What you eat and when you eat it have a significant effect on the effectiveness of your exercise.  We get our energy from macronutrients, substances found in carbohydrates, protein and fat, and the average adult should get about 50% of their calories from carbohydrates, 25% from fat, and 25% from protein. 

The founder of “The Fit Foodie,” Mareya Ibrahim, recently published an interesting piece on what to eat before and after exercise.  In this piece, she explains that your body needs different types of nutrition for different needs as it converts food into energy.  Some tips she provides include: 

- Enjoy a balanced nutritious meal 2 ½-3 hours prior to exercise in order to allow for digestion. Combine mostly high quality, slow-burning carbohydrates like beans, whole grain breads and cereal, fruit and vegetables, such as spinach, kale, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and cucumbers.  Pair your slow-burning carb with some protein and a little fat to help sustain you through your workout.

- If you are short on time and can’t fit in a full meal 2 ½ to 3 hours before your workout, you can still eat a decent pre-workout meal.  Just keep in mind that the sooner you eat before your workout, the smaller and simpler the meal should be.  If you eat 45-60 minutes before your workout, choose foods that are simple to digest and contain plenty of carbs and some protein, like a protein shake or energy. Don’t worry about the carbs … they are necessary, and your body will quickly convert them into energy! 

- If you are doing an endurance or long distance event for over 2-3 hours, can add an electrolyte-rich beverage or easy-to-digest food to your diet to help keep your glucose levels sustained, like coconut water or a banana. Otherwise, you may run out of energy and “hit the wall.” 

- As a post workout meal, enjoy a healthy serving of quality protein, like chicken, fish, eggs, or beans, and healthy fats like avocado, nuts, seeds and other quality foods no more than 2 hours after completion, but ideally within an hour. This is when your body needs the proteins to convert into amino acids for muscle repair and building.

- Don’t forget to hydrate! Drinking water before, during and after exercise is critical.  For more information on hydration and exercise, see my article on healthy hydration.  (Insert link here)