October 28th, 2009 | 
Author:
To support your efforts to define your 6 pack abs and build lean muscle, your post-workout meal may be the most important meal of the day! This is because you’ll enter a catabolic state after an intense workout, in which your muscles’ glycogen level is depleted and cortisol levels are increasing, excessively breaking down muscle tissue.
The only way to reverse this catabolic phase, promote an anabolic (muscle building) state and speed up fat loss is to consume an easily digestible post-workout meal. This can be eaten ‘as is’, or as a shake or smoothie, and should be eaten as soon as possible after training…
The goal is to create a meal with a carb source that can be digested quickly to replenish muscle glycogen levels, 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 meal promotes an insulin spike as well, which shuttles nutrients into the muscle cells.
Approximately 300-500 calories will give you the fat burning, muscle building boost you’re looking for with this meal. A 120-lb female may only require a 300 calorie meal; a 200-lb male may need 500 calories. Also, you should be consuming a ratio of carbs to protein of between 2:1 and 4:1 with this meal.
And, while most of your daily meals should provide a source of healthy fats, keep the fat content of this meal to a bare minimum, because fat slows down the absorption of nutrients, which is the exact opposite of what you’re trying to do after a workout.
For a good source of easily and quickly digestible natural carbs, try bananas, pineapples, honey, or organic maple syrup – all of them are perfect ways to elicit an insulin response to promote muscle glycogen replenishment and a muscle building anabolic effect.
The best source of quickly digestible protein is a high quality non-denatured whey protein isolate and/or some fat-free or low-fat yogurt.
Remember, the more you can enhance your body’s muscle building process, the greater your metabolic rate will be, and the quicker your body will shed fat.
Here are 2 examples of delicious post-workout smoothies that will get your recovery process started fast:
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 protein, 72 g carbs, 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 protein, 71 g carbs, 0.5 g fat, 425 calories.
When trying to drop body fat, post-workout meals should be the opposite of the fat burning diets you follow throughout the day. The intent here is to provide high ‘glycemic index’ carbs and quickly digested proteins. Your other meals should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins..
Another benefit of these meals is that you can get away with satisfying your sweet tooth, since this extra sugar goes straight to work rebuilding your muscles! But ONLY if your workout was super-high intensity and involved resistance training for large portions of the body. If all you did was some low intensity cardio, forget about doing this type of post-workout shake.
Enjoy your tasty meal!
Recommended Reading
Post-Workout Recovery Drinks and Fat Loss | SpeedEndurance.com – I am very big on post-workout recovery drinks. Why? Because my commute back home from the track is 20-30 minutes. And by the time dinner is ready, we are…
Posted in Fat Loss Diets | 
Tags: anabolic, calories, carbs, catabolic, cortisol, digestible, fat, fat burning diet, fat loss, glycemic index, glycogen, metabolic, Mike Geary, post-workout meal, protein, quickly digestible, truth about abs
