4 Reasons You Need a Post-Workout Meal for Fat-Loss
If you have fat-loss goals, do not skip your post-workout meal! Here are 4 reasons why:
1. If you have weight-loss goals, you have muscle-gaining goals. Which means you need to maximize muscle protein synthesis. Do that by eating a full serving of protein 3-5 times per day. If you’re used it eating 3 meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), adding a post-workout meal will give you a 4th opportunity to maximize muscle protein synthesis. How much is a full serving? 20-30g. Unless you’re an older adult. Then you need 40g to get the same result.
2. In order to lose fat while preserving lean muscle, you need more protein. Having protein post-workout is one more full serving to add to your daily total. How much protein? Aim for .7 to 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight. Remember, if you’re older and/or need to lose fat, aim for the higher end of the range. If you’re eating only plant protein, you need ever more.
3. In the 30-60 minutes following a workout, your muscles are primed and ready to absorb glycogen to replace the energy used. You’re going to eat carbs anyway and this is the best time to do it. This isn’t a free pass to go off the rails. But ideally your most carb-heavy meals are pre- and post-workout.
4. Even a quick protein shake will help you avoid over-eating later. If you skip your post-workout meal because lunch/dinner is a few hours away, you could be setting yourself up to overeat (and not on protein) later. You might find yourself snaking on chips or something easy to grab before lunch or grazing while preparing dinner. Or you’ll be so ravenous when you finally sit down to your next meal that you’ll overeat or eat too fast and end up consuming even more calories (not solely from protein) than you would have if you’d downed a quick protein shake to hold you over.
Ok, you’re convinced you need to prioritize a high-protein post-workout meal is for fat-loss. Check out these posts for some meal ideas:
8 Ways to Get More Plant-Based Protein
6 High-Protein, Low-Sugar Breakfast Ideas
Not sure how much protein you need? Need help staying accountable so you can reach your weight-loss goals? Email me!
Related Posts:
How to Recover from Your Workouts
