Planning your meals can have a big impact on energy levels. It doesn’t take much to ensure your body is properly fueled for working out; in fact, eating a balanced diet should do the trick most of the time.

Most of us are not competitive athletes and as such won’t be working at extremely high intensity levels 5 days per week (that would call for a slightly different strategy). But, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be mindful when choosing recovery nutrients. Proper nutritional planning will ensure adequate fuel supplies for our next workout and daily activities (it’s also a good habit to get into). There are two aspects I’d like to discuss with regard to fueling your body after a workout; immediate and long-term fueling.

Immediately following your workout, it is important to make sure you re-hydrate. Most of us will lose fluids during our workout via sweating. It has been proven; the first 15 minutes after a workout are optimum for replenishing lost glycogen stores. It’s at this point (the first 15 minutes) the enzymes responsible for producing glycogen are most active. Choosing a drink fortified with carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals will help accelerate this replenishment process. You can also snack on watery fruits i.e. (grapes, oranges, watermelon, grapefruit or pineapple), a smoothie or even soup.

When I say long-term I am referring to the time between your just completed workout and your next bout of physical activity. For most this will be between 24 and 48 hours. If you follow a balanced diet you should recover in time for your next workout. Remember the formula is: roughly 60% of your calories from carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, grains and breads), 25% from healthy fats (vegetable oils like olive, canola and corn oils) not lard, butter and animal fat in meats and 15% from proteins (fish, poultry, beans and lean cuts of meat).

Your workouts will be a lot more productive and you’ll have more energy, if you get into the habit of proper fueling and refueling. Remember working out is a lifestyle and appropriately fueling your body should be also; after all you are what you eat.