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Whether you are a beginner or a full-time gym-goer, it can be hard to find answers about when and what to eat around your exercise routine. Food is what helps repair your body after exercise. Eating balanced meals and snacks will help decrease muscle protein breakdown, increase muscle growth, restore glycogen levels and enhance recovery.

There is a lot of misinformation online so this is why we have teamed up with Jordan from Perfit Fitness to break some of the myths around eating and exercising and finding a food plan that works for you.

Here is what he has to say:

“The main thing people think when it comes to training is PROTEIN, PROTEIN, PROTEIN!. This is an essential macronutrient but carbohydrates and fats are important too!

If you are training first thing is the morning some people like to train fasted, especially when doing cardio based exercise, I like this myself but some people may struggle with energy, a form of carbohydrate such as a banana before training can help especially when weight training or for anyone new to training as more energy will be exerted than normal.

After training, which you may see labelled as ‘post workout’, is the best time to get a protein source in to help aid recovery for the working muscles used within the training sessions. This can be in the form of a protein shake, meal or snack depending on the time you train and to fit your lifestyle. I prefer to make a shake in a blender with a scoop of protein powder, a banana and some oats to get my energy levels back up after training and the protein and carbohydrates will keep me fuller for longer- allowing me to jump straight back into work without feeling low of fuel.

I hear on a weekly basis that people believe the myth that you can’t eat after a certain time in the evening.This is NOT true. The only thing that will effect weight loss and weight gain is being in a calorie deficit for weight loss or calorie surplus for weight gain. We should not be depriving our body from the times of our meals. Because we all have different days that will bring new challenges, and if we only get time to eat a nutritional meal within the ‘I’ll get fat if I eat then” we would never be able to eat on certain days which would then be depriving our health and energy for the next day. Instead we should educate ourselves on what we should be eating and when, but then understanding the balance of our day and week can change, so if eating late evening is your only option this will not effect your health or fitness progress apart from you go to bed with a full stomach!

For many clients I work with is basing your day and meals to fit your lifestyle so if you prefer having 3 main meals with snacks throughout the day or you prefer having 2 main meals with snacks. It’s making sure we get a balance of nutrients of proteins,carbohydrates and fats.

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Some examples I like to give clients include…

Breakfast : Tofu Eggs on Toast or Oats with Fruits or Smoothie

Lunch : Salad with a protein source, such as Tofu, Lentils or Green Peas/ Soup / Chickpea Omelette

Dinner : Protein source and carbs( Katsu Curry / chilli / Bolognese )

Snacks : Nuts / Protein Bar / Protein Shakes / Fruit “

Make sure to check our Jordan and Perfit Fitness for Personal Training, Fitness Classes and much more! perfitfitness.co.uk/

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