Stop eating your workout

Exciting times, you’re on your weight loss adventure and have started to exercise.  BUT, be wary of the common pitfall of overeating because you’re exercising.  You’ve read about refuelling before and after your workout and are on it like a car bonnet. 

Before your session you’ve had your Carbs (carbohydrates) for energy and post workout you’ve got your protein shake ready to go and the chocolate bar for energy.  Without realising you’ve potentially added 300+ calories to your daily intake and in truth may not have burned that many calories!

Say what!!!! 

So what’s occurring?

Eating too soon and too much before you exercise can leave you with some indigestion and possibly cramp.  Once we eat our stomach wants all available energy to break our food down and send it where it needs to go.  This means that blood rushes to your stomach to help with digestion and that means that we won’t be able to cope as well with the stress we’re about to put our bodies under by exercising.  Think about when you have a Sunday lunch and then all you want to do is sit and have a nap.  That’s your body using its energy to deal with the great steaming plate of Sunday roast you’ve just eaten and needing all hands on deck to break it all down and distribute it around your body.

And what about after your workout?

It can be tempting after what feels like a tough workout for you to feel like you can eat anything and everything in front of you or that protein shake you made.  But people often find that they overestimate the number of calories burnt when exercising and end up eating more than they’ve actually used.  D’oh!

Imagine you’re a 12 stone 50 year old woman who’s done 30 minutes of moderate cardio (slightly breathless but can still hold a conversation).  That’s roughly 225 calories.  You’ve then done 30 minutes of strength training again at moderate intensity, which uses about 125 calories (but will boost calorie burn for some hours afterwards).

So, the hour of activity burns about 350 calories and you’ve just celebrated by having a protein shake, which can range from 150 calories (powder and water) to more than 600 if you’ve added milk, banana, nut butter.  Which means that all your hard work has potentially left you with a deficit and actually cost you calories!

So what’s best to do?

Make sure that you feel energised enough for whatever your workout is.  If you need to have a small snack when you’ve finished, think a handful of nuts or a banana and some water afterwards if you’ve not drunk much in your session.

The moral of this story

Avoid the danger zone of thinking that your workout gives you a free reign to eat what you want afterwards (unless you’re a professional athlete), especially if you’re wanting to maintain your size and shape or if you’re on a weight loss adventure.