What not to eat after a workout?

20 Foods You Should Never Eat After a Workout

We’ve all been there—you step off the treadmill or power through a particularly tough training session and you feel invincible! Perhaps you even feel like you deserve a prize for all that hard work: An edible one. With extra cheese. We’re looking at you, pizza.

But not so fast! You need food post-workout to restore your energy, build muscle, and boost your metabolism, but the wrong kind can undo the hard work you just put in. Meals that are hard to digest, full of sugar, or loaded with saturated fat can do serious damage, right at the moment when your body needs to repair itself most.

With that in mind, we set out to uncover the worst foods to eat after a workout, and we asked the nation’s most trusted nutrition experts exactly which foods to avoid. While you’re making healthier changes, be sure you try out these 21 Best Healthy Cooking Hacks of All Time.

Smoothies From Pre-Made Mixes

They made be wildly convenient—especially if you are low on time and are whipping something up after an at-home workout—but they usually contain a lot of added sugars. «Your body burns through complex carbs and then fat. Drinking sugary drinks or snacks stops the fat burning process,» explains Susan Albers, Psy.D of the Cleveland Clinic. «Make your own smoothies from scratch with a protein base. Drink slowly and mindfully!» Get inspired with the fat-blasting smoothie recipes in the best-selling book, Zero Belly Smoothies!

Spicy Foods

Spicy foods—anything with salsa, sriracha or hot sauce—are hard to digest, and you’ll want to stay away from these choices. «Your body just accomplished a major effort and is a state of repair,» says Michelle Neverusky, Fitness Manager of Carillon Miami Beach. «It needs things that are easy to digest, a little protein, a little sugar to bring your sugar levels back to an even keel, and mostly carbohydrates to replenish your energy levels.»

Soda

Maybe you want the caffeine, maybe you want the bubbles, or maybe you just find it refreshing but repeat after us: Never ever drink soda after a workout. «Your body needs to hydrate, and soda won’t do that for you,» says Stephanie Mansour, a weight-loss and lifestyle coach for women. «Plus, soda may make you bloated!»

Heavy Proteins Like Steak

Just like spicy foods, Neverusky recommends skipping anything that is hard to digest—like a thick, juicy steak. «If you’re bulking up, you want to add a high carb ratio like tuna and rice; but if you are leaning out, you want to avoid carbs and drink a protein shake to retain the muscles.»

Fatty Foods

Skip the oils, seeds, anything fried, and even nuts after your workout. «Fat acts to slow the digestion process in the gut and will, therefore, delay the delivery of much-needed nutrients into the muscles,» explains Paul Roller, coach at CrossFit Outbreak.

Chocolate

Sigh. Are we really going to tell you that you can’t have chocolate after all your hard work? Yep! At least not immediately after.

«Avoid chocolate bars if you’re trying to lean down,» explains Lola Berry, author of The Happy Cookbook. «Remember that training will have sped up your metabolism; use that to your advantage by keeping your diet super clean with whole foods.» But if you really can’t kick that craving, Berry says to melt two tablespoons of coconut oil with one teaspoon of raw cacao powder, a pinch of cinnamon, and a smidge of Stevia to make a sugar-free chocolate sauce that you can pour over a bowl of fresh berries!

Fast Food

Maybe there’s a Burger King next to your gym that taunts you and your craving every time you pass by it—but do whatever you can to stay away! «While you may crave salt after working out, fast food options won’t be good at replenishing your body,» explains Mansour, «You’ll be consuming trans fats and basically undoing your workout.»

Simple Carbs

Taylor Gainor and Justin Norris, co-founders of LIT Method sum up eating white bread or pastries in a simple word: «No.» Why not?

«All that fat slows down digestion, which will do the exact opposite of what you want to happen after working up a sweat,» they explain. «Consuming high amounts of sugars also will work against you if you are trying to lose weight because it slows down your metabolism.»

