains about 5 grams of protein, while a 1 cup serving of cooked Brussels sprouts contains about 4 grams of protein.

Make Protein Smoothies
Smoothies are a great way to pack in protein while also getting a variety of nutrients from fruits and veggies. You can add protein powder to your smoothies, but you can also use other high-protein ingredients like Greek yogurt, nut butter, and tofu. For example, a smoothie made with 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder, 1/2 banana, and 1 tablespoon of almond butter contains about 25 grams of protein.

Try Meat Substitutes
If you’re looking for plant-based protein sources, there are many meat substitutes available that are high in protein. For example, tempeh, tofu, and seitan are all good sources of protein. A 3-ounce serving of tempeh contains about 16 grams of protein, while a 3-ounce serving of firm tofu contains about 8 grams of protein.

Make High-Protein Snacks
Having high-protein snacks on hand can help you meet your daily protein needs. Some good options include hard-boiled eggs, turkey slices, beef jerky, and protein bars. Just make sure to choose snacks that are low in added sugars and other unhealthy ingredients.

Conclusion

Getting enough protein in your diet is important for overall health and wellbeing. While supplements can be a convenient way to boost your protein intake, it’s important to remember that whole foods are a great source of protein too. By incorporating protein-rich foods into your diet, you can meet your daily protein needs without relying on supplements. Remember to choose a variety of protein sources to ensure you’re getting all the essential amino acids your body needs. If you’re not sure how to incorporate more protein into your diet, consult with a Registered Dietitian who can help you develop a personalized nutrition plan.

Tips To Help You Increase Calories In Your Diet

Tips To Help You Increase Calories In Your Diet

by | Mar 9, 2023

For those looking to build muscle or maximize sports performance, you often need more calories than you’re currently consuming. Especially if you’re highly active.

If you’re not getting enough calories, you’re not maximally: building muscle, recovering, or performing in your sport.

Below are some tips to help increase your calories:

1. Liquid Calories

A great way to add quality calories to the diet is through the addition of milk and/or juice, instead of water/calorieless drinks (eg. like diet pop).

Example:

  • Add a glass of milk to breakfast and an afternoon snack

Smoothies work well too, since fluid is less filling than solids and you’ll be able to comfortably eat more.

2. Healthy Fats

At 9 calories per gram, fat is the most dense calorie macronutrient (protein and carbohydrates are only 4 calories per gram). The addition of small amounts of oils and nuts will make a big impact.

Here are some common recommendations we make to clients:

  • Add a handful of nuts (pecans, cashews, almonds, walnuts, etc.) or seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, etc.) to your morning and/or afternoon snack; can also add these to salads.
  • Add extra tablespoon(s) olive oil to your salads; you can also do this with rice and pasta
  • Liberally use nut butter spreads, like peanut butter, where possible – like peanut butter and toast, peanut butter with apple slices, or adding nut butters to oatmeals
  • Add chia, flax, or hemp seeds to smoothies or oatmeals
  • Add avocado spreads to sandwiches
  • Have hummus with vegetable sticks as calorie dense and healthy snack
  • Higher fat % milks
  • Introduce / increase serving sizes of cheeses

3. Increase Meal Frequency

If you’re eating more frequently it is easer to eat more food, and will help you from feeling too full at any one meal. Further, once you get into the habit of eating on a regular structure you’ll start to get hungry at these regular time intervals – for example, if you’re not typically hungry at breakfast, you’ll start to once you gradually introduce eating at that time.

4. Dried Fruit

Dried fruit is less filling than whole fruit, and are a great snack. Raisans have have 290 calories for 100g, compared to 80 calories for 100g of grapes. Similarly, dried apricots have 220 calories for 100g while whole fruit apricots are 44 calories per 100g.

5. Be mindful of protein and fibre intake

Both protein and fibre are very filling, so by eating more of each might make you too full to consume enough calories. Get the necessary amount of each, then look to fill the rest of your diet with healthy fats and healthy carbs (sweet potato, baked potato, rice, pasta, beans, quinoa, etc).

6. Higher Fat Meats

Choosing higher fat meats will subtly help you increase calories. Instead of having leaner cuts, like chicken breast, try chicken or turkey thighs/legs. Try having a pot roast, short ribs, and moderate intake of processed meats like salami and sausage.

Hope the above tips were helpful. If you need help with your nutrition, click here to fill out a client interest from.

Till next time,

-Mike

Optimize Your Results With Better Pre & Post Exercise/Workout Nutrition

Optimize Your Results With Better Pre & Post Exercise/Workout Nutrition

by | Feb 4, 2023

Nutrient timing is pretty important when it comes to maximizing performance and results. That being said, a lot of people make it more complicated than they need to – especially when it comes to supplements.

The first important thing to address when considering your Pre and Post nutrition needs: what are you trying to accomplish? Is your goal to: build muscle, lose fat, increase strength, improve performance, or just be healthy?

The reason why the above matters is different goals require slightly different nutritional approaches, specifically more or less calories, and different ranges of macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs). What you eat before fuels your workout and exercise. What you eat after will allow for effective recovery.

In the following post, the term “workout” will mean weight training, and the term “exercise” will mean playing or training for a sport.

Pre Workout/Exercise Nutrition

The purpose of proper pre workout/exercise nutrition is to provide fuel so you can perform. Different types and intensities of exercise require a slightly different nutritional approach.

Two examples to highlight this:

  1. If you are an endurance athlete optimizing for training performance, you need adequate carbohydrates to fuel the workout completely and enough protein to offset and prevent muscle metabolism during exercise.
  2. If you are someone looking to lose fat while minimizing muscle loss, you need enough carbohydrates to fuel the workout so that you can “bring it” and enough protein to offset any possible muscle usage for energy – during exercise and in general due to being in a caloric deficit necessary for fat loss.

