A meal after training is significant for your health and for getting good results after the exercises. However, the day of most of us is arranged in such a way that we have time for physical activities only in the evening. Then, the question arises, should we eat a meal after a late workout? Is it healthy and can it positively affect our training goals? In this article, we try to deal with doubts on this subject.
Is it good to eat a meal after an evening workout?
The answer is very simple - of course it is. A post-workout meal should consist of two main elements: protein and carbohydrates. Protein is responsible for building and regenerating muscles, while carbohydrates provide the right dose of energy that is necessary to carry out the process. If you eat nothing after training, it leads to weakening the body and slowing down metabolism. Don't be afraid to eat carbohydrates in the evening after training - they do not accumulate in the form of fat tissues, but rather they are converted into energy needed to digest and transform proteins.
Rules for preparing and eating evening after-workout meals
When eating evening meals, the most important thing is to eat what can be easily digest. Therefore, it is better to avoid eating fried or stodgy food – they are a source of unhealthy saturated fats which need a lot of time to be digested. Replace them with cooked or steamed products. In addition, your body has to have enough time to digest what you ate, so try to eat a meal 3 hours before going to bed. Remember that carbohydrates ensure a good night's sleep because they are not too stodgy. Obviously, it refers to simple carbohydrates which can be found in vegetables, rice and pasta. Do not reach for fruit in the evening - those are complex carbohydrates. They contain large amounts of sugar, so it is better to consume them in the morning and at noon. The energy is released longer and more systematically during the day. If we have to eat a meal at a really late time, make a shake or soup with the right amount of protein and carbohydrates. Such a meal can be digested faster and nutrients can be absorbed at a faster rate.
Here's a very simple and easy post-workout shake recipe:
Banana shake:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 banana
- 3 cubes of dark chocolate
Instructions:
Blend all ingredients together.