Energy Bars

Say what? Wouldn’t an energy bar make sense, thanks to the fact that they are supposed to give you, well, energy? Not so much. «These might have a lot of protein, which is seemingly great for repairing and building your muscles post-workout,» explains Annie Lawless, health/wellness expert and founder of Blawnde.com. «But in reality, most of the bars on the market are mostly sugar and no more nutritionally-sound than a candy bar. And I’m not talking about natural sugar, either; many bars contain refined white sugar and high fructose corn syrup, making them a nightmare for your blood sugar.» Get your protein from a whole food source like eggs and pass on the processed packaged bars.

Sports Drinks

These are classically marketed as the perfect hydration replenishment post-workout because of their electrolytes—so what could be so bad? «The high sugar content in sports drinks make them unnecessary post-workout when your body doesn’t need the extra glucose running through your bloodstream,» explains Lawless. «If you feel drained and in need of glucose replacement, reach for coconut water or a healthy smoothie. A syrupy sports drink will just cause your blood sugar to spike violently when you don’t need it.»

Raw Veggies

Skipping raw veggies after a workout may seem confusing since they usually are a great choice. But it’s not the nutritional value that is the problem. «The problem is how filling raw veggies can be when your body needs serious replenishment,» says Lawless. «After a tough workout, you need calories, high-quality carbohydrates, and protein. If you fill up on raw veggies that take a lot of volume in the stomach and make you feel full very quickly, you won’t be getting the amount nutrients or calories you need post workout.»

High Fiber Foods

«Avoid high fiber foods—especially salads with flax seeds or kale,» says Laura Cipullo, RD, CDN, CDE, CEDRD. «They may cause cramping and bloating. Instead, find what works with your body, which may be different on different days.» 6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Prune Juice

This healthy drink actually serves as a laxative—something you don’t need post-workout. «Running and other exercises can already have this effect on your body, so these foods would only exacerbate this undesirable situation,» explains Cipullo. Noted!

Candy

A big no-no after working out is eating anything that will spike your energy and cause a crash. «This means you should be avoiding refined sugars found in candy,» say Karena Dawn and Katrina Hodgson of Tone It Up. «Candy lacks important nutrients that give your body the sustained energy you need in order to recover and still get through your day. Instead, it’s best to make a protein-packed smoothie post-workout! This will not only keep you satisfied until your next meal, it’ll also give you everything you need to repair your muscles and decrease recovery time.»

Black Beans

Stay away from black beans in any form—solo, in soups or stews, or even in burger form. «They have a high fiber count of 15 grams, which slows down the digestive process,» says Albers. But worst of all? «It’s likely that eating beans post-workout will just make you gassy.» No thanks!

Sugary Drinks

Juices—especially fruit punch—should be avoided at all costs because it contains high levels of fructose. «It’s slow to digest,» says Natasha Forrest, a personal trainer at Crunch gyms. «And it reduces the fat burning effects of a high intensity or fat-burning workout as it adversely promotes fat storage.»

Fried Eggs

Eggs are a wonderful way to get your protein after a workout—as long as you eat them raw or hard-boiled. If you hit a diner or greasy spoon after your workout, don’t order your eggs over-easy or sunny-side-up. You’re guaranteed to get them drenched in saturated fats—something you want to keep out of your diet right after a big sweat session.

Booze

Do your friends try to tempt you to go spinning on a Sunday morning with the promise of bottomless mimosas afterward at brunch? «Sorry to be a buzzkill, but booze should never be at the finish line,» says FITFUSION trainer Andrea Orbeck. «Drinking after training dehydrates you, reduces protein synthesis, and packs on empty calories. Instead, clink your fork and knife together as you celebrate with a lean chicken breast and side of sweet potato.»

Meal-Replacement or Protein Shakes

«Many meal replacement drinks on the market are filled with junk that will actually hinder your post-workout success,» says Orbeck. «Avoid labels with chemical sugars like aspartame, artificial flavors, and colors. If real food can’t be an option, go for ones with basic ingredients.» The Eat This, Not That! team recently analyzed pounds of different protein powders to determine what’s alright and what’s on the no-fly list; check back soon for our exclusive list of best and worst protein shakes!

Nothing With a Side of Water

«At all costs, avoid having ‘nothing but water,'» explains Neverusky. «Your body wants to recharge. If you don’t eat, your body will eat the muscle you just put on during the workout. Be sure to feed your body correctly.» Not sure what to chow down on? Get some inspiration from our report, what personal trainers eat after a workout.

