Going to the gym on an empty stomach is the best way to expose yourself to significant fatigue, or even a hypoglycemic crisis. And then fall for a chocolate nun. So, before or even during the sports session, we eat and we hydrate. Some examples.
The morning jog
Whether you run at least an hourevery day, start by adding starchy foods (pasta, rice, mashed potatoes, etc.) to your evening menu. This is the basic rule for boosting your endurance: over the night, your body will have had time to assimilate these complex carbohydrates by digesting them, and your energy reserves will be ready to go.
Before leaving, drink a coffee, tea or water. Swallow a few prunes, dried apricots or even a bar of marzipan. While running, drink small sips of water regularly. In case of intense pump stroke, bite again some dried fruits.
Aquagym hour between noon and two
Half an hour before, bite into a cereal bar or a few dried apricots.
The tennis match once a week
Digestion takes time. And you can’t play well on a full stomach. If your weekly match starts at 3 p.m., bring the meal time forward to 11:30 a.m. if possible. And adopt this pre-competition menu: 1 portion of lean meat or fish with mashed potatoes or pasta and cooked vegetables (more digestible), 1 natural yogurt, 1 compote and why not, some dry biscuits. Then, do not drink anything until the match but, during the match, drink at each change of side.
The weekend bike ride
Eat a solid breakfast in order to be able to maintain your effort for at least two hours. For example: tea or coffee, 2 nice slices of lightly buttered wholemeal bread, 1 slice of ham or 1 egg, 1 natural yoghurt, 1 kiwi. During the ride, drink every 10 minutes in small sips, limiting yourself to ½ liter per hour (maximum amount of absorption by the body).
Fitness session two evenings a week
This is a sport that requires maximum energy and good muscle tone. To be on top to practice it at the end of the day, have a real meal at noon: raw vegetables, hot dish with meat or fish, starchy foods and vegetables, dairy products. Before leaving, do not eat anything, just drink water. But at snack time, take a cereal bar and a piece of fruit to build up your energy reserves. In this way, you will have already digested well before going to let off steam around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. And during class, keep a small bottle of water close to you and drink a few sips every quarter of an hour.
And after sports?
After exercise, rehydrate with a soup (cold or hot) rich in minerals. And treat yourself to a slice of bread and a complete salad (easy to prepare the day before) made with brown rice, quinoa, bulgur, lentils…, chicken breasts or smoked salmon, and vegetables. Wholemeal brown bread, wholemeal pasta or basmati rice (low glycemic index) will keep you satiated and chicken or salmon (protein) will help you repair and regenerate your muscle mass.
If you have sweated a lot, especially after a long bike ride, an extended tennis match…, then you need to replenish your water reserves by drinking, for example, carbonated water rich in bicarbonates (Saint-Yorre type, Badoit …). Swallow 2 or 3 glasses during the meal, because on an empty stomach, the fragile intestines can suffer.
Sport and water: the winning duo!
Sweat accounts for 70 to 80% of water loss during and after exercise.
And sweating also causes a loss of minerals necessary for the proper functioning of the body. Depending on the exercise performed, the temperature and the humidity of the ambient air (beware of overheated and poorly ventilated rooms!), the amount of sweat produced increases. A game of tennis or football can lead to the elimination of 3 to 4 liters of water. This means that it is important to stay hydrated from the start of exercise. For a sports activity lasting less than an hour, drinking tap water or mineral water at the rate of ½ liter per hour is sufficient.
On the other hand, if the effort is prolonged, it is better to enrich your drink with carbohydrates (fruit juice) and cooking salt.
