by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

As you’ve probably heard before, your post-workout meal may very well
be your most important meal of the day. The reason is that when you’re
finished with an intense workout, you’re entering a catabolic state
where your muscle glycogen is depleted and increased cortisol levels
are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. These conditions
are not good and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and
promote an anabolic state) is to consume a quickly digestible
post-workout meal as soon as you can after training.

The goal is to choose a meal with easily digestible quick carbs to
replenish muscle glycogen as well as quickly digestible protein to
provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair. The
surge of carbohydrates and amino acids from this quickly digested meal
promotes an insulin spike from the pancreas, which shuttles nutrients
into the muscle cells.

The post-workout meal should generally contain between 300-500 calories
to get the best response. For example, a 120-lb female may only need a
300-calorie meal, whereas a 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie
post-workout meal. Your post-workout meal should also contain anywhere
from a 2:1 ratio of carbs:protein to a 4:1 ratio of carbs:protein.
While most of your other daily meals should contain a source of healthy
fats, keep the fat content of your post-workout meal to a bare minimum,
since fat slows the absorption of the meal, which is the opposite of
what you want after a workout.

When choosing what to make for your post-workout meal, the first thing
to realize is that you DON’T need any of these expensive post-workout
supplement formulations that all of the fancy ads you see everywhere
will tell you that you absolutely NEED! As with any nutritional
strategies, natural is always better. Plus you'll get a higher nutrient
density by focusing on natural ingredients as I explain here vs. the
maltodextrin and refined sugar that are normally included in the fancy
post workout supplement shakes.

A good source of quickly digestible natural carbs such as frozen
bananas, pineapples, honey, or organic maple syrup are perfect to
elicit an insulin response that will promote muscle glycogen
replenishment and a general anabolic (muscle building) effect. The best
source of quickly digestible protein is a quality non-denatured whey
protein isolate and/or some fat-free or low-fat yogurt. Here are a
couple ideas for delicious post-workout smoothies that will kick start
your recovery process:

Chocolate Banana – blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup skim milk, one and
a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp organic maple syrup, and 30 grams
chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g prot, 72 g carb, 0.5 g fat, 440
calories.

Pineapple Vanilla - blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup vanilla yogurt,
one cup frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw), and 30 grams
vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g prot, 71 g carb, 0.5 g fat, 425
calories.

When looking to lose body fat, keep in mind that post-workout meals
should have the opposite characteristics of all of your other meals
throughout each day. While post-workout meals should have quick high
glycemic index carbs and quickly digested proteins, all of your other
meals throughout the day should be comprised of low glycemic index,
slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins.

These are powerful strategies towards developing
a lean muscular body with a low body fat percentage. Another great
thing about post-workout meals is that you can satisfy even the worst
sweet tooth, since this is the one time of the day where you can get
away with eating extra sugars without adding to your gut. Instead, it
all goes straight to the muscles! Enjoy!

A
more detailed and comprehensive nutritional analysis with more of these
various powerful dietary strategies are found in our best-selling #1
rated fitness ebook in the world, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.