Health Post workout meal for a morning workout

[killerman]

So I've heard that your post workout meal should be big, a meal rich in protein, carbs and fruit and veg. However my question is what should you eat after a morning workout. If I'm to start working out in the morning it'll be straight after I have breakfast. And so if I have to eat a huge meal after I work out I would be having a huge meal not long after I had breakfast, which makes me think I might not have a big enough appetite to eat the large meal. Ideally I'd wake up around 5:30 have breakfast then and hit the gym around 6:00. I have lunch around 12 or 1 so I'd need something to eat before then, ideally my post workout meal would be around 7 but I dont think it would be something huge. So I'm asking, how big does your post workout meal have to be? If anyone could post what kind of food they eat after their morning workout that would be great!

 

[Seppuku]

Hey killerman,

Just read this.

I have faced the same questions for my own workouts. So what I do now is that I have a minimal breakfast before the workout. I avoid a big breakfast because it will be hard on the stomach while exercising. I have like four eggs, then some carbs. I make sure that the carbs will hit the blood by the time I workout. So if I can eat two hours before the gym, then I have slow carbs such as sweet potatoes. But if the time available is shorter than that, then I have some fast carbs, such as honey or cake. The point is you want the sugar hitting your bloodstream by the time you exercise. It will fuel your workout.

Note that fruits just before the workout will not help you, because they're slow carbs - take hours to reach the bloodstream. And also because fructose (the sugar contained in fruits) is not directly usable by the muscle as energy - it has to be processed by the liver first.

However, I have the real meal after the workout. First you need to refill your glycogen reserves asap. Personally after a very hard workout I sometimes experience symptoms of hypoglycemia. To avoid that I need sugar asap. My favorite fast fix is about 150g of greek yogurt (natural, unsweetened), mixed with 50 g of oats, and about 30 g of honey. It's thick, so you can add milk to that if you want. That's the urgent carb fix. Then I make sure I have fruits, other slow carbs, and plenty of proteins, steak, grilled salmon, etc... The best time to have fruits is right after a workout. That's when the liver has the best chance to be able to process the fructose in it - when the glycogen stores are depleted and the body needs to refill the lost energy reserves.

That's my two cents. I hope this help!

Seppuku

 

[jakesykes949]

Doesn't matter what you eat, as long as it fits your macros, bro.

Obviously having healthy foods will improve bodily function, but in terms of lifting weights/muscle, there is no magic "ONE killer food to build muscle!" despite what the BS clickbait articles tell you.

Here's what my routine usually looks like:
-12pm wake up (I'm self employed so do whatever I want)
-12:25pm morning routine (meditate, journal, etc.)
-1pm hit the gym & sauna
-3pm get back home
-Eat around 1,000 calories (big meal) with 50g protein
-Snack/eat throughout the day, make sure to hit 180g protein per day

Just focus on your macros and you'll be fine, man. This is the biggest thing you should focus on.

Don't buy into the hype about eating certain foods. Aside from just eating a healthy diet, like I said, there is no "one food" that's going to give you crazy results. Unless that food is steroids, lol.