My suggestion for Pre Workout/Exercise session:

A balanced meal 3 hours prior, and then 1 black coffee and a banana 1 hour prior to exercise/workout

Well balanced = combination of fats, protein, and carbs. A bigger meal for a bigger workout/exercise session. In general 3 hours before should allow for proper digestion of the food, so that your muscles and digestion system aren’t competing for blood supply. The coffee is used for an ergogenic caffeine kick, and a banana for a quick little boost of energy (the sugars in a banana are easily digestible and will top up your energy).

If you’re looking to build muscle, which means you’ll want more calories, this might look like:

5:00 p.m. workout preparation:

Morning workout/exercise preparation:

  • 1.5 hours prior: peanut butter sandwich, glass of 2% Milk
  • 1 hour prior: black coffee

If you’re looking to lean out and lose fat, this might look like:

5:00 p.m. workout/exercise preparation:

Morning workout/exercise preparation:

  • 1.5 hours prior: 2 egg muffins.
  • 1 hour prior: black coffee

*In all of the above examples, the coffee used in the above examples is black -or with just sweetener. If you’re someone that puts sugar in their coffee, then skip the banana.

Some background info for you to know that might help you understand pre-workout/exercise nutrition better:

  • Digestion of food shunts a lot of your blood supply to the organs involved in digestion. This is why you don’t want to exercise on a full stomach (why it’s recommended not to go swimming right after you eat) as this causes a tug-of-war or sorts for blood supply between your digestion system and the muscles you’re using for exercise. This can lead to cramping – either your digestion system or your muscles.
  • Higher heart rate and higher intensity (think heavy set of squats) exercise have a greater demand on your blood supply. This is when you need to be more calculated about meal timing and what you’re eating prior. Going for a walk with a full stomach is fine, sprinting not so much.

A few talking points:

  • Everyone has slightly different digestion. Some can eat a full meal 1 hour before a high heart rate/high intensity bout of exercise and be fine. Others can’t eat anything less than 3 hours out. Find out what works for you, and know that the type of exercising you’re doing plays a big factor with meal timing.
  • One thing to be conscious of when choosing a carb-intensive snack, like the Banana mentioned, is to pick options that don’t have the ingredient fructose as the first few ingredients in the ingredient label. Fructose digests differently and can lead to issues like cramping, bloating, gas, etc.
  • I haven’t mentioned the need for any “Pre-workout supplement.” My personal opinion is that you don’t need it. I don’t like the dependency supplements can create, and quite frankly I don’t think it’s worth your money for an incremental increase in results beyond a placebo and the “supplement effect”.

The supplement effect: taking said supplement increases your adherence to a host of other things that have a positive impact in achieving the desired result you are taking the supplement for.

  • In almost all cases it’s proper nutrition and consistently working out/exercising is getting you the results, not the supplement(s). The actual effect from the supplement(s) are small or negligible, or at least maybe not worth the price tag of said supplements. My suggestion: become dependent on food, and maybe coffee.

Post Workout/Exercise Nutrition

Your post workout/exercise nutrition will do a combination of the following:

  • Replenish muscle glycogen that was depleted during your workout
  • Reduce muscle protein breakdown caused by exercise
  • Increase muscle protein synthesis
  • Reduce muscle soreness and fatigue
  • Greatly enhance overall recovery
  • Reduce cortisol levels

Essentially, your post workout/exercise nutrition will supply your body with everything it needs to repair, replenish, recover and adapt to the exercise/training that you just did. After your workout, your body is primed and ready to accept protein and carbs so it can immediately begin putting these nutrients to use.

Within 30-60 minutes to an hour post-workout it’s beneficial to have a well balanced meal, in particular something with protein.

My suggestion for Post Workout nutrition:

A protein focused meal within 1 hour. If that’s not possible, have a piece of fruit + protein shake.

What you need and how much will depend on the type and intensity of the training that you just did, and on your specific goal(s). If you had a longer and more intense workout/exercise, have more food (primarily protein + calories). For shorter and less intense workouts/exercise sessions, have less food.

If you’re looking to build muscle, you might have something like:

  • Morning option: 6 eggs, scrambled, topped with 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Side of 2 pieces of toast, 3 tbsp. peanut butter on each slice.
  • Mid-day/supper option: 2 Servings of Cheeseburger Brussel Sprouts (recipe alteration: use extra cheese + non-lean ground beef), side of Super Simple Spinach Salad
  • On-the-go option: 2 pieces of fruit + protein shake (1.5 scoops of protein powder + 2 cup of 2% milk)

If you are looking to lose fat, instead you could have the following:

  • Morning option: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup egg whites scrambled, topped with 1/4 cup salsa, and 1/2 cup cottage cheese. Side of sliced apples topped with sprinkled cinnamon.
  • Mid-day/supper option: 2 Turkey Parmesan Meatballs, 1 cup brown rice, 2 cups of steamed/cut up vegetables
  • On-the-go option: 1 piece of fruit + protein shake (1 scoop of protein powder + 1.5 cup water or skim milk)

What you eat before your workout/exercise is the fuel that will allow you to perform. What you eat after will allow for effective recovery.

Experiment and find options that are specific for you, including your personal taste preferences, and what you are trying to accomplish. And, don’t over complicate things. Make sure your caloric intake is where it should be, have adequate protein intake, and crush those workouts/exercise and you’ll be fine.

Till next time,

-Mike