So you’ve finished your workout for the day. Congrats! Double congrats if you’ve pushed yourself further than your last workout, doubling the amount of calories you’ve burned from your last session. You’ll now want to celebrate your success with, of course, some food.
Sure, you need to regain all the energy you lost from your workout session, but keep in mind the food you’re about to eat. Of course you don’t want your workout session to go to waste, so take note of these foods that you shouldn’t and mustn’t eat after a tiring workout.
Fast Food
Probably one of the reasons you workout is to burn the calories on that burger you’ve indulged in a few days ago, so eating any fast foods after workout will totally put you back to square one. And btdubs, french fries contain approximately 400 calories, which means you have to do at least an hour of cardio just to lose those large fries fats.
Chocolate
If there’s one thing you really shouldn’t eat after working, it’s definitely chocolate. It’s a well-known fact that chocolate is very high in sugar and calories, with a whopping 556 calories in just a single chocolate bar. Sure, it will give you the sugar rush and energy you need after a workout, but is it really worth gaining back the calories you tried so hard to lose?
Energy Bars
Yes, energy bars are good for your body, but not after working out. Energy bars should be eaten before working out to help you boost energy, energy that you’ll need. Eating an energy bar post-workout will do you more harm than good, as it contains an ample amount of sugar, in the form of carbs.
Pastries
Tame that sweet tooth of yours and avoid at all cost eating a donut post-workout session. Pastries contain a huge amount of fat and carbs, which in turn will slow down your metabolism. Not-so fun fact: a single donut contains 452 calories, so be sure to think twice about eating that delicious treat.
Sugary Drinks
Soft drinks contain a high amount of sugar, which will inevitably slow down your metabolism. Stick with the safest options, which is a glass of water.
Salty Snacks
There’s a reason why junk food is called that: it’s full of junk with almost no nutritional content at all. These snacks contain a high amount of salt, which will lower your potassium level. Potassium is needed in your body to regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions, and nerve signals.
Sports Drinks
Oh, the irony; sports drinks are supposed to replenish your lost energy post-workout session, but in reality sports drinks have high sugar content and electrolytes such as sodium and potassium. Again, it’s best to just stick with plain old water just to be safe.
