Experts suggest that you consume a combination of protein and carbs about one to four hours before your workout and then again roughly 60 minutes after your workout.
If you don't eat after a workout, it can lead to problems such as low energy, dehydration, poor muscle recovery, low electrolyte levels and low mood. Additional symptoms that can arise as a result of not eating after exercise include muscle weakness, muscle fatigue, muscle cramps and irritability.
Exercising after a meal may help prevent glucose levels from going too high after ingesting food. On the other hand, exercising before a meal increases the amount of fat you break down in your body and may alter how your metabolism responds to food consumption later in the day.
Water – drink water before and after your walk. Take water with you on your walk, especially in warm weather. Cool down – make sure you cool down after a long fast walk. Do a few stretching exercises.
Carbohydrates like sweet or white potato, brown rice, chickpeas or lentils (which are also high in protein) are recommended, while a bowl of porridge oats or a slice of rye toast will do the trick in the morning.
Whether or not you choose to eat before working out, make some wise foods choices after exercising. Protein is necessary to rebuild muscles, while carbs will re-stock glycogen, or energy stores, in your muscles. Eating within 15 to 30 minutes post-workout is ideal, but if this isn't possible, aim for within 60 minutes.
The physical movement of the body promotes better digestion as it also causes movement in the various organs that are part of the digestive system. This helps move the food through the digestive system faster. Taking a walk after dinner can help release happy hormones and also speed-up the digestion.
If you want to maximize fat burning during your workout, exercise on an empty stomach. If you're looking for an energy boost, eat before your walk. And if you're concerned about replenishing glycogen stores, aim to eat within four hours after exercise.
Taking a morning walk boosts your stamina, flexibility and energy. As your fitness improves, you'll be able to move through your daily activities more easily. Improve your mood. Getting outside gives you a chance to enjoy fresh air and nature.
Apart from morning hours, 4pm to sunset are ideal hours for an outdoor walk. Our body has less perceived exertion, meaning we can exert more and feel less. This makes it the perfect hour for a quick run or a brisk walk. Muscles are warm and flexible, which makes the risks of injuries lower.
Morning walk may be better than evening walk as air is less polluted. Other advantages of morning walk are that you remain fit during the day, strictly follow your diet. Morning walkers have increased ability to complete most of their activity through the day.
After the morning walk, stay away from the consumption of oily food and things made of maida. If you do not do a morning walk at the right time in the morning and do it after getting out of strong sunlight, then your body can be harmed by it.
Exercising on an empty stomach helped people to burn about 70% more fat than those who exercised two hours after eating, a study found.
Rule No. 1: “Avoid pure protein right after the workout, because your body will just use it as energy again,” says Collingwood. Also, steer clear of foods that are mostly sugar (cookies, candy and the like) or mostly fat like a handful of nuts (without yogurt or fruit to balance the fat) or fried foods.
"If you do a moderate-high intensity workout without properly fueling, your blood sugar can drop very low, making you feel dizzy or faint," Matheny explains. You're also likely to feel straight-up tired or lethargic if you're not giving your body energy, yet are demanding a lot from it during a tough workout.
Just 2 minutes of walking after eating can help blood sugar, study says. Getting up and moving after you eat -- even if it's only for two minutes -- can help control blood sugar levels, a new study says. If you can't do that, try standing. It helps, too.
Lifting and doing strength training without adequate nutrition, especially without enough protein, can actually lead to loss of muscle tissue. Furthermore, if you aren't eating right you won't have the energy to do the workouts that lead to muscle gain.
If you plan to walk for 4 miles (or 6.4 km) a day, you will begin to lose weight almost immediately. But along with your exercise routine, you need to maintain a balanced and healthy diet so that you don't put on the calories you're working hard to burn.
To lose weight by walking , you have to burn off an extra 500 calories a day to lose a pound a week. Most people burn around 300 to 400 calories by walking 10,000 steps.
The ideal time would be in the morning, before having your breakfast. At this time your body is already in a calorie deficit mode, and walking can ignite the body's ability to burn fat.