Eating less calories than you burn, and exercising to burn more calories, is a sure-fire way to loose weight. One problem, though. After your workout, sometimes you feel totally spent, and start craving food. Maybe you avoid the urge to snack, as you don’t want to add extra calories into your diet just when you finished a workout to burn them. But, not only is a post-workout snack good for you, you can actually help burn fat with your snack choices! Here’s some post workout snacks for weight loss.
Here’s how it works. As you exercise, your body depletes its stores of glycogen (your main source of energy). If you don’t replenish those levels by consuming carbs, you’ll feel exhausted.
As you work out, your muscles develop micro-tears. Your body adds muscle fibers when those tears are filled in and rebuilt – that’s how you build muscle. You need protein to help accomplsh that. And, consuming adequate protein also ensures weight loss is coming from fat, not muscle tissue.
Plus, a post-exercise protein snack helps to fire up your metabolism. Part of that is thanks to the afterburn effect, which is when your body continues burning calories long after your workout ends.
Remember to guzzle at least eight ounces of water while you have your post workout snack. Your muscles are 80 percent water, and if you don’t hydrate them they won’t strengthen.
The Best Post Workout Snacks for Weight Loss
- 150 calories worth of milk, plus a few nuts on the side
- Apple slices or a small banana with two tablespoons of almond nut butter
- A single-serving container of hummus with carrots
- Plain Greek yogurt sprinkled with granola and fresh berries
- A quarter cup of nuts and dried fruit (divide it ahead of time into baggies)
- A slice of whole grain bread topped with a half-cup of cottage cheese and tomato
- Baked sweet potato with a couple of pieces of grilled chicken
- Handful of roasted almonds
- Can of drained tuna on whole wheat bread, drizzled with lemon juice
