Food and exercise.

[Imeera]

I know that its really important what you eat before vigorous exercise. But if I am doing daily exercise but not really going on a diet. I eat heathly naturally, I hardly have any sweets or chocolate. If I am naughty I have take away Chinese (normally rice and vedg and a chicken dish) or a pizza hut pizza pan with extra olives and tomatoes on top. But thats very rare, at most twice a month sometimes not even once. More often though I sometimes I have foods high in carbohydrate but not fat. For example today I had Crunchy Nut for breakfast. Then had a bannana. Had carrot, lettus with three fried eggs with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper (more eggs than normal but all the eggs needed eating today xD also we ran out of rapeseed oil which is better I know but I wanted fried not scrambled egg that sticks to the pan xD) and two slices of toast with margerine. I haven't had dinner yet, I am planning to have brown rice/pasta, chopped tomato and veggy sausage (though if its meat I always cook my chicken in a fat reducing grill thingy first then cut it up and add sauce if I have it or stir fry it with rapeseed oil, I don't eat red meat unless its game like hare, ethical reasons not health)

First how should I time eating lunch and dinner so I am not putting on what I just worked off? I had lunch about 2/3 hours before I started, is this okay? How many hours should I wait until I have dinner?
Are there any food I should completely avoid that I might think are good, like I am pretty sure brown rice and wholemeal pasta is but you never know , as I want to lose weight/tone? Other than foods with high fat, salt and carbohydrates of course =]

Sorry if this was supposed to go in the "Anyone else on a diet/losing... encouragment thread" thread!! As this was more questions than encouragment :lol:

Thank you for all your help!!

 

[Sherezade]

Hummm... Ok, I'm not a nutritionist but I think that the secret is in eating little but several times a day. I never remain more than 1h or 1h30 without eating at least some fruit or yogurth. I realised that if I spend too much time without eating, I get to lunch/dinner time feeling much hungrier and eat the double of what I should. :lol:

Then, of course, it's what you eat. I must confess I love chocolate, cookies and it's hard for me to avoid them. So, I substitute them for light cerel bars or even yogurth. There is yogurth of all flavours at the supermarkets, some of them low fat or even fat free and they are delicious. So, when I feel a desire-for-chocolate crisis, I just snap some yogurth from the fridge.

Btw, I always eat these things before working out. It's stupid but I feel that if I eat and then workout, I'm burning the calories. The opposite makes me feel that I'm getting them back. :lol: Stupid, I know...

 

[Imeera]

Hummm... Ok, I'm not a nutritionist but I think that the secret is in eating little but several times a day. I never remain more than 1h or 1h30 without eating at least some fruit or yogurth. I realised that if I spend too much time without eating, I get to lunch/dinner time feeling much hungrier and eat the double of what I should. :lol:

Then, of course, it's what you eat. I must confess I love chocolate, cookies and it's hard for me to avoid them. So, I substitute them for light cerel bars or even yogurth. There is yogurth of all flavours at the supermarkets, some of them low fat or even fat free and they are delicious. So, when I feel a desire-for-chocolate crisis, I just snap some yogurth from the fridge.

Btw, I always eat these things before working out. It's stupid but I feel that if I eat and then workout, I'm burning the calories. The opposite makes me feel that I'm getting them back. :lol: Stupid, I know...

No I feel exactly the same way you do about it. So I guessed you had to eat a certian amount of time before and after, esspecially big meals and drink lots of water or something like that anyway. Thanks for the advice Sherezade!

 

[Sherezade]

Yes, water is essential, though I must say I'm not a big drinker, especially in winter. As to eating, also it's better not to eat much before working out or you may feel sick.

 

[Reen.Blom]

Basically its white sugar, white bread (and cake) white rice, white pasta that I avoid. I guess everything with High GI is energy robber!

Most people are stuck in the routine of potatoes, rice and pasta and bread, also for financial reasons.

I like to add cous cous (wholemeal at my local supermarket is same price as regular one, so yippy!) as little goes long way! Also buckwheat (i get it at ethnic food shop - cheaper than supermarket), barley, beans, chick peas, lentils. All higher in fiber or protein and lower GI than the 'white evils'. Unfortunately I dont like brown rice, *sob - sniff* so I eat white one instead.

Oats! Lots of oats if I bake bread or oats and bran for muffins, sugar free muesli, sugar free bran flakes. I am terrible with breakfast, it takes soooo much discipline to actually make myself eat breakfast. Sigh.

Also lots of veg - in early spring fresh is expensive so I use lots of frozen - sweet corn, green beans, broccoli, fresh carrots and onions. (grown own herbs - chives, parsley, etc)

Generally I try to cook from scratch, avoid processed foods, and foods that have lots of E- numbers in them. (For example I never buy ketchup, cos of long list of ingredients i dont know and also cos of too much vinegar in it...lol so I buy tomato paste and mix it with water and spices i like (a bit of sugar, salt, black pepper, chillie, garlic and coriander, and zap it in the microwave. If I wanna be fancy I add chopped onions carrots and green pepper and zap longer - this way you get a nice sauce)


I make own yogurt, bread, sausage and even ice cream. I am not on a diet, but i do have a healthier diet permanently. I want to know what is in my food. I do not want any flavourants colourants msg and other stuff that belongs in chemical laboratory and not in the kitchen!

I do not eat at least two hours before exercise, if Im starving a banana or a bit of yogurt does the trick... About 40 min after exercise I have a meal.

Water is a difficult one, cos I simply forget about it

PS do not chase the 'fat free' labels in supermarket, many times what they remove in fat they double in sugar!!!! Amazing how a little yogurt pot can have a couple of teaspoons of sugar in it!!

 

[Greek Bonfire]

Small meals up to six times a day I've heard is good but I eat less than that. But I do eat two small snacks in between breakfast and lunch and then lunch and dinner. In other words, I eat about every two hours but not a lot. After dinner, I just have liquids. And yes, drinking water several times a day.