What is the best thing to eat after a workout if I want to be toned and slim?
Great question! This is one of the main concerns of all trainers, athletes and exercise aficionados!
If you are exercising to tone, stay energetic and lose fat I have a few great suggestions for you. The best thing to take both before and after your workout is spirulina, which is an algae and you can buy it online in either in a tablet form (easy to carry around) or as a powder. In fact, for years, I heard so much about the benefits of spirulina that recently I started taking it before and after my own workouts to see if everything they say about it is true. It is! It’s amazing!
You will not fatigue or get hungry if you take spirulina before your workout. This is because it is 60% protein and is nitrogen-based (so it helps your body get more nitric oxide which allows more blood and oxygen to get to your cells). Sweet! And, as you have likely heard from trainers, the best thing to eat AFTER your workout is protein, which helps build muscle (instead of fat).
So, since spirulina has 12 x the amount of available protein as steak..I would also recommend you take spirulina after your workout (15 – 20 tabs). This will not only get protein immediately into your body, it will also cut your hunger (helpful for weight loss) and will also bring oxygen to your cells so that you won’t have muscle soreness (from excess lactic acid that may have been generated from your workout).
Almost as important as knowing what to eat after a workout is knowing what NOT to eat. New research has shown that circuit training (short bursts of fast paced activities, followed by weight lifting repetitions, followed by breaks) is the best exercise for fat burning and for getting your body to release HGH (Human Growth Hormone) which is what keeps you energetic and youthful.
So, if you want to get the most fat burning benefits and HGH benefits from your workout, you should not eat anything with sugar (or HFCS) for the two hours after your workout. Why? Because research has shown that eating anything that contains fructose or sugar after a workout interferes with your body’s ability to burn fat or create HGH.
Translation…no fruit, no simple carbs, no chocolate, no candy, no juice or anything with sugar for 2 hours after your workout. Instead, eat protein. This means things like eggs, chicken, spirulina, chlorella, hemp or rice protein powder, seeds/nuts.
If you want, you can also eat salads (no salad dressing other than olive oil) or other vegetables but if you want the best results, eat mostly protein. If you do this after your workouts, you will burn more fat after your work out, get toned faster and achieve or keep a slim, strong body! Thank you for asking a terrific question and I hope this helped!
All the best,
The Naughty Nutritionist