Being late in the day, I was concerned about having enough juice in me to sustain a good workout. So I ate two tangerines 30-minutes beforehand, thinking that it would give me a "sugar boost." It did seem to help, but was it really enough fuel, and was it the right kind?
Well, according to Leslie Bonci, sports nutritionist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, it wasn't. Ideally, you should have a fist-sized amount of food about one hour before exercise. It should be a carbohydrate snack, with protein, in the range of 150-200 calories. Something like a granola bar, or half a peanut butter sandwich, will do. Trail mix will do, too. You should also drink about 20-oz of liquid an hour beforehand. And if you're workout will last more than an hour, you also need to eat while exercising at a rate of 30-60 grams per hour.
For a quick recovery, eat again within 15-minutes of finishing. The same snack will do. The longer you wait to eat, the longer recovery will take.
This information will be useful for my next 6-mile run, maybe tomorrow.
Source article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/eating-to-fuel-exercise/?em
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