It’s Friday! Time for your fit and healthy lifestyle tip.
Today’s Tip: Complex carbs are important to your health
Complex carbs (carbohydrates) are important to your health and should be a big part of your diet. Lately I have been asking myself, “What is a complex carb?” because my spin instructors say we should be eating complex carbs after we get home from spin class and it’s been pasta/spaghetti that has been recommended. I wasn’t exactly sure what they were so I had to do some research.
Complex carbs are broken into glucose more slowly and help provide energy throughout the day because they are slowly digested. Also important for exercise to help aid in losing more body fat. It fuels exercise by helping to keep your energy up during exercise. But I wanted to learn more about why complex carbs are recommended for AFTER exercise. Complex carbs help with muscle recovery and helps to reduce muscle soreness. You should have a combo of protein and complex carbs within one hour of exercising.
Some of the best sources of complex carbs are usually found in more healthy foods like whole grain pasta/spaghetti, veggies, nuts, fruit, potatoes, oats, breads, brown rice, etc. and include vitamins, minerals and fiber. I read that tuna and whole wheat bread would be a good after workout snack/dinner. Yum! Finally something different than pasta ha ha. I love my pasta but once a week is good enough for me. And one of the best advantages I found was that complex carbs help aid in weight management!
Now that I have answered the question, “What is a complex carb?” do you have more to add? I would love to know what you eat after a pretty decent workout like spin (or any cardio) class, other types of cardio, running, etc.
I dont really eat anything special after a workout. I try and get complex carbs (whole grains) in my diet everyday, which everyone should do, so I dont have to specifically eat them after a workout. Im not good with planned eating like that and find that it doesnt make a difference as long as you get them in somewhere during the day
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Great post! Complex carbs are great after a workout. However, simple carbs are just as important. “Complex carbs are broken into glucose more slowly and help provide energy throughout the day because they are slowly digested” is a totally true statement. But, after a workout, you need “quick digested” carbohydrates to replenish your stored form of sugars called glycogen. The quicker you take in simple carbs after a workout (within 30 min), the more stored carbs you’ll have for the next workout. This way you won’t break down precious lean body mass for energy!
I love your posts… keep up the good work!
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After an intense workout I usually do a protein shake and an apple (my complex carb) or tuna on wheat 🙂
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I can’t believe they’re already sold out! CRAZY! Sorry you missed your chance to go… there is always next year.
Nell
Nell @ Casual Friday Every Day’s last blog post..UBP, Party Time. Excellent!
Thank you all so much for your comments.
Ben: Thanks for expanding on this. I appreciate your input.
Nell: Yea, it’s crazy they sold out. Never heard there were a set number of spots for BlogHer and it was just perfect that it was in Chicago. Oh well, moving on LOL