Thursday, September 10, 2009

Training food

Aside from getting to set your own hours and doing work that you really love (most of the time), working at a university is great because of all the free stuff that comes your way. Art students hold free exhibitions and concerts, physio students hold a free clinic, including massage. One of the recent offers of free stuff was 8 weeks of personal training, with second-year Sports and Exercise Science students. I saw this email come through and disregarded it, but later decided to sign up. Why the hell not, hey?

So for the past two weeks I've been in training. Since I'm not trying to lose weight we're mostly working on strength training, and I am surprised at some of the things I've been able to do. There has been a bit of cardio, mostly on the bike, and overall it's been a lot of fun.

Since I'm working my body in ways it isn't used to working, I've been a bit more conscious of what I put in it. I've been trying, successfully, to drink loads of water during the day. And although I'm never worried that I get enough nutrients in my diet, I have been a bit more deliberate about my meals. My concern isn't protein, but carbohydrates.

Carbs are actually the food that you need to eat both before and after exercise, because the sugars reduce muscle fatigue. Complex carbs are good at least three hours before working out, and then again within two hours after finishing. Simple carbs are actually not a bad thing, particularly within 30 minutes after finishing training.

Because I eat leftover dinner for lunch, I have been trying to combine simple and complex carbohydrates into my meals, along with vegetables, protein, fat, and all of the other good stuff, so that I have enough energy no matter when I work out.

For instance, this chickpea cutlet is full of complex carbohydrates while the jacket potato has a higher Glycaemic Index. I'm not really sure about the sweet potato and salad, but they were very yummy, especially with the roasted garlic butter in the background.
This meal is baked chilli with cornbread topping, and is full of good stuff.Millet, potato, sweet potato, brown rice, navy beans and tvp bulked up the chilli, and it was delicious.

And I don't know where barley falls on the GI scale, but I felt good the next morning in the gym--satay tofu, barley with broccoli, and a raw beetroot-nori salad.
Of course, my favourite thing about training is being encouraged to eat cupcakes, muffins, or slice immediately after a workout. That's my kind of trainer! But you'll have to stay tuned for the sweets I've been using to boost my muscle glycogen levels...

6 comments:

Vaala ◪ said...

That baked chilli with cornbread topping looks phenomenal...is there a recipe anywhere?

Good to hear you're enjoying your personal training sessions :)

Theresa said...

Sorry, no recipe. I can tell you roughly what I did--leftover veggie soup mixed with a tin of tomatoes and a tin of baked beans, some dry tvp and dry brown rice, and some extra water. I covered and baked it for 30 minutes and then added the corn bread dough (recipe from La Dolce Vegan) and baked for another 20. Pretty easy really!

Susan said...

Wait, they WANT me to eat cupcakes after training? Why has my trainer never mentioned this? LOL.

The food all looks great, especially that dinner with the barley! I love anything with barley.

Anna said...

Gotta love the carbs - everything looks delish - I'll be waiting in anticipation for your sweets blog :)

Amy said...

I wish I had a trainer like that. Mine was always at me for my protein - and protein shakes are yukky!

Groover said...

Now, this is my kind of post. LOL Thanks for all the good info. Sweet potatoes are apparently better than normal potatoe for endurance sports so assume they have a lower GI. Keep up the good (gym) work!