11 Ways to Stop Overeating After Your Workout

Y ou must have sweated off hundreds of calories during that Spin class, so it’s totally okay to indulge in a bowl of ice cream when you get home—right? Not so fast. Research shows that people tend to reward themselves with rich foods and large portions after exercising, and that they often eat back all of (if not more than) the calories they just burned. There’s nothing wrong with small snack or a filling dinner after exercising, says Emily Brown, RD, a wellness dietitian at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and former professional runner. But before you dig in, you have to understand your body’s true nutrition needs so you don’t end up gaining weight despite all your hard work. Read on for the smartest ways to refuel—and silence that rumbling belly.

Work out right before a meal

If you’re always hungry after you exercise—regardless of whether you ate beforehand or how many calories you burned—try to schedule your workouts before one of your main meals, says Brown. That way, you can refuel with calories you would have consumed anyway, without having to add extra snacks into your day.

Health.com: Get a Flat Belly in 4 Weeks

This strategy can work regardless of whether you’re a morning, noon, or nighttime exerciser. Have a small snack when you wake up and eat a larger breakfast after your a.m. run; hit the gym at lunchtime and pick up a sandwich on the way back to the office; or prep your dinner ahead of time so you can just heat it up when you get home from an evening barre class.

Make your workout fun

Thinking about exercise less as a chore and more as something you do because you enjoy it can help you eat less afterward, according to a 2014 Cornell University study. Researchers led volunteers on a 1.4—mile walk, telling half of them that it was for exercise and half that it was a scenic stroll. The “exercise” group ate 35% more chocolate pudding for dessert than the “scenic” group. In another experiment, volunteers were given post-walk snacks, and the “exercisers” ate 124% more calories than those who were told it was just for fun.

Pair protein and carbs

When you do need a snack to recover from a tough sweat session, Brown recommends a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein. “This will allow you to begin to replenish your energy levels and repair muscle damage resulting from the workout,” she says. For workouts less than an hour, keep your snack to 150 to 200 calories total—an open-faced peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a slice of turkey and cheese on crackers, or a handful of trail mix, for example. If you worked out for longer than an hour and aren’t eating a full meal soon, aim for half a gram of carbohydrates for every pound of body weight. A 140-pound person, for example, should refuel with 70 grams of carbs and about 18 grams of protein. (An energy bar or protein shake, plus one of the healthy snacks above, should fit the bill.)

Get milk

Low-fat dairy is another great recovery food with plenty of protein to help tide you over until your next meal, says Jim White, RD, owner of Jim White Fitness and Nutrition Studios in Virginia Beach. Plus, studies have shown that refueling with dairy—low-fat chocolate milk, specifically—helps improve subsequent athletic performances better than traditional sports drinks.

Stop eating out of habit

Sometimes, overeating after exercise is more a consequence of routine than anything else. “When you consistently consume a 500-calorie smoothie after you finish up at the gym, you start to get into that habit of consuming a smoothie no matter how long or intense your exercise was,” says Brown. Her solution? Choose different snacks for different workouts—the shorter the duration, the fewer calories you need to replenish— and always pay attention to your hunger cues. “It’s important for weight loss and weight maintenance to get in tune with your body and learn to eat in response to hunger, versus eating in response to boredom, stress, or the idea of rewarding yourself for exercising.”

Don’t trust your tracker

Activity trackers like the Fitbit and Jawbone have become a trendy way to estimate physical activity expenditure throughout the day. But a 2014 Iowa State University study found that not all devices are accurate in estimating calorie burn during workouts. The least accurate device, the Basis Band, had an error rate of 23.5%.

Even the most accurate trackers can still only provide an estimate of true calorie burn, says Brown, and it’s not smart to base your refueling strategy entirely on their calculations. “You also want to get in the habit of eating in response to hunger and stopping in response to comfortable fullness. This is dictated less by numbers and more by listening to your body.”

Snack throughout the day

It may seem counterintuitive, but eating more throughout the day may be your ticket to consuming fewer calories overall, especially if you tend to pig out post-workout. “Incorporating two to three healthy snacks throughout the day will help regulate hunger between meals, increase energy, and keep metabolism bumped up,” says White.

