Exercise, however it may be, can be very exhausting physically and mentally. When you exercise, your body will need replenishment for the burnt calories that were converted into energy by your body. When you exercise, the stored glucose in your body is lost. When this happens your metabolism slows down, and this is not desirable because this indicates that the body is shifting into starvation mode, which can be disastrous to the whole body system since it activates conversion of fats into glucose, resulting to diseases. When you exercise and the body craves for more energy to power up, the best thing to do is to eat something for calorie replacement. But you do not just eat for the sake of eating. You must choose the right foods to eat depending on the type of exercise you have just had.

If you just had a cardiovascular exercise, which is aimed to lose fats, the best replacement will be high protein foods and complex carbohydrates with low glycemic index that comes from vegetables and other similar foods. If your type of exercise is to build muscles, such as the resistance workout, the foods that must be eaten after exercise are those that can be rapidly absorbed by the body, such as the simple carbohydrates with high glycemic index. The reason for this is, because you want your muscles to build and be repaired, you need all the nutrients and other substances necessary for muscle repair. Eating simple sugar will prevent starvation and will instead encourage muscle build-up.

This article is focused both on cardiovascular workout and resistance workout. The following are the foods suggested to be eaten about 30 minutes after any exercise that tries to lose body fats or immediately if the purpose of the exercise is for muscle building:

1. Fruit smoothies

   Fruit smoothies are a blend of your favorite fruits and added with skim milk or yogurt. The fruits can be anything. Some prefer banana with strawberries. Some people choose different types of berries. Others love to mix all tropical fruits they can find in the grocery. Using a blender, the fruits, together with yogurt is combined and made into liquefied food. Being liquid, it is easier for the body to digest. If taken after resistance workout, smoothies provide some amount of simple sugar that prevents the carbohydrates to be stored as fats. Aside from the carbohydrates, the fruits also have different vitamins and minerals that can help in the muscle repair. Fruit smoothies are ideal since the digestive tract will not be functioning normally after exercise.

   Eating foods that are not pre-digested will delay the body’s need for replacement. In the case of smoothies, instead of utilizing more energy to digest the food, the energy and nutrients are instead used in building the muscles that has been worked up. On the other hand, for those who are trying to lose fats, fruit smoothies are ideal because of fruits do not just contain glucose and fructose; they also contain complex carbohydrates such as the dietary soluble fiber. Pears, apples and strawberries are some of the fruits containing complex carbohydrates. Added to the carbohydrates are the vitamins and minerals necessary for the body to get back to its normal state.

2. Fruit Cup

   After a cardiovascular workout, eating fruit cups can be beneficial because fruits have low glycemic index. It stops the body to detect starvation, yet it releases glucose slowly. Not only that, fruits have high water content, which is ideal when trying to replenish the fluids that was lost during the workout.  Fruit cups are also ideal foods after exercising because they do not contain any fats. The goal of cardiovascular workout is to lose fats, eating foods low in fats or no fats at all but has huge amounts of soluble fiber, vitamins and minerals is excellent since it makes one feel satisfied, suppressing the starvation mode, but the type of carbohydrates is time-released preventing the body to store back the broken down fats. So after any cardiovascular workout, eat a cup of sliced apricots, pears, plums, grapefruits and oranges added with loads of prunes for more potassium.

3. Vegetables

   Eating vegetables after exercise sounds quite out of the ordinary, because vegetables seem like a serious matter, while exercise is supposed to be fun. But not matter how vegetables are perceived in relation to exercise; vegetables are excellent choice of foods to eat especially after cardiovascular exercises because it is high in water content, it helps in quenching ones thirst. Moreover, vegetables are very rich in vitamins and minerals that are necessary to replace the lost ones during exercise. Lastly, most of the vegetables are complex carbohydrates, preventing the shooting up of blood sugar and the sudden wave of undesirable fat storage into cells.

4. Mixed Nuts

   Mixed nuts are usually found in parties and in bars. Eating mixed nuts after exercise looks quite messy, but there are mixed nuts bar available in the market, which one can have right after exercising. But what is in mixed nuts that make it a great choice of food to eat after a workout? Mixed nuts are made of cashew nuts, almond nuts, walnuts and other varieties of nuts, including peanuts. Nuts are low in carbs; an ounce serving of mixed nuts can only provide 7 grams of carbohydrates. A serving is rich in fiber necessary to promote feeling of fullness while regulating blood sugar. For those who are working towards gaining muscles, mixed nuts is excellent because it is rich in calories, with low fat saturated fat content. It is however high in unsaturated fats, but this is necessary so that the vitamins and minerals, which mixed nuts are also rich, are absorbed readily by the body.

5. Grilled Salmon

   Several men who are into resistance workout will dine on grilled salmon right after exercising. There are also those who wanted to lose their fats that eat grilled salmon after a workout. Grilled salmon is one of the healthiest sources of protein you can find. Just a 4 ounce of salmon can already give about 62 percent of the daily requirement of protein for only 244 calories. Moreover, grilled salmon is packed with vitamins and minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids that help in removing toxins that resulted from  the breaking down of cells during exercises.

Sources
mademan.com
fitness.mercola.com
livestrong.com
livestrong.com