Inspirational and Helpful Foods Before and After Workouts

All of us wish that there was a magical drink or food that gave us the energy and strength to get through a vigorous workout. If you walk down any aisle in the supermarket where they sell "energy" or "power" bars, you'll notice that they are loaded with calories, sugar, and yes even fat...not to mention the ingredients. People are willing to sacrifice all of that to gain energy to jump start their workout and also get the most out of their workouts. There are other foods, drinks, and methods that unleash your inner animal without adding too many calories, sugar, or fat to your body. There are a few myths some deem to be true, but are unmistakably false.

Myth #1: I need to drink a sports drink in order to get energy and gain electrolytes while I workout.

This myth is common because a lot of people want to retain their energy levels while exercising, but they are simply victims of corporate advertising. Sport drink companies want you to simply buy their product and the best way for them to achieve that goal is to tell you that you need the drink in order to stay energized. The truth is that sports drinks are filled with calories (which are empty, meaning no nutritional benefits), sugar (even deadly high fructose corn syrup), and yes chemical colors and dyes. This is the lie that many succumb to in order to gain and maintain electrolytes? The truth is that you can get more electrolytes in a tomato or a banana rather than downing a sports drink. If you are really concerned about losing electrolytes I would recommend having a sliced tomato or simply tomato juice (Low Sodium V8 Juice is fine) before you workout. While you workout simply drink water, water, water!

Myth #2: I need energy drinks and protein drinks/bars in order to get the most out of my workout.

The marketing world of protein and energy drinks is very misleading and confusing to everyone. The claims that these marketing fat cats come up are almost comical, for instance, they suggest that if you eat or drink their product then you will turn into the Governator in a matter of minutes. The sad truth is...we want to believe they work so we end up buying these products because we want all the results with none of the work or effort. Many of these energy-shot products are not even approved by the FDA (and the FDA approves many products that I think should be disapproved such as aspartame and sucralose but that's for another topic). So in essence, we don't even know what's in these products that we're putting in our bodies and we're doing this in order to be healthy?! The truth is the protein that these bars and drinks use is either whey or soy protein which I don't think are good for your body. I suggest that you eat a solid and natural protein rather than these strange and highly processed proteins. A few that I eat are Fage 0% Greek Yogurt or some organic almond butter on a cracker or toast.

The Greek yogurt is probably the best thing to eat before or after a workout because it is low in sugar (8 grams per serving), fat (zero total and saturated fat, hence 0% yogurt), ingredients (only 1, the yogurt itself...shocking!), calories (90 per serving), and very high in natural protein (15 grams).

Almond butter is another great snack to eat before or after a workout because you get the natural protein but almond butter is also lower in saturated fat when compared with classic peanut butter. Almond butter has 2.5 grams of saturated fat per serving while peanut butter has about 3.5 to 4 grams of saturated fat per serving. You also get more poly and monounsaturated fats in the almond butter.

Try to add and vary up your exercise routine in order to get energy and motivation. The more variety you add to your routine, the more excited you will be to work out. A trick that I also use is having a cup of coffee before I workout if I feel really low on energy. Having the extra caffeine before a workout will translate into an extra energy boost that get you moving.