Don’t overestimate

You may feel like you burned a million calories during your Spin class, but research shows that we tend to overestimate our energy expenditure during exercise—by as much as four-fold, according to a study from the University of Ottawa. When volunteers were then asked to eat back all the calories they’d just burned, they tended to consume two to three times more than what they’d actually expended.

One high-tech way to prevent overestimating your calorie burn: wear a heart-rate monitor. Most of these include a sensor worn around your chest and a wristwatch, which sync together wirelessly. Still, if your heart-rate monitor says you burned 600 calories, that’s not automatically an excuse to scarf down a 600-calorie sundae. “If you are trying to lose weight, you will need to consume fewer calories than you expend,” Brown says.

Drink water as soon as you’re done

Replacing the fluids you lost during a workout should be priority number one, Matt Fitzgerald, a certified sports nutritionist and author of Diet Cults and The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition. “Having a lot of water in the belly also reduces appetite—not a lot, but a little,” he says. “Guzzle water as soon as you walk in the door to quench your thirst and take up space in your tummy.” Just don’t consume massive quantities. Taking in too much water (or any fluid) can cause water intoxication due to excessively low levels of salt in the body.

Ask yourself if you really need to eat

You’ve probably heard that it’s important to eat something immediately after your workout to help your muscles recover. But the truth is, you might not need to, says Brown. Say you’ve just finished up a tough run and you know you’d like to hit the gym for weight training in the morning. In that case, yes, you should have something to eat. “But if you’re taking a few days off before your next hard workout, you probably don’t need to worry about refueling quickly,” Brown explains. If you’re not hungry, then don’t force yourself to eat, she says. “You’re going to eat those calories eventually, so why not save them for your next meal when you’re actually hungry?”

Refuel along the way

For workouts lasting longer than two hours—like a long bike ride or a marathon training run—sucking down a gel or sipping a sports drink will keep you from feeling ravenous afterward. “Research has shown that people eat fewer calories after exercise when they take in carbs during exercise,” says Fitzgerald. “In fact, their total calorie intake for the 24-hour period that includes the workout comes out to be slightly lower if they fuel up during it.” (Also important: You won’t run out of steam halfway through your training session.) Try to consume 30 to 60 grams of carbs—that’s 120 to 240 calories—every hour after your first hour. Avoid anything with protein, since it takes longer to for the stomach to digest.

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Should You Eat Before or After a Workout?

A well-planned workout begins and ends the same way: with eating the right foods.

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How you fuel and refuel before and after exercise helps determine the actual fitness-building benefit of the session. That’s true whether you’re lifting weights, running miles or swimming laps, too.

So how can you maximize the effort that goes into spilling every drop of sweat? Let’s find out with sports dietitian Kate Patton, MEd, RD, CCSD, LD.

How food fuels exercise

One question comes up repeatedly when it comes to food and workouts: Is it better to eat before or after a training session? That’s a tough one to answer, and here’s why: They’re both important, says Patton.

Munching before exercising provides your body with the energy it needs to power through the session. Chowing down afterward helps with recovery.

Not just any old fuel will do, though. It’s important to put the right stuff in your tummy tank. Foods rich in carbohydrates and protein provide the nutritional building blocks your hard-working body needs.

“Carbs supply the energy to carry you through your workout,” says Patton. “Protein provides amino acids that your body uses to repair and build muscle.”

Together, they form a mighty one-two punch that would gain a CrossFit instructor’s approval.

Timing, though, is key.

Eating before a workout

You wouldn’t start a road trip without gassing up the car, right? The same principle applies to preparing your body for exercise. “You don’t want to start on empty,” says Patton.

Ideally, try to eat a well-balanced meal three to four hours ahead of your workout. Your plate should feature carbohydrates and a moderate amount of lean protein. Limit fats and fiber, which digest more slowly and can upset your stomach while bouncing around during a workout.

The closer you get to exercise time, the less you want to gobble down to avoid belly issues during the activity, says Patton. Think more along the lines of a snack than an actual meal.

“Everybody is different, though,” says Patton. “It comes down to what you can tolerate.”

