Post Work-Out Binges

1. You're a work-out newbie. When you move from an almost zero level of physical activity to any higher level, you're bound to feel hungrier. Your body is burning its fuel and is calling for more fuel. It is, quite rightly, asking to be fed. It needs to be fed. 

“Your cells are literally hungry for fuel after a hard workout because you’ve used up a lot of your carbohydrate stores,” Wein says. Carbohydrates are stored in muscle as glycogen, and the harder you work out the more you burn, she explains.

2. You have not had a proper work-out. 

There is no question that when an indivdiual can do 1 hour of signficant aerobic exercise on a regular basis, he or she will want to eat less food.

If you're eating fairly right, you might not be pushing yourself out of your workout comfort zone. If you work out properly and regularly, you'll find your cravings reducing dramatically. 

Who says sports make bigger appetite? Results conducted by researchers found regular exercise can actually reduce the appetite. With regular exercise your body will issue a satiety signal that can defeat hunger.

The body produces in a healthy way the stuff that makes you reach for the wrong foods-too much sugar or too much carb. 

Exercising helps to normalize fluctuations in your blood sugar levels

and in doing so you won't get that starving feeling as often.

Even so, you have to eat post-workout.

WHAT’S THE POINT OF EATING AFTER EXERCISE? It’s all about two things: recovery and storage. You need to recover the losses you undertook during the exercise, and your body is simply better at storing that recovery fuel right after your workout. Sure, you can eat later—but the benefits won’t be as good. The sports medicine pros at ESPN explain it: “athletes need carbohydrate and fluid to replace glycogen and water losses during the exercise. The muscles store more glycogen immediately after exercise than they do later.” Simple, no?

3. You have not researched the dos and don'ts of working out. You should eat something in roughly the 90 minute window on both sides of a workout.   Your homework for today is to find out more abut all this :D


TIP: Ask about L-Glutamine. If your doctor does not contra-indicate its use, you might find that, combined with a good workout, it reduces your bottomless pit syndrome.

So what should you eat?

Pre-Workout

Something light yet sustaining roughly 90 minutes before working out. You don't want to feel too full. Being uncomfortably full will interfere with your workout and might even be quite unpleasant. It will all depend on your individual digestive system. For one kind of person it can range from nothing to a boiled egg or small glass of milk. For another it may range from an egg with a toast or even that plus a piece of fruit and a small glass of milk.
If you need to lose a lot of weight and can go without food without discomfort, workout on an empty stomach . 

Though many athletes eat before training, some scientists say that if you really want to get rid of more fat, you should skip the pre-workout snack.

Have your post-workout snack though. 

Post-Workout

Within 90 minutes of a good workout, eat something. 

Create supplements The body needs a high-protein diet for muscle building. However, relying on supplements is not the answer. The best option for a post workout DIY supplement is to take the watery part of curd (that is very rich in proteins), chop a banana and apple into it and put it in the blender. It's a perfect combination of proteins and carbohydrates. Not to forget, the apple is rich in fibre.

If you have a good metabolism or if you know you will be regular with your proper workouts, and you don't have huge amounts of weight to lose, you can get away with almost anything ( a reasonable amount!). If not, have about a handful of something healthy. I used to carry a banana as my post workout snack and then hit the road for my 30 minute walk home. Once home I had my meal. When in doubt stick with a low fat liquid snack, ideally, a small helping of low fat chocolate milk. 

New study finds lowfat chocolate milk is effective post-exercise recovery aid for soccer players Chocolate milk's 'natural' muscle recovery benefits match or may even surpass a specially designed carbohydrate sports drink It is better not to avoid the post-workout snack. 

Disclaimer: I am not a health or fitness expert. I am merely sharing what I do and what suits me. 

