Nutrition Tips: Be the Best Exerciser

This is fifth in a series of five blogs, courtesy of Alicia Fogarty, a registered dietician at Carolinas Healthcare Systems.  Click here to view parts one, two, three and four.  Each week Alicia will discuss one tip that will help you fuel your exercise and improve your fitness routine.

Refuel!

When you exercise you use energy, but to improve your energy availability for the next exercise session you need to refuel after a workout, especially when you are working out hard.   The best time to do this is to consume a meal or snack within 45 minutes of exercise.

Ideally this meal or snack would contain carbohydrates and protein in about a 3:1 ratio, meaning about three grams of carbohydrate for one gram of protein.  How much you would need would depend on you, your height, weight, exercise intensity, etc.  An example of this would be chocolate milk, or Greek yogurt and some fruit.   The benefits of this would be again to make sure you have fuel for the next workout, help with repair of muscle fibers from the workout (muscle soreness), in addition to providing fluids.

Need more help?  Consider consulting a sports dietitian to develop a personalize plan to help you meet your nutrition needs and be the best exerciser you can!