Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Eating before of after a workout for weight loss; which is more effective?

"Should I work out after or before I eat?" is a commonly asked question.  Here is what I found worked best for me:
1)  Within an hour from waking in the morning, I weight myself and then have one of my "7-21" Wellness Smoothies before working out.
2)  I then workout (within 30 minutes) after having my smoothie, for at least 45 minutes (30 minutes cardio, 10 minutes strength building exercises including sit-ups, lunges, bi-cep/tri-cep routine, squats, etc., followed by 5 minutes of yoga/stretching).
3)  After my workout, I weigh myself and usually I would see anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 lb weight loss.
What I realized after doing this (routinely) is:
*Muscles will burn "incoming" calories before they burn stored calories/fat.  However, muscles will burn (continuously) stored fat.  This means you're getting the best of both worlds; an engine that burns now and later. 
*Our metabolism is stimulated when we do two things; eat and exercise.
But keep this in mind......overeating then trying to work it off later does not produce the same results.  Within a short period of time after we eat our body starts moving those incoming calories throughout our tissues, cells and organs.  Buying now and paying for it later isn't an option when trying to reach a realistic wellness goal.  Your body isn't a "credit card" that you can max out and pay off instantly.  We start adding " compound interest" (i.e weight gain) almost immediately when we over- indulge.
So here's the lesson in all of this; eat healthy, workout within a half-hour after you eat (for weight loss/wellness), and eat consistently a balanced number of calories throughout the day.  The end result will be wellness=weight loss.
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