By now we all know that what we eat is important. We need to make wise choices in order to achieve happy, healthy bodies, but did you know that when you eat is also important? There's a lot that goes into this topic, but in the interest of not overloading you, here are a few things you can start doing to get more benefits out of what you are currently eating.
Let's start with Breakfast: It's the most important meal of the day! Why? Well it sets the mood for your metabolism! Start off each day by eating a large protein source within the first hour of waking up. I hear a lot of people say they "can't" eat breakfast, I used to feel that way, truth is you can train your body to do anything so stop the excuses! Breakfast!!! Eat it!!! Good examples of High protein breakfast foods would be:
Protein Shake
Eggs prepared how you like
Peanut Butter toast
Breakfast meats such as turkey bacon, turkey sausage, canadian bacon/ham
Next up the importance of your preworkout meal. What you eat preworkout will vary some based on what kind of activity you are doing. Rule of thumb is 30-60 minutes before you hit an intense workout, eat a good source of carbs. This can come from starches or fruit, they are different kinds of carbs, but both convert into energy and give you a boost through your workout routine. So for example you could eat:
Banana
Apple
Sweet Potato
Quinoa
Oatmeal
(the list goes on and on)
You may also want to try a preworkout drink. Try a nitric oxide booster if you are looking to increase muscle mass. They are anywhere from zero to fifteen calories per scoop so you don't have to make room for them in your caloric intake. Rather, it opens up your blood vessels allowing for more blood, oxygen and nutrients to be rushed through the body. This helps you with your workout performance and also aids in recovery time. *WARNING* there are risks and side effects labeled on these powders so read them before you decide to buy.
When the workout is done, PROTEIN! This is the best thing you can be giving your body during the anabolic window (right after your workout to an hour after your workout) your muscles are torn and tired and you have released hormone responses telling your body to gather protein for repair.Feed yourself a post workout shake or food with protein:
Meat
Beans
Nuts
Greek Yogurt
low fat cheese
Let's talk about those Carbs again, the starches in particular. Bread products are in the starch group but you don't want all of your starch calories to come from breads (they convert to sugar and are stored as fat in the belly region) instead, open yourself up to the world of squashes, corn, potatoes, wild and brown rices, oatmeal, and more. As far as ingestion, you should make sure that you get your starches eaten earlier on in the day. I aim to get all of my servings in by 2 pm. This gives the body time to burn off the energy and for minimal amounts to be stored as fat.
Veggies are easy as far as flexibility is concerned, they can be eaten any time of day and you can basically have all you can eat, its quite hard to overdose on vegetables.Try to incorporate veggies into most of your meals and snacks to help both fill you up and fuel you up!
Lastly, at least an hour before bed, have a casein based protein source. this is a slow digesting protein that will keep your digestive system working through the night. the more your digestive system works, the higher your metabolism, the more calories and fat you burn, and the less hungry you feel. Cottage cheese (casein not whey) or a casein protein powder are good for bedtime snacks.
Speaking of snacks, I'll leave you with this: Try to eat every 2-3 hours. That means lots of snacking! Breakfast....preworkout snack....lunch....afternoon snack.....dinner....before bed snack! that's just an example, but feel free to sit down and figure out how best to fit these meals and mini snacks into your lifestyle. Try to map it out where you have your starches earlier on and a good source of carbs before your workout, and don't forget a slow digesting protein before bed!
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