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Preparing energy before the gym by eating and drinking is recommended, but the wrong choice of snacks can make your training session even harder and actually sabotage the progress you have made so far.
The last thing you want during your workout is a sudden upset stomach in the middle of a workout, or giving up fatigue before even starting your gym session.
"Carelessly eating and drinking before exercising, or even exercising on an empty stomach, can damage your system and cause cramps," said Jim White, R.D., spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Diabetics, quoted from mensfitness.com.
For an optimal gym session, avoid the following 7 foods and drinks:
Flaxseed
Flaxseed is rich in fiber, of course good for your body. However, too much fiber intake causes gas and bloating which can interfere with your exercise routine.
Stella Metsovas, clinical nutrition and diet expert, recommends that you do not eat any fibrous foods two hours before and after exercise. Apart from flaxseeds, also avoid fiber supplements, bran, vegetable salads, and high-fiber breads.
We recommend that you choose snacks that contain protein and carbohydrates.
Protein bar
Don't be fooled by the protein bar labels on the market. Many protein bars contain over 200 calories and very little protein, which is the equivalent of eating a bar of chocolate candy!
According to Rania Bayney, quoted from shape.com, if your protein bar contains less than 10 grams of protein, the risk is your blood sugar will fall faster and make you tired more easily. Pay attention to the nutrition table on the product packaging. Choose a protein bar that contains no more than 200 kcal of calories with a ratio of protein to sugar ratio of 1: 1.
Fast food
Snacks high in protein and carbohydrates don't mean filling your stomach with burgers or fries at the fast food restaurant near your gym.
Junk food is very high in fat and takes at least four hours to be fully digested.
When you digest food, your heart will focus on pumping blood to your stomach to help digestion. The volume of blood flow to the muscles will shrink, even though the muscles need a lot of blood intake when doing strenuous activities. This will slow down your body during exercise.
In addition, foods high in sodium can disrupt the balance of body fluids needed during exercise.
Avoiding fast food is the best move, but even healthy snacks high in fat such as cheese, avocado, and almonds can also make you more sluggish. Why?
Quoted from USNews.com, the process of burning fat into energy is considered less efficient when compared to carbohydrates or protein. The complex process of digesting fat in the body can cause cramps and discomfort in the stomach.
Choose rice, pasta, potatoes, or meat that is processed as simply as possible. As a menu guide before the gym, use a carbohydrate ratio of 4: 1 protein to keep your energy up.
Milk
In fact, low-fat milk which is claimed to be a diet food can also slow down the body's work during exercise.
Protein is a major source of energy and aids in muscle recovery, but high protein food or drink products do not contain enough carbohydrates, so they can drain your energy faster. Like fat, protein travels slowly into the bloodstream, making it easy for you to feel tired and shaky even though you've eaten a lot.
Sugar
According to White, any food that contains high levels of sugar and simple carbohydrates, including smoothies "Healthy," only gives you the temporary energy, not the sustained energy you need to exercise
For the digestive system to work optimally, you need the help of good bacteria that live in the intestines. By consuming too many snacks that contain artificial sweeteners, the growth and development of good bacteria will be threatened and cause nutrient absorption to not go well.
Snacks high in sugar and carbohydrates will raise your blood sugar levels and may cause you to pass out in the middle of your gym session.
If you are planning an intense exercise session, you should also avoid orange juice, isotonic drinks, sodas, and energy drinks. Caffeine can provide a boost of energy before starting exercise, but it can also ruin your sleep patterns. Lack of sleep means that you don't have enough energy to exercise.
Choose espresso or black tea, which is more body friendly than sodas or energy drinks. If you prefer smoothies, mix them at home by mixing fresh fruit with protein powder.
Egg
Boiled eggs are an excellent source of pure protein, but they don't provide enough carbohydrates for energy balance. What's more, the protein from eggs stays in the stomach for a long time until it gets digested, which will put a lot of strain on your body while working out at the gym.
"Herbal medicine" raw eggs is also not a good drink for you to consume before the gym. Raw eggs contain Salmonella bacteria which can cause stomach upset and diarrhea.
Instead, replace your egg menu with a cup of plain greek yogurt or cheese combined with a fruit salad.
Spicy and spicy food
Spicy food is great for diet eating because it can help you burn more calories overall, but this benefit will not be effective if you eat spicy food before going to the gym.
Spicy and spicy food can make your stomach churn and burn your throat which of course hinders your exercise session.
Green banana
Bananas are a great snack to gobble up before working out, but make sure you buy bananas that are yellow and completely ripe!
Choose bananas without greenish patches, which means they are not fully ripe. The best way to tell which bananas are perfectly ripe and raw are the brown spots on the peel. At this level of maturity, the sugar content of the banana will be easier for the body to digest.
