How To Fuel Your Body...And A Sneak Peak

Good day to you all!

Thanks for your comments on yesterday's post. I hope I was helpful in explaining why it is important to fuel your body for your work outs.

In this post, I would like to talk about how to go about properly fueling your body depending on when you are working out and how long the work-out lasts.

There are two types of fuel that our body uses which can easily turn into glycogen to use as fuel for our bodies. They are complex carbohydrates also known as slow acting carbohydrates and then simple carbohydrates, also known as fast acting carbohydrates.

Slow acting carbs, true to their name, take about 45 minutes after consumption for your body to start reaping the benefits of the energy. An example of a slow acting carb would be something like brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread...those type of carbs. This is a great fuel to eat if you are able to plan your work-outs in advance and eat them in advance.

The gal who taught the nutrition class where I learned some of this information, ate about one hour before her work-outs. She combined some type of whole foods protein with a slow acting carbohydrate. If you eat protein before a work-out, you should give yourself about one hour for it to digest. That's why taking in a complex carb and a protein work well about an hour before your work-out.

So...what if you are a morning person? What if, like me, I used to awaken at 5:00 a.m. and be in the gym working out at 5:45 or earlier? What do I do then?

What I had been doing was eating a 1/2 cup of brown rice. What I noticed was that it would take about 15 to 20 minutes into the work-out for me to stop feeling that "weak" feeling. That's because that's when the complex carb finally kicked in.

To solve that problem, she suggested I eat 1/2 of a banana along with the 1/2 cup of brown rice. The banana is a fast acting carb and would give me immediate energy and tide me over until the slow acting carb from the brown rice kicked in.

As I mentioned yesterday, after about 45 minutes of working out, your body has depleted itself of glycogen and needs to re-fuel. The best way to refuel if you work out longer than 45 minutes is to bring some kind of fast acting carb with you.

The gal who taught the nutrition class will always bring fruit along with her in case her work-out takes longer than 45 minutes. She personally likes to eat a banana or some pineapple pieces.

I tried this out on my tonight work-out because I knew I would go over the 45 minute time limit.

I began my work-out doing nine sets of push-ups in sets of 28, 28, 35, 35, 28, 28, 24 24, and 63. That is 293 push-ups. That is the most push-ups I have ever done. I have begun to add more push-ups to my routine since I can already do week six on the 100 push-up challenge.

After that I went on to do a chest and triceps type of work out. I started to feel fatigued about 40 minutes into it, so I pulled out some raisins that I had brought along.

For those who don't recall, I have also begun a pull-up challenge where I am trying to do four sets of six pull-ups unassisted. This is what I was able to do when I was in high school, and it seemed like a good goal to start with. On Monday, I was able to do ten pull-ups in a row.

Well, I will have to set a new goal, because I was able to complete four sets of six pull-ups 65tonight. I really had to push on that last repetition, but I was able to complete it.

*[For those who want to know, because I know some of you will want to know...I pulled a chair near to the bar, and slowly swung into a hanging position with my arms completely straight and with my hands holding the bar in an underhand grip about 15 inches apart. I pulled up to my chin and then extended down until my arms were straight again and repeated the process.]

I really believe that I was able to complete those pull-ups at the end of a tough work-out because I had properly fueled myself.

And quite honestly, I am elated that I was able to do this. Now I have to make a new goal.

But...I digress...

So, now that you know how to fuel yourself before and during a work-out...what about after?

I love this body builder gal because she is as natural as it gets. The only time that she will recommend using a protein powder is directly after a weight lifting work-out. Every other time, she obtains her protein from natural sources such as fish, ground turkey, egg whites....she doesn't eat chicken, but that's another post...

But she looks like a million bucks, and doesn't use a bunch of supplements to get that look. What that means to me, is that I can look like a natural body builder too by just eating the right foods and working hard.

An ideal recovery food would be a protein drink plus a a fast acting carbohydrate like a banana or pineapple. This is because the protein is made in such a way that your body can use it quickly for muscle recovery. And obviously, the simple carbs are received by your body quickly as well.

She recommended three types of protein that she uses. The brand names are: 1.) Optimum Nutrition 100% whey, 2.)Revolutionary Technology Nutrition, and 3.)Human Development Technologies Pro Blend 55 which is sold at GNC but is much cheaper when purchased online.

You will want to consume this protein/simple carb recovery meal within twenty minutes of your work-out. Even if you don't weight lift, but are doing a cardio exercise, you will want to recover with this kind of combination.

Why?

Because your muscles will not be as sore the next time you work-out because you fed them during a time when they needed the recovery fuel.

So...this is a lot of information, and I will quit for now.

But I did want to see if anyone can guess what company this give-a-way is about. Details have been ironed out and I will talk about it tomorrow.

What's in that box?

Have a great Thursday folks!

Sincerely,

Sunshine Mama