best pre-workout meal for weightloss to power your workout
Fueling your body in a proper way before working out is very crucial to maximize your performance. A balanced pre-workout meal supplies energy and nutrients to your muscles to perform their best. Be it strength training, cardio, or any sport activity, consuming the right food at the right time will boost your performance. Let’s see the best pre workout meal for weight loss and science hidden behind it!
How pre workout meal helps
Already there are lots of fitness myths around the industry, keep them aside and understand the concept of pre workout meal. The main motive behind a pre workout meal is that it provides energy to your body. While exercising, the body relies on glycogen, which is a stored carbohydrate in your muscle. A meal rich in carbs ensures that your glycogen levels are good enough to withstand your physical activity. Along with carbs, protein helps to build your muscle tissues, especially during weight training.
It’s always a personal choice whether you have to eat a pre-workout meal or not. People do fasted cardio, which burns more calories. That’s right, performing cardiovascular exercises on an empty stomach is fine, but performing HIIT or strength training is not advised on an empty stomach. How your pre-workout meal should look and how much time before you should consume it is very essential.
A full-fledged pre-workout meal consists of carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats. A combination of these three is perfect to keep you energized and full for a longer period. This should be consumed at least 1 hour before your gym session. Generally, people consume such a combination when they want to work out for more than 2 hours.
However, it’s not always possible for everyone to consume such a meal due to a lack of availability of raw materials or time constraints. For those individuals, it would be best to consume foods that are easy to digest, mainly carbohydrates and protein. This combination can be consumed at least one hour before your gym training. It’s always recommended to consume either of the combinations for a proper high-energy workout so that you don’t feel dizzy during the workout due to undereating. Let’s understand how the best pre workout meal for weight loss looks like.
How to choose the best pre workout meal for weight loss
A. Carbs + Protein + Fats
1. Oats with peanut butter and chia seeds
Oats consist of slow-digesting carbohydrates along with peanut butter, which contains healthy fats, and chia seeds offer protein. This option is quite good and also easily available in the market.
2. Greek yogurt with mixed nuts and berries
Yogurt contains protein, while the nuts add healthy fats, and the berries help in digesting carbs quickly.
3. Whole grain toast with avocado and eggs
It’s a good and easy-to-make pre-workout meal as whole grain has complex carbs, avocado offers healthy fats, and protein is obtained from the eggs.
4. Muesli with almond milk mixed with one scoop of protein
This is one of the quickest pre-workout meals you can make at home. Muesli provides a good balance of healthy fats and carbs, along with one scoop of protein, and almond milk gives additional nutrients too.
B. Carbs + Protein
1. Banana with 2 boiled eggs
Banana is a fast-digesting carbohydrate, and eggs give us protein.
2. Oats with protein powder
Oats offer complex carbs, and protein powder ensures enough protein intake for muscle recovery.
3. Scrambled eggs with whole wheat toast
One of the easiest and tastiest pre-workout meals. Toast supplies carbs, and scrambled eggs add protein to your meal.
Though caffeine doesn’t provide any macronutrients, it is widely used as a pre-workout drink as it boosts performance by increasing alertness and concentration.
Post-Workout Meals
After you work out, especially during strength training, small tears form in the muscle fibers. Post-workout, your muscles are quite sensitive to nutrients, which they can absorb effectively. It’s very essential to consume the right food to rebuild glycogen stores and repair those muscle proteins. Majorly, carbohydrates and protein are required to refill and repair muscle fibers. Let’s see what you can eat once you’ve worked out:
1. Protein shake
The most popular and convenient post-workout drink, which takes less than a minute to prepare. Good quality protein powder mixed with water or milk and adding a banana as a carbohydrate source is a good option.
2. Brown rice with boneless chicken
This combination has the perfect balance between carbs and protein, as brown rice is a carbohydrate that reloads glycogen, along with boneless chicken, which is a good source of protein to repair your muscle. This meal will also keep you full for a longer time.
3. Watermelon
Watermelon is the best hydrating fruit. Though it won’t offer protein, it contains carbohydrates that digest quickly to restore energy.
4. Grilled salmon with quinoa and avocado
This too is one of the best combinations, as salmon provides healthy fats and protein, while quinoa adds carbs with some amount of protein too. So, you get a good amount of protein for your muscles to recover.
Along with meals there are various types of pre-workout supplements which are widely used across the globe. Let’s have a look on it.
Category | Product name | Description | Ratings | Shop |
Energy booster | Optimum Nutrition Amino Energy | Unleash explosive energy and focus to ignite your workout | ||
Creatine | Nutricost Creatine Monohydrate | Supercharge your workouts that fuels your muscles with extra energy | ||
Muscle pump and blood flow | GAT SPORT Nitraflex Advanced | Feel that rush of blood flow and impressive muscle pumps |
In conclusion, choosing the pre workout meal for weight loss can make a significant difference in your energy levels and overall performance. A balanced meal with the right mix of carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats provides the fuel your body needs to excel. Remember to eat atleast 1 hour before your workout so that it gets digested and supplies energy in time.
[…] balancing all the required nutrients like protein, carbs, fiber and also guide you with post and pre workout meal. That custom plan will consider your lifestyle, health issues, and likes/dislikes, which will allow […]