Workout | Robert Stinnett

Posts Tagged workout

Now, Before or After – Working Out and Munching Down

Jan 27

Posted by Robert Stinnett in Get Fit | View Comments

I see a lot of advice floating around about when to eat if you are working out. Everything from don’t eat before a workout for optimal fat burning to eat a light snack an hour beforehand to build up reserves – and everything in between (sorry folks, but the one thing I haven’t seen is the one that says to eat a Kit Kat bar during the workout!). Armed with all this conflicting information I set about to pull it all together and see what makes sense and what doesn’t.

I found out that, really, it just doesn’t matter. The truth of the matter is this – if you workout and burn 500 calories then your body “subtracts” 500 calories. At the end of the day, when you tote everything up, if your body needs more fuel it will simply get those 500 calories form your fat reserves. It’s as simple as that. I can find no scientific evidence that any special type of meal or time of day is going to increase or decrease calories. At the end of the day what matters for weight loss is calories –plain and simple.

Realize to that everyone is different. What works for me may not work for you. Personally I feel like I get a nice post-workout “high” by eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I come back from the gym. This isn’t “free” food calorie wise, it’s still part of my daily meals – but I find by having it within an hour of working out I get a nice, natural high. It’s just how my body responds. I know some people who eat about 60 minutes pre-workout to build up the sugar and energy in them to help motivate them to workout. Like I said, whatever works for you GO FOR IT!

About the only thing I ever take with me to the gym and consume during workouts is Propel water. I don’t know about you – but I have to have some flavor in my water. Plain water never has done much for me. When you are working out and doing cardio you need to make sure you keep yourself hydrated, so find some type of water and take it with you. Stay away from sodas and teas which can actually dehydrate you.

Oh, and for those of you who like those energy bars and such – hey, it’s your calories, but I would like to point out that most of those things are just sugar and protein (sometimes and most often just sugar). Why not save yourself some money and pack you some Ritz crackers with peanut butter or make you some Rice Krispie treats instead? How about peanut butter on the Rice Krispie treats? Sounds good to me! Either way, you will be saving money and controlling how much sugar and fat go into your mouth!

So there you have it – 100’s of thousands of Google hits boiled down to a simple statement. Eat when you feel like it, eat right and drink plenty of liquids. Solid advice for anyone whether they are trying to lose weight or not.

Photo Credit: Drunken Monkey on Flickr.

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Tags: carbs, fitness, food, protein, workout

Got Sweat?

Jan 26

Posted by Robert Stinnett in Get Fit | View Comments

One of the most often asked questions, and one I asked myself a lot when first starting out, was how do I know when I’m doing cardio exercises right? There are a plethora of charts out there that show you your target heart rate given your age and what “zone” you want to be in. There is also the age old advice of “If you can hold a conversation with the person next to you, you aren’t working out too hard”. I find that is good advice, but I’ve also discovered when you are trying to lose weight (and not just maintain fitness) there is one sure fire way to know you are burning off the calories and fat and working in your “zone”…

You have to sweat.

Yes folks, you may not want to hear it – but if you want to get those pounds off you have to get sweaty. Which is why the second most commonly heard statement in any gym is, “please be sure to wear deodorant!”

If you find yourself on the treadmill going along at a good pace but are relatively dry then you aren’t in your zone. What’s more, as you get fit you will find that your zone changes. The stronger your heart gets thanks to all that exercise you will find that it will beat slower at the same intensity over time. So that 4mph @ 6% incline that caused you to get drenched a few months ago now may be a piece of cake – time to turn it up a notch!

I had firsthand experience with why it’s important to sweat when doing cardio last summer. I was walking almost everyday a good 3 miles around town. For the first month or two the weight came off, but then I hit a plateau. My body had build up muscle and now when I was doing the same walk around town I wasn’t exerting myself as much and I stopped sweating. The end result was that I wasn’t burning as many calories and so I began maintaining my weight instead of losing.

One of the curious things I find out about people (and I hear this a lot as an excuse as to why people don’t want to exercise) is that people for some reason hate sweating. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be stuck on a plane next to some sweaty person anymore than the next guy, but in a gym everybody is sweating so there is no need to be embarrassed or self-conscious about it. In fact, you should think of it as your personal badge of honor to finish up your workout sweaty.

There is a saying I heard that I think is quite appropriate here – you can eat ANYTHING you want, just as long as you are prepared to sweat every last calorie of it out later!