The Best Pre and Post Workout Meals for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain

My Top 3 Meals to Eat before and After Workout to Gain Muscle and Lose fat.

A big question for a lot of us is what to eat before our workout or should we just wait until after we finish?

A more important question for you all though is wouldn’t you like to know 5 foods that you can eat before and after you exercise that will help you build muscle and lose fat quicker?

Do you want to feel full of energy in your workout and recover a lot quicker after you finish so you can continue to train each week without experiencing any muscle soreness?

Did you know that if you don’t get this part of your training right then you could be wasting a lot of time. Therefore you need to read this article to learn 5 foods that can help you get fitter, stronger and leaner.

If you had read my previous blog post about pre and post workout nutrition then you will know the importance of both carbohydrates and protein before and after your workout and how much of each you need to consume so this post might be seen as a continuation of how to reach the correct amounts.

Did you miss that one?

If you want to know exactly how much carbohydrates and protein you need to get strong and lean then you can read that post first by clicking here.

So lets jump in by looking at 5 foods or meals that you could eat prior to performing a workout.

One thing that’s important to note here is that we will all be different in our ability to metabolize the food that we can consume meaning different people may need to eat at different times.

But one thing will remain the same. We all need readily available energy to perform at our best during a workout. Do you ever go into a workout feeling tired and lethargic?

Then you aren’t eating the right foods at the right times. Many of us need to eat at least 1-2 hours before our workout because we feel we need the time to digest the food properly. But is this right? Yes and no.

Here’s why…

Lets say that you had eaten a meal around 1-2 hours before you workout and this meal provided you with at least 20g and upwards of protein and around 1g of Carbohydrate for every 1kg of your body weight. This meal should provide you with adequate energy to perform effectively. But how can you take this to next level and train even harder?

By eating closer to the start of your workout of course! This doesn’t mean you need to eat a big heavy meal that is going to make you feel full. This is where we need to carefully select the correct foods that provide you with instant energy ready to push you through the workout and perform at your best. So we are in search of fast digesting carbohydrates and protein.

Consume these fast digesting proteins and carbs somewhere around 30 – 60 minutes before you workout for best results.

So what foods should you be looking at for fast digesting proteins and carbohydrates? Well here are my top 3 foods/meals to eat 30 – 60 minutes before your workout:

11.    White Bagel with 6 egg whites (Scrambled)

Protein – 21.6g

Carbohydrates – 42.7g

Both of these food sources can be digested very quickly making them perfect to fit into that 30 minute window if it is whole foods that you want to consume.

22.    Whey Protein Isolate (Gold Standards Whey) and Dextrose (My Protein)

Protein – 24g (1 scoop)

Carbohydrates - 28g

Probably a lot easier to consume (and prepare) if you want to go in this direction of having a shake as your pre-workout meal.

Not only is whey protein isolate the fastest digesting protein available but when combined with a supplement like dextrose, which is essentially a sugar. This causes an insulin spike, which provides us with instant energy as well as helping deliver the protein to the muscle cell at a much quicker speed.

33.    150g Chicken Breast & ½ Cup White Rice

Protein – 33g

Carbohydrates – 26g

Another great option if you prefer whole foods rather than a supplement. We all know that chicken is a great source of lean protein and white rice is a high glycemic food meaning it is also digested very quickly providing you with fuel for the workout ahead. Aim for something like this about 60 minutes before training.

Any other tips?

Another great option 30 minutes before you train is a banana! Full of natural sugars that will boost your glycogen stores and give you the energy kick you are looking for.

So how about post workout?

I’m sure some of you will have heard about there being this ‘magic window’ where you must consume your post workout nutrition in a certain time frame. Well is this true?

Sort of… Research shows that when you consume a post workout meal combining foods high in protein and high in simple carbohydrates immediately after training you are more likely to build muscle more effectively.

This is because once again you need something that can be digested as quickly as possible. Due to the fact our muscle glycogen stores are completely depleted during an intense workout and in order to kick-start muscle repair and growth we need to spike our insulin and blood sugar levels so that the essential nutrients our body needs can be transported in to the muscles.

When does this magic window end?

Although you will benefit more by consuming your post workout nutrition immediately research shows anything up to 2 hours is sufficient.

Do you want to know exactly how much fast digesting simple sugars and protein you need? Then take a read of my previous blog on pre and post workout nutrition by clicking here.

So now that we know the types of food that we need to consume. What are the best post workout meals? Here is my Top 3: -

11.  Whey Protein Isolate (Gold Standard Whey) and Dextrose (My Protein).

Protein – 24g (1 scoop)

Carbohydrates - 28g

Why is this my number one choice? Now that we know after our workout speed is everything. This combination ticks all the boxes. Simply for ease of preparation, transportation and delivery of the vital nutrients into the muscle cells.

Hence the simple sugar in the form of dextrose is vital! But why is this better than sugar we get from fruit?

Sugar is found in fruit in the form of fructose the breakdown of this by the body in the liver takes much longer so there is a slight delay in that insulin spike we are looking for.

22.  ½ - 1 Cup Mashed Sweet Potatoes and 1 Tin of Tuna with Salad.

