Sure, some people think that exercise is about as comfortable as a colonoscopy without sedation; others feel that sweat is about the ickiest thing your body can ooze. But the fact is that physical activity has so many beneficial effects you’d be hard-pressed to find a reason not to do it regularly.
List all the benefits of working out and it sounds like the magic bullet everyone wants but nobody believes exists. Exercise lowers the risk of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, cancer, and dementia. It helps you lose weight. It relieves stress. It improves your mood. It fends off depression. It enhances all your numbers, from blood sugar to cholesterol. And—cue the royal trumpet—it makes you feel good.
Geesh, the only downside of exercise is that it may double the size of your laundry basket—but we’ll take that trade-off.
Along with the food you eat, the toxins you avoid, and the stress you manage, exercise is one of the basic pillars of attaining and maintaining good health and wellness. So we’re going to assume you’re doing something—preferably some resistance training and walking at a minimum. Many of you surely are doing even more, whether engaging in more intense exercises, diving deep into training for a big race, or getting so strong that you could shot-put a Ford Explorer a couple of blocks down the street.
And that’s what makes this subject so tricky. With exercise, there are so many variables to consider that it’s difficult to generalize what you should eat to meet your nutritional needs in relationship to your goals. Those variables include your age, weight, intensity of workouts, duration of workouts, types of exercises, number of times you exercise a week, your health history, and more. That said, the following are some of the major principles of eating and exercise:
Don’t overcompensate. Unfortunately, some people fall into this cycle: Yay, I’m exercising! Wow, that makes me hungry! OK, I exercised so I guess I can eat! Looky-looky, four pieces of pie! It’s very common for people who start exercising to think that working out gives them the license to eat more. And although it’s true that you do burn calories and use energy to exercise, those calories represent just a fraction of your daily intake. Therefore, it’s very easy to overeat if you’re justifying dietary decisions by counting more calories burned than you actually knocked off. Be aware of food choices—and make sure they stay under the umbrella of high-quality foods with reasonably sized portions.
Eating after exercise generally trumps eating before. This mainly applies to those who are not doing intense training and those who are trying to lose weight. Here’s the theory: As you know, your body uses sugar (glucose) as its primary fuel. When you eat, you store some of that fuel in your muscles and liver as glycogen for later use. But because you can only store so much of it, it’s mostly meant for the short term. The currency of long-term energy storage? Fat. Therefore, if you exercise after a fast (like overnight), your body will quickly burn through any remaining sugar fuel and move on to the fat.
One study examined what happened when eight healthy men ran on a treadmill after either fasting, eating a low-glycemic meal, or eating a high-glycemic meal. They found that although all the subjects burned fat, the subjects who exercised in the fasted state and ate their meal afterward burned more of it.4 Another study explored what happens to the fat in muscle cells when you work out in a fasted state. It found that you break down more intracellular fat when fasting than if you exercise after a sugar-rich meal and continually consume a sugary beverage. These intracellular triglycerides (fats) may increase insulin resistance, so getting rid of them is a good thing.5
Although there isn’t a lot of data that link fasting before a workout to losing more weight, we recommend eating after a workout rather than before. If you can exercise in the morning after an overnight fast, even better. And there’s another reason why eating after a workout is better: You will help repair the muscle tissue that was damaged during exercise. By having something small with a mix of protein and carbohydrates (like Greek yogurt), that energy will be quickly taken up by muscles, where it can help aid recovery, rather than circulating as excess blood sugar.
Experiment! The fact of the matter is that all competitive athletes need to think of themselves as an experiment. Athletes tinker with their nutritional needs because of all the variables associated with exercise, as listed previously—and also ones that can change, such as heat and the fluid loss associated with it. That means experimenting with macronutrient ratios (proteins, carbohydrates, and fat for performance purposes); the amount of fluid, salt, and electrolytes (when doing long-distance endurance events); and the timing of eating and drinking (before, during, and after races and competitions). Generally, you only need extra sugar or carbs during a workout if you participate for more than two hours continuously.
Ready for Race Day
Handling nutrition when you’re training hard and logging so many miles can be difficult, especially because many marathoners find that they gain weight when they train because their hunger levels shoot up fast. If this applies to you, try adding more protein to your diet and spacing out meals with a couple of healthy snacks (think almonds and fruit). As you get closer to race day, thinking about your nutrition is even more important. You have to prepare your body for the intensity of covering 26.2 miles. Consider this dietary schedule:
Two weeks out—Start hydrating by drinking more water and adding more complex carbohydrates, like whole grain foods and vegetables, to your diet.
Three days before the race—Complex carbohydrates should make up about 70 percent of your diet, fat 20 percent, and protein 10 percent.
The night before the race—No new foods! Stay as bland as possible to avoid any gastrointestinal (GI) distress. A little grilled chicken, whole grains, and veggies are great. Water, water, water.
Three hours before the race—A healthy breakfast of 800 to 1,200 calories will give you energy stores that last. Try oatmeal, a whole grain bagel, or nonfat yogurt. Drink plenty of water and skip the fatty foods, which can aggravate your stomach. Drink coffee if you’re used to it, but don’t go over-board—or else you may be spending more time in the Porta Potties than on the road.
During the race—Keep drinking water, but also add a sports drink that replenishes the electrolytes, sodium, and potassium you will burn after the first hour and a half. Energy gels are fine (provided you have trained with them and know they won’t upset your stomach).
After the race—More sports drink to replace lost nutrients. Also make sure to have something light to replace blood sugar levels, like fruit or whole grain pretzels, and some of that lean protein.
MVP: Grilled skinless chicken. Most likely, this healthy diet staple is already in your dining rotation. But it’s a must for those who exercise regularly because it’s a form of lean protein that will help you rebuild muscle after your workouts. (Runners, for example, need 50 to 75 percent more protein than non-runners.) In addition, chicken also contains selenium, a trace element that is important for muscle function and may help protect against the damage that can happen during exercise, as well as niacin, a B vitamin that helps suppress the production of triglycerides and lousy cholesterol.6,7 Of course, salmon is also an excellent choice for protein and healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Key Players: Side dishes of canned black beans (get low-sodium versions and add salt yourself) and a sweet potato. A cup of black beans contains almost 30 percent of your daily value in protein and 60 percent of the daily value for fiber. This will not only help control lousy LDL cholesterol, but also your hunger if exercise leaves you famished. A sweet potato is a great addition because it has a lower glycemic effect than white carbs. Moreover, it’s full of vitamins and minerals that are crucial for muscle function.
Cut From the Team: The daily “I earned it” treat. Even if you do a lot of exercise, your body will not be able to keep up with a steady supply of sugars and refined carbs. There’s an old saying—you can’t out-train a bad diet—and it’s true. Unless you’re exercising at Olympian volumes, diet will always trump training when it comes to the overall effect on your body. Although steady and consistent training will incinerate the occasional “treat,” making a sugary snack a daily habit will ultimately negate the positive effects of exercise.
| SUB OUT… | SUB IN… |
| Pancakes | Egg whites. You don’t need to carbo-load every morning, but stick to whole grains when you do. For a hearty breakfast, egg whites are a good choice because of their protein content. |
| Chips | Almonds. Although you may crave something salty after a good sweat, a better bet is almonds, which contain healthy fat, as well as vitamin E, an antioxidant that can protect our muscles from free radicals. It’s best to get natural levels of antioxidants from foods; studies suggest that too many supplements may hinder the positive effects that exercise has on muscle cells.8 |
| Cheese sticks | Oranges contain vitamin C, which may help with muscle soreness.9 |
| Milk chocolate | Dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure, as well as inflammation.10 |