HOW TO FIND YOUR FITNESS FIT

There are quite a few out there who would like to get fit. Who wouldn’t? 
Here’s the catch though: some of us start out of the blue, all by ourselves. We get a painful catch or pull a muscle or break a bone before even breaking out into a sweat. And that’s that. As we grow older, it’s scarier to think of jumping in or any kind of jumping for that matter.
 Forget about old (For a lot of folks, thirty is old!). We have young ladies who want a good figure. And everyone’s heard of dieting. Unfortunately, for most, dieting equals fasting. So the young lass begins to starve herself. Her family throws a fit and her fitness goals are out the door before even she began. The simple reason: she’s been taught to think of herself as an “object of someone’s lust” rather than as an “objet d’art”. She wants some egotistical narcissistic male to admire her. What she should want is to look at her own image in the mirror and be able to say: “Damn! I’m hot!”
You cannot get fit unless you know what you want and why. There are a million whys: to lose weight, to get healthy, to feel good, etc.
If you have to choose a single motivating factor let it be: “To Feel Good”.
A good workout leaves you feeling on top of the world. If you keep at it, the day comes when you look good.
A beautiful face may carry off a sloppy figure but only so far. An average face or one that is not traditionally considered beautiful or pretty even, will be hotter by far than the beauty without figure –if the person has focused on fitness. The body wins hands down in the real life beauty contest. Fitness improves posture and stride, puts the glow in your skin and the luster in your hair and makes heads turn faster than any sickly, skinny, anorexic figure can.
Fitness is about loving yourself. When you love yourself enough to care about toning your arms or tackling your abs, you empower yourself. Your walk says: I’m strong! Once you see all the second and third glances coming your way, it’s an addiction! You can ride on it or just bask contently in your new found self confidence.
So, now, how do you go about getting fit without injuring yourself and without being a wimp? That’s right! Walking round and round in circles at the same speed every day will only take you so far. Challenging yourself is what makes all the difference.
Scared? You better be! Fitness is not for the faint of heart although it can make your heart stronger.
So, if you’re still here, reading this, let’s jump in!
1. Consult a doctor and ask what you can or must not do.
2. Be prepared for lifestyle changes and a gorgeous new you. I don’t really like this link but it will have to do-I was thinking more in terms of how you dress. If you have fitness attire that already makes you feel good, you’ll be propelled into a fit lifestyle.
3. Spend some time becoming aware of your body: your aches and pains and all your systems-your breathing, digestion, etc.
4. Spend some time every day searching for good links or exploring fitness websites. These days I swear by fitnessmagazine.com
5. Take a good hard look at what you eat and how you eat. And drink.
6. Weigh yourself or measure your waist and check your BMI online.
7. Buy a notebook and learn how to bookmark sites.
8. Buy or borrow Fitness magazines or books.
9. Join a gym or yoga or dance class. Many countries have gym locators. Here, in India, you can find a gym/yoga or dance class advertised every few yards. Visit the nearest ones and choose one which fits your budget and other requirements. If it’s too far you’re never going to be regular.
10. Move it right now-get up and march in place for a count of 100-don’t do it so fast or so carelessly that you injure yourself. Fitness is the enemy of ignorance-it’s all about awareness: what are the different parts of your body doing or telling you. 

Watch this blog for another installment of how to get fit on your own.
Caution: Please don’t be reckless when you embark on a fitness programme. Do consult a doctor before you start and at any time that you feel pain when working out. Do the moves with awareness of your body-try and understand good form and try to read up before you begin.

Mouse Clutching Winter Melon, Loh siu kip tong kua, By Kuan Guat Choo

Penang-born Kuan Guat Choo is a health visitor by profession, says the blurb. 

Finding this book meant a lot to me as it is a book in English by a Malaysian about life in Malaysia, about the history of Chinese emigration to this country and about the interactions between the three races of the nation: the Chinese, the Malays and the Indians. Most of the time, we are restricted to the accounts of the White Man about any new land we visit. Which is fine should the country be European. Or one of those which now is inhabited by more White people than original inhabitants. Thus it was tragic that I found this kind of book only late in my five year stay in Malaysia and had only my memories of Somerset Maugham stories about this country and one or two French novels to paint for me an idea of its history. Similarly I just found one book by an Indonesian in the bookshops during my one week stay in Jakarta.
The book has a foreword by a certain Bill Chew which is in itself also exciting to read-transporting one back to the days of yore in what was then Malaya.

In a recent visit to Penang I found myself walking down Muntri street, along Love Lane, and then on to Chulia Street. This was the old part of town, dating back probably 200 years…among these buildings are the grander structures known as kongsi (Chinese clan houses…

This is followed by the Acknowledgment-again not to be missed as it is again a history of sorts in the form of short character sketches of the persons to whom the author owes a debt of gratitude.

Lee Swee Har: The schoolmate from primary school who feeds me humour through e-mail and keeps me laughing and thinking young. She was the one who said: “With school friends we do not have to pretend.”

We have still the Author’s Note before we can broach the story

Apologies may be given and accepted but as the Chinese saying goes, “a cracked porcelain bowl cannot be mended.

We are also provided with a Glossary upfront before we can embark on this marvelous account. From Chinese words like

Chum pun mein Face like a round chopping board (in the Cantonese dialect)

to

Katak dibawa tempurung Frog beneath a coconut shell, that is a person who lacks exposure to the world

to

kavadi A decorated one-man palanquin carried in a state of trance during Thaipusam

to

brinjals egg-plant

There are also gems like

Ch…Ch...Ba very vulgar word (in the Hokkien dialect)

And

Eu Niak Ah Ma F…k your mother

But we are still far from the first chapter as there remains Characters

Aunt May Papa’s youngest sister who returned from Selama and gave me a tight hug

And …
Nope, not yet there! There’s the Prologue which remains

In my mind’s eye, I remember two big eyes framed by long thick black eyelashes, jet back hair, fair translucent complexion ad a willowy figure…Autumn Fern had a voracious appetite but she had to walk most of the time and this sculpted her reed-like figure

And, voila! Part I
From Roots which transports us back to ancient times –an age with which we assume ourselves to be familiar via Pear S Buck novels- to the later part of the book which becomes increasingly biographical in tone, Kuan leads us through the lives and times of her family.
I enjoyed this book so much that I am glad no note was taken of the quaint English: this is what makes it read so much the better:

When Grandma’s earthly remains was still in the house, in the morning we had to put a wash basin, …in front of the coffin and informed her to wake up and wash her face.

Here is a book to be read before visiting Malaysia-a story full of romance, humour, pathos and action, a tender and compassionate look at the peoples of a lovable country.