“Eat to work out” and not “work out to eat.” Most of us seem to get these wrong. If you work out so you can eat more later (think that extra serving of ice cream…) and you also exercise on an empty stomach, you’re making at least two huge mistakes.
First, you’ll end up eating more calories than you actually burned in your workout. Research supports the fact that we overestimate the amount of calories we burn during a workout. As a result, we tend to consume back the calories we burned — and then some.
Second, you’re probably not getting the necessary nutrients before your workout. Having some carbs and protein before exercising has been proven to help you build more muscle and increase your energy levels, which means you’ll have a more productive workout. You may also want to consider a pre-workout supplement and a post-workout supplement to maximize your workout efforts.
So in the end, make sure you’re eating to get more out of your workout — not working out to eat more dessert.
— Federico