What about early morning exercise?

If you’re waking up and working out, loading up with a meal a few hours ahead of time isn’t exactly an option. (Unless you want to set your alarm clock for 2 a.m., of course… but who wants to do that?)

“When you wake up, your blood sugar is at your lowest,” says Patton. “Eating something like a piece of fruit or granola bar can give you a needed boost.”

Consider the intensity of your workout, too. If it’s an easy-going, 30-minute session, you may be able to get away with skipping a pre-workout snack. “But if you’re going for an hour or more, you really should get something to eat,” says Patton.

Working out on an empty stomach also could cost you what you’re trying to build — namely, muscle. It’s beneficial to have some protein, the building blocks of muscle, in your system while training If you want to grow and strengthen muscles.

Stamina may also be an issue if your body is running low on fuel, meaning your workout could quickly turn into a dud.

“You’re better off to eat,” says Patton. “It doesn’t have to be much. Just enough to get through.”

Pre-workout nutrition options

Let’s get that pre-workout menu set.

If you’re able to plan a meal three to four hours in advance, here are some high-quality choices that check multiple boxes for carbs and protein:

• Turkey-and-Swiss-cheese sandwich with an apple and low-fat chocolate milk.
• A PB&J sandwich with banana slices and low-fat milk.
• Low-fat Greek yogurt with berries plus a small salad topped with chicken.
• Steel-cut oats.

Focus on hydration, too, consuming at least 16 to 20 ounces of additional fluid in preparation for the sweating that awaits, says Patton. (Fast fact: The average person loses about 1 liter, or 34 ounces, of fluid per hour of exercise.)

Closer to go time, grab a quick bite to give your body an extra lift. Food and drink options for 30 to 60 minutes before your workout include:

• Fruit.
• Granola bar.
• A handful of pretzels.
• Sports drink.

Eating after a workout

You just put your body through a lot and depleted its power reserves. Now, it’s time to restore that energy supply, says Patton.

Look to grab a quick, protein-packed snack 15 minutes to an hour after your workout to begin refueling. Starting the process right away can help ward off muscle soreness, tightness and cramping. (It’s important to rehydrate and replace lost electrolytes, too.)

It’s possible your appetite may be low after exercising, or you just can’t stomach food right away. In that case, look for a liquid food option such as a protein drink or chocolate milk. Just don’t skip getting something into your system.

“If you don’t eat and drink after working out, you may start to feel fatigued or even hangry,” says Patton. “It’s an important part of your recovery.”

That quick bite should be followed a few hours later by a nutritious meal chock-full of carbs and protein. Consider it the final rep, mile or lap of your earlier workout.

Post-workout nutrition options

Catch your breath right after your workout with these protein- and carb-heavy refueling options:

• Almonds washed down with chocolate milk.
• Greek yogurt topped with granola and blueberries.
• String cheese and pretzels.
• Apples and peanut butter.

Make sure to rehydrate ASAP, too. A sports drink that replenishes lost electrolytes is ideal.

Your next meal a few hours after training also should be packed with proteins and carbs, says Patton. Consider these options:

• Egg-and-cheese-filled tortilla wrap with a fruit-topped yogurt parfait.
• Stir fry with chicken, brown rice and vegetables.
• A bowl filled with chicken, brown rice, black beans, cheese, lettuce and salsa.

Different needs for different workouts

Workouts aren’t all the same, so eating plans aren’t, either.

If you’re into endurance-based activities like running, cycling or swimming, your diet should lean more heavily on carbs to supply a longer-lasting energy source. The rule of thumb is about 4 grams of carbohydrates for every gram of protein per meal, says Patton.

But protein should fill up more of your plate if you’re focused on muscle-building strength training, such as powerlifting. On that plan, it’s about 2 grams of carbs for every gram of protein. (Yes, carbs are still important.)

For an active person who’s not necessarily focused specifically on endurance or strength training, camp out in the middle ground: 3 grams of carbs for every gram of protein. (Learn more about meshing diet and exercise for weight loss with tips from an exercise physiologist.)

“What you eat and when you eat can be as important as your workout,” says Patton. “It deserves the same attention.”

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