What are the best foods for before and after your workout?

Want to get the most out of your next Lagree class? Here are the best foods to fuel your body with pre and post your date with the Megaformer.

Before you read this and do the maths on these meals, keep in mind that without adding physical activity to their day the average adult woman needs around about 2000 calories a day for energy, and the average adult male needs about 2500 calories for energy.

First Thing

Start the day right by fuelling up with a combo of carbs and fibre. Carbs is not a dirty word, in fact they are a necessity to give you the energy to get the most out of your workout!

Try:

a bowl of oats and mixed berries (210 calories/879kJ), or
2 pieces grain toast with natural peanut butter and sliced banana (515 calories/2155kJ).

Before Class

Training on an empty stomach prevents you from getting the most out of your workout and can even lead to injury when your brain isn’t working at it’s sharpest. You want to eat a 100-200 calorie snack about half an hour before your workout to give you the right amount of energy and keep your blood sugar levels up.

Potassium (for enhanced muscle strength and metabolism) and good fats (to support metabolism) are the best all natural, chemical free pre-workout fuel.

I recommend:

a banana smoothie (200 calories/837kJ – banana and almond milk), or
a handful of mixed, natural nuts (160 calories/669kJ), or
some apple slices with your choice of nut butter (less than 100 calories/400kJ).

After Class

It’s time to repair! Protein and veggies are the mix you want to go for to do the best by your muscles.

Chicken, salmon or red meat will all do the job so go with your preference (ranging between 490 calories/2050kJ for fish and 529 calories/2213kJ for red meat. Chicken falls between the two.)
Pair your protein with mixed veggies or a salad that are packed with variety and colour.

If you’re time poor or not in the mood for meat, a veggie omelette will be a quick and easy substitute:

a 3 egg-white vegetable omelette (198 calories/828kJ), or
a 3 whole-egg vegetable omelette (363 calories/1519kJ)

Don’t!!

Hit the drive-through or go for something filled with sugar! Why?

It won’t have a good reaction with the toxins you’ve released during your workout.
It’s a good way to make yourself sick
It basically voids all the hard work you just did.

Three pretty good reasons to go for one of the simple, healthy options above. (Your body will thank you for it.)

The Morning After

You want a good mix of protein, veggies and good fats to help the muscles repair, re-energise and support the changes you've made to your muscles during your workout.

Try this perfect combination:

scrambled eggs with avocado, wilted spinach, tomato and mushrooms (270 calories/1130kJ), teamed with
a berry and banana smoothie (250 calories/1046KJ)

All Day

Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate! Before, during and after class.

It’s important you walk into a class hydrated so you can maintain your concentration.
Keep hydrating throughout to maintain energy levels
Make sure after class you drink 500ml – 1 litre of water depending on the level of sweating you’ve done during your workout. The release of toxins can make you sick (usually nauseous or a headache) if you don’t flush them out with water.

I always say, ‘water before wine’!

Kelley x

Kelley Sloan is a qualified nutritionist and Lagree Fitness Instructor at LaFIt Studio. Kelley is also certified in many other forms of fitness, including Pilates, Barre, TRX and other cross training methods.

After being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease several years ago, a passion in health, nutrition, and overall wellness was born. In order to improve the state of her own health Kelley undertook training as a Nutritional Counsellor to understand her own body and help others experiencing similar issues through her consulting business One Wellness.

If you have any questions about health and nutrition that you would like Kelley to answer on our blog hit please send us an enquiry!