Do you often wonder what you should eat before a workout? It isn’t necessarily what you eat before a workout that is so important rather than what you ate the few days prior to working out. It is important to keep your body fueled on an on going basis. Therefore, what you eat just before a workout isn’t as important as what you ate the few days prior to a long run, bike ride or hike, but is still important.

With all that said, there are three levels of intensity:

-         High intensity, shorter time; activity usually lasts an hour or less (2-5 mile run, intense workout at the gym, tennis, hockey)

-         Moderate intensity, moderate time; any activity that last between 1-3 hours long (half marathon, marathon, intense cycling or hiking)

-         Low intensity, longer time; anything that last longer than 3 hours (long walk, bike ride, ironman events)

The most important factor in eating before exercise is to make sure what you are eating is easily digestible.

For a high intensity workout it is best to fuel your body with simple carbohydrate (fruits, dates) because once you eat them they go straight to the liver for immediate energy.

For a moderate workout it is good to fuel your body with about 5% protein, 35% fat and 60% carbohydrate. A good example would be a lara bar and some apple sauce.

For a low intensity workout it is important to be more balanced and eat something that is more along the range of 10% protein, 70% fat and 20% carbohydrates. An example would be 100% whole wheat pancakes with flax seed old and a banana.

As you can see the first thing our body wants during an intense work out is simple carbohydrates and once that is depleted, it moves on to complex carbohydrates.

A lil note on protein:

Some people think protein is good just before a intense work out, but what they don’t know is that too much protein requires more fluid to be metabolized than carbohydrates or fat, therefore, many people suffer from muscle cramping. More so if they aren’t hydrating daily. Protein is also meant for building muscle rather than fueling it.

Keeping hydrated daily will also decrease the amount of stress that is placed on the body, which will allow the body to work harder and perform better and usually requires less recovery time.

Side Note: I usually try to keep these posts short and sweet and this one just got out of hand. I hope it kept your interest and maybe you learned a thing or two. Again, you have to find what works for you, but hopefully you can use this as a mini guideline.

How many of you look at the nutrition facts panel before you buy something? Maybe you check out the fat content or the sugar content? Do you really know what you are reading? Maybe you know what you are looking for, but do you understand it?

I found this diagram below and wanted to share it with you (courtesy of Trader Joes)! I constantly read the ingredients of a product and the nutrition facts panel. I think it is important to read the ingredients label and the nutrition facts panel before you buy anything, but most of all it is important to understand what you are reading. Reading this article below gave me a refresher course on what I am reading.

If you are not already reading labels, I encourage you to read the ingredients and nutrition facts panel before you purchase anything. Most likely if you don’t know what an ingredient is then it probably isn’t good for you.

Happy Shopping!!

Today I discovered this new grocery market called Fresh and Easy. I decided first to check them out on their website and came across a coupon where I could save $6 if I spent $30 or more. I figured it couldn’t hurt to check them out and what a great way to get me in there… give me a coupon!! Well their food was fresh all right, however there was hardly any produce! I was disappointed. Not to mention it was well over priced! Most of their items were freshly prepared and packaged as heat and ready to eat meals. They looked good, but they were not all that healthy (lot of white flour, creamy sauces, high in fat)  so again I was disappointed. As I walked up and down every isle I noticed they carried a lot of name brand products and a lot of junk food. As I picked up a can of kidney beans I saw they had sugar in them…. why do you need sugar in kidney beans?!

My over all experience was OK and I saved $6 as I checked out, but in the future I don’t think I will be shopping there. My interpretation of Fresh and Easy is a lot of fresh produce …not a small little corner with apples and avocados and half their shelves filled with processed foods on it. It does full-fill its name of Easy because they do have a lot of  premade foods … but just because they are fresh and easy doesn’t mean they are healthy. Lesson for the day: don’t be fooled by the name of something!

P.S. The one cool thing about Fresh and Easy is that all their check out stands are self check out. I do give them props for that!

Here are the stores in San Diego.