Well, today I went out for a nice 'little' breakfast at IHOP and ended up getting a pretty decent egg scramble dish with egg substitute. In doing that alone, I saved around 120 calories, 740 grams of cholesterol and 20 grams of fat. I say this now, never be afraid to request a modification to a dish in order to make it more healthy, even if it is just requesting little or no cheese (which I actually forgot to request but no biggie - like I always say, one day will not make or break a diet.). Following this meal and putting the kiddo to bed, I decided to go out for a good run but in doing so broke a fundamental rule: running immediately after eating. So today I thought I would share some of the rules I abide by in order to stay safe and comfortable during a run. Some of these may seem fundamental and obvious, but I have made errors in the past regarding a few.
1. Wait at least 90min following a large meal before you do any kind of activity. If you proceed to workout too soon then all the blood will be pooled in your belly taking care of breaking down the food, rather than spread out to the various limbs that are needing the assistance which can lead to poor performance.
2. Eat a small snack about 45-1hr before a workout so you do not get the rumbly grumblies. I recommend getting both some protein and some carbs in before any workout. This will help give you some energy to finish strong. I usually eat some brown rice with some chicken. Being hungry during a workout can also degrade performance and leave you with a bad taste for exercise.
3.Drink plenty of cool water before, during, and after a workout. This will help with dehydration and actually helps bring your internal body temperature down, allowing you to function better.
4. Dress appropriately! I made the mistake during winter of worrying about overheating and grimacing at the thought of sweating in sweat pants, so I set out on a couple of excursions in nothing but shorts and a tank-top. The one time it was in the single digits and I can remember that my hands were numb and hurt like the dickens once they warmed back up.
5. Do not over do it. If it is your first workout, no matter how lite you go you will feel sore but that is not because you are overdoing it. Over doing it would be more along the lines of trying to curl the same weight some other extremely athletic individual did. Ease into things quite gently. For those who take up running, I recommend not adding more than 10% of either distance or time per week to a run in order to avoid injury. If you are doing 1 mile this week, just go about 1.1 miles the next week. Or, alternately do the same mile but try for a better time!
6. After any workout, make sure to get another lite snack in. Workouts burn calories and deplete your body of nutrients, so be kind and help your body repair itself within the 'golden hour' following a workout with some protein and again some carbs. One thing that recent studies show is that chocolate milk has a pretty good ratio of things your body needs after a workout, so you get a a treat for all of your hard work (I do recommend going skim or 1% though, let us not undo what we just did)!
7. Get plenty of rest. Sleep is the time when the body goes to work repairing itself so if you cheat yourself of sleep, you are essentially making it more difficult to workout. This one I have had difficulties right before a race. I get antsy and stay up all night and then my energy is a little low and I feel sluggish.
Alright, that is it for now. Still working on some other cool things to add here, so until next time: Have fun with it!
1. Wait at least 90min following a large meal before you do any kind of activity. If you proceed to workout too soon then all the blood will be pooled in your belly taking care of breaking down the food, rather than spread out to the various limbs that are needing the assistance which can lead to poor performance.
2. Eat a small snack about 45-1hr before a workout so you do not get the rumbly grumblies. I recommend getting both some protein and some carbs in before any workout. This will help give you some energy to finish strong. I usually eat some brown rice with some chicken. Being hungry during a workout can also degrade performance and leave you with a bad taste for exercise.
3.Drink plenty of cool water before, during, and after a workout. This will help with dehydration and actually helps bring your internal body temperature down, allowing you to function better.
4. Dress appropriately! I made the mistake during winter of worrying about overheating and grimacing at the thought of sweating in sweat pants, so I set out on a couple of excursions in nothing but shorts and a tank-top. The one time it was in the single digits and I can remember that my hands were numb and hurt like the dickens once they warmed back up.
5. Do not over do it. If it is your first workout, no matter how lite you go you will feel sore but that is not because you are overdoing it. Over doing it would be more along the lines of trying to curl the same weight some other extremely athletic individual did. Ease into things quite gently. For those who take up running, I recommend not adding more than 10% of either distance or time per week to a run in order to avoid injury. If you are doing 1 mile this week, just go about 1.1 miles the next week. Or, alternately do the same mile but try for a better time!
6. After any workout, make sure to get another lite snack in. Workouts burn calories and deplete your body of nutrients, so be kind and help your body repair itself within the 'golden hour' following a workout with some protein and again some carbs. One thing that recent studies show is that chocolate milk has a pretty good ratio of things your body needs after a workout, so you get a a treat for all of your hard work (I do recommend going skim or 1% though, let us not undo what we just did)!
7. Get plenty of rest. Sleep is the time when the body goes to work repairing itself so if you cheat yourself of sleep, you are essentially making it more difficult to workout. This one I have had difficulties right before a race. I get antsy and stay up all night and then my energy is a little low and I feel sluggish.
Alright, that is it for now. Still working on some other cool things to add here, so until next time: Have fun with it!
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