Don’t you get tired of eating bananas and soy milk? Eat 2 light meals after exercise to get more complete nutritional supplements!

You get off work at 6pm, change into sportswear and start exercising at 7pm, and return home after finishing exercise at 8pm. What would you eat to replenish your energy at this time? I don’t know when it started, but many office workers choose to have a banana with a cup of unsweetened soy milk after exercising in the evening, or even eat it directly as dinner. However, nutritionists say that such portion and nutrition are not enough!

Many office workers have the habit of exercising after get off work, and St. Martin's Hospital nutritionist You Weiming is no exception. However, he has observed that although many people know that they need to eat and replenish nutrition after exercise, they make a lot of mistakes in three aspects: "time of eating", "amount of food eaten" and "type of food chosen", which greatly reduces the effect of exercise in weight loss and strengthening the body, and even makes the condition worse than before exercise, which is not worth the loss.

What kind of NG behaviors do office workers often make when eating after exercise? How can it be improved? The following is explained by nutritionist You Weiming from three perspectives and provides correct dietary advice.

1. [Eating time]

Wrong behavior: After exercise, you drink too many sports drinks and your stomach is full and you don’t feel hungry. You often wait until you are hungry to eat. However, this is usually 2 to 3 hours after exercise. The human body’s absorption of food nutrients is relatively poor, and it is unable to quickly replenish the nutrients and energy consumed or lost due to exercise.

Recommended method: Do not guzzle sports drinks after exercise. Just replenish water in moderation. Also, within 1 hour after exercise, replenish the three major nutrients, namely carbohydrates, protein and dietary fiber.

Many office workers choose to have a banana with a cup of unsweetened soy milk after exercising in the evening, or even eat it directly for dinner, but this amount is not enough!

2. [Amount of food]

Wrong behavior: Since it is already late when exercising after work, many people worry that eating too much will make them fat, so they combine the post-exercise diet with dinner and choose bananas and unsweetened soy milk as meals. However, bananas and soy milk are both soft liquid foods that are easy to digest. You will feel hungry 1 to 2 hours after eating them, and you may even look for other high-calorie foods before going to bed, which can make you gain weight easily. Moreover, a banana and a cup of unsweetened soy milk only contain about 300 calories, which is not enough to be a full meal, and the nutritional composition is not balanced enough.

Recommended method: Eat after exercise and also eat dinner! For example, people who are used to going to convenience stores to eat after exercise can choose the combination of banana and unsweetened soy milk as usual, but don’t forget to add a vegetable egg sandwich and lettuce salad for dinner. This will supplement 500 to 700 calories overall and ensure a balanced and sufficient intake of the three major nutrients.

Regarding how to balance the intake ratio of the three major nutrients after exercise, nutritionist You Weiming recommends supplementing them appropriately according to personal physique and exercise intensity, referring to the dietary ratio of "3 parts of carbohydrates: 1 part of protein". For the average person, to feel full after exercise, about 6 parts of carbohydrates and 2 parts of protein are needed, which is equivalent to 1.5 bowls of rice and half a palm-sized piece of meat, or 18 commercially available pork and vegetable dumplings. As for dietary fiber, the more the better, and it is recommended to replace fruits with vegetables as much as possible.

After exercising in the summer, reward yourself with a cold beer, but be careful not to gain weight.

3. [Types of food selected]

Wrong behavior: The weather is hot in the summer, and it gets even hotter after exercise. Many people like to eat salted chicken to supplement their nutrition, but this type of food has a very high sodium content, and eating it can easily cause edema the next day. Some people may develop a "compensation mentality" after a hard and sweaty workout, and choose to reward themselves with sugary drinks, cold beer, barbecue or fried food, thinking that it is okay to eat just a little.

Little do people know that the average person only burns about 300 calories during a half-hour to an hour of exercise, which is less than half of the 700 to 1000 calories in a normal meal. Not to mention that with a compensatory mentality, they may consume 1.5 times the calories (1050 to 1500 calories) in one meal, completely erasing the effects of exercise for weight loss and strengthening the body!

In addition, from the perspective of human body functions, exercise will accelerate blood circulation and metabolism. The body's absorption rate of post-exercise food will be 4 times faster. Therefore, if you choose the wrong food, such as high-calorie or high-fat food, be careful to gain weight faster.

Recommended approach: Avoid desserts, sugary drinks, fried foods and processed foods. Try to choose natural foods that are easy to digest and absorb, including: eggs, chicken, mushrooms, red beans, coix seeds, various vegetables and fruits, etc., which are all good choices.

Hot summer is the season for light meals. A nutritious light meal is just right after exercise.

Eat nutritious and light meals after exercise in the summer evening to reduce burden

Hot summer is also the season for light meals. If you don’t want to eat out every time after exercise, nutritionist You Weiming has designed 2 light meals. One serving can meet the nutritional needs of post-exercise nutrition and dinner, and it is refreshing and less burdensome.

【Chicken salad in a wooden bowl 495 calories + small box of fruit 80 calories】

• Prepare ingredients: 1 medium-sized sweet potato, 60g chicken breast, 50g romaine lettuce, 50g purple lettuce, and 5 cherry tomatoes.

• Olive oil honey sauce: 15g olive oil, juice of half a lemon, 15g honey.

• Cooking method: Slice the sweet potato and steam it, dice the chicken breast and boil it, wash and slice the romaine lettuce and purple lettuce, wash and cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Put lettuce, purple lettuce, cherry tomatoes, diced chicken breast and sliced ​​sweet potato in a wooden bowl in order, then drizzle with olive oil and honey sauce to complete the wooden bowl chicken salad.

【Photosynthetic whole wheat salad plate 485 calories + small box of fruit 80 calories】

• Prepare ingredients: 3 slices of whole wheat toast, 1 egg, 30g pork tenderloin, 50g salad cabbage, and 50g cucumber.

• Olive oil honey sauce: 15g olive oil, juice of half a lemon, 15g honey.

• Cooking method: Fry the pork tenderloin and slice it, fry the eggs into sunny-side-up eggs, and wash the salad cabbage and cucumber and slice them. Place salad cabbage, cucumber, sunny-side-up egg, and sliced ​​pork tenderloin on the plate in order, drizzle with olive oil and honey sauce and serve with whole wheat toast to complete the photosynthetic whole wheat salad plate.