Protein – 31g

Carbohydrates – 29-58g

Fast becoming a favourite food in most households. Sweet potato is a great post workout choice. Although it is not as high on the glycemic index compared to options such as white potatoes it will still help to restore glycogen levels and give you that insulin spike without the higher fat content that you might get from regular mashed potatoes. Combine it with tuna and you have your high protein serving post workout meal that is also easy to pack and transport.

33. Chicken Breast (150g) in 1 / 2 Tortilla Wraps with Salad.

Protein – 33g

Carbohydrates – 30-60g

Easy to make and easy to carry! Another whole food source of fast digesting carbohydrates to restore glycogen stores (the tortilla wrap of course) as well as shuttle the protein from the chicken into the muscle cells to help aid recovery and keep us anabolic. Why is this a good option? It tastes good too!

Are these the only foods you can eat pre and post workout?

The most important lesson to take is that our pre and post workout meals should be our most important meals of our day. Providing us with the fuel and energy to train for maximum results and recover and restore muscle glycogen levels as quick as possible after training.

As a London personal trainer I know how essential it is to have easily accessible foods with you to take on the go at all times.

Do you want a full weeks worth of pre and post workout nutrition?

Then why don’t you get a your own meal plan designed by me. Just click here.

Now you know exactly what to eat and when.

Until next time…

EJP

Reverse Dieting.... How to Reverse Diet Correctly

So this is term that I keep seeing thrown about at the moment by trainers and athletes on social media. It might leave you wondering what actually is reverse dieting or why would you want to do a reverse diet? Let me summarise this for you and hopefully make it sound simple enough for you to give it a go.

The main reason you may of heard the term reverse diet being used quite a bit at the moment is partly to do that a lot of people will have entered the so called bulking season, having finished cutting for various competitions or now that British summer time has officially ended its time to add some muscle mass and weight to replace that chiseled physique in the hope of building a bigger frame for next summer.  Surely you just need to eat more and increase your carbohydrate intake right? Wrong! Reverse dieting is crucial to help you with the transition from your cutting phase into bulking season by changing your diet in a controlled and effective manner to increase calorific intake whilst preventing unwanted weight gain that will be the result if you don’t have a planned and structured reverse dieting system in place.

What tends to be the case during this transition is that people think that now they want to add extra weight in the off season its just the case of increasing your daily calorie intake to match this goal. Once you have worked out that magic number of how many calories you need to grow and to add some serious gains using various macro calculators that can be found online it is then just a case of hitting that number immediately. Wrong Again! Of course for any nutrition plan to be successful you will need to determine you’re your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE, which can be done online. Once you have this figure it gives you have a target of how many calories you can consume from your macros without causing any additional and unwanted fat gain. During this phase you will of course concentrate on increasing your carbohydrate intake to assist with building muscle mass and bulking. It is recommended that sufficient amounts to divide your macros up can be anywhere from 1 – 1.5g of Protein per pound of bodyweight. For fat it is recommended either 0.3 - 0.4g per pound of bodyweight and then whatever remains is made up from Carbs. Although it is not uncommon for people to increase their protein intake beyond these figures.

So lets say for example in my cutting phase I was consuming around 2000 calories per day to keep me in a deficit to lower my body fat percentage. After this phase and during the off season I then work out that I can consume around 2800 calories daily without adding any unwanted fat but still gain some muscle mass. I would set about reaching this target gradually over a period of weeks rather than just ramping up my numbers. I may increase my calories by 100 – 150 each week until I had hit the magic number of 2800. This would ensure I prevented adding excess weight and completely wasted my gains Id made from working seriously hard during a long and tiring cut and restrictive diet. Once you reach your new TDEE you will need to weigh yourself on a regular basis, as your weight increase will determine your calorie intake meaning you may need to do regular adjustments.

So why do so many people get this wrong? To start with when you have been in a calorie deficit for so long on a cut you feel extremely low on energy and the thought that you are now able to eat more food sounds amazing so its common that people get a little bit too carried away and consume far too much. When you are in a calorie deficit your metabolic rate (the speed at which you burn calories) slows right down so naturally you are unable to burn all these extra calories quickly enough and this is what causes fat gain. Once you change your training program to match your bulking goals your metabolic rate will begin to increase due to the fact your are lifting heavier weights increasing muscle mass.  By applying this principle along with slowly increasing your calorie intake to reach your goal you will perform a successful reverse diet and will only thank yourself later. So in hindsight yes a reverse diet is about increasing your calories but in a structured and controlled way that prevents unwanted fat gain. Get this right and your bulking season will become your best yet!

Also don’t forget some important benefits a successful reverse diet will bring : -

1.     More Energy

2.     You Can Eat More

3.     Enjoy Your Workouts Feeling Fuelled to Perform

4.     Forget about that Dieting Mindset

5.     Flexible Dieting (Coming soon in my next blog posts)

Hopefully this helps you to understand the term reverse dieting a little bit more and help you get it right. Any questions or help you need planning your reverse diet or cutting phase drop me a message and I can help you structure your personalized plan.

EJP