Eating And Training: How To Time It Right Evening

Evening Exercise


After a stressful day at the office, there's nothing like a run to burn off excess tension. The problem is that you sometimes don't feel like heading out of the door if you're hungry or just exhausted. If you do manage to run, sometimes you return home so ravenous that you eat everything in sight as you make your evening meal. Then you might eat dinner as late as 8pm and end up going to bed with a full stomach.

What to do?

It's very simple - just stick to the following two principles:


1. Eat healthily during the day to avoid any intestinal upset that might thwart your training plans. Also eat often and enough that you're adequately fuelled for your session to avoid the 'I'm too hungry' excuse.


2. Eat lightly after exercise to recover well without causing digestion to interfere with your sleep.


Here are some tips for evening exercisers:


•Never skip breakfast. Eat at least 500 calories for your morning meal. For example, quickly throw together a fruit smoothie made with yoghurt, fruit and juice. Or try cereal topped with nuts, skimmed milk and a piece of fruit.

•Make lunch your main meal of the day. Focus on high-quality protein, such as fish, tofu, lean beef, chicken or bread with cooked grain, along with fresh fruit.

•Always eat a mid-afternoon snack. Around three hours before your run, eat a snack of fruit or an energy bar together with half a pint of water.

•Drink more fluids. Grab a drink as soon as you step back through the door after your run. And keep drinking as you prepare your meal. This helps replace sweat loss and may prevent you trying to eat everything in sight.

•Eat moderately at dinner. Some people worry about eating too close to bedtime because they fear the calories will go straight to their fat cells. That's simply not true. Your body will use those calories to stockpile fuel in your muscles. On the other hand if you eat more calories than your body needs - no matter what time of day or night - your body will eventually store the excess as fat.
 
By Liz Applegate