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It’s a common fact that building muscle and burning fat happens in the kitchen. If you have a high-quality diet which you stick to, you will see results much faster. Our bodies are basically a science equation, stressing the body enough through a variety of workouts then fuelling it with the right foods will result in an increase in muscle and reduction in fat. However, how do you go about eating the right foods to see these results? Here are 5 post-workout snacks that burn fat and build muscle to get you started. Here’s 5.
- Green Vegetables
- Greek Yogurt
- Protein-rich Shake
- Cottage Cheese
- Nuts
1. Green vegetables
Although not everybody’s favorite, green vegetables are an essential part of any diet. High in fiber, packed full of essential nutrients and vitamins and low in calories, green vegetables are your new best friend. These essential nutrients and vitamins help promote a faster metabolism, meaning losing weight and gaining muscle will be easier. Not only that, green vegetables will make you feel full much quicker than junk food, meaning you won’t need to snack later on, also promoting weight loss. Furthermore, green vegetables have been shown to help stabilize blood sugar levels, perfect to maintain a healthy body and lifestyle.
2. Greek yogurt
A delicious snack which contains high-quality proteins, including both casein protein which is slow to digest (perfect before bed) and whey protein containing all 9 essential amino acids, perfect for muscle repair and muscle growth after your workout along with many other benefits outlined by Gymequipment below. Greek yogurt is, therefore, best ate after a workout or before bed a post-workout snack (especially useful if you exercise late at night), providing a slow release protein overnight to repair your muscles. To spice your yogurt up, try adding pieces of fruit such as bananas, grapes or maybe even chia seeds.
3. Protein-rich shake
Once you finish a work-out, you have approximately 30 minutes to get in a source of protein to replenish your energy stores and kick start recovery with the biggest effect. If you miss the window of opportunity, your recovery time will be longer and your gains considerably less. Why not try a protein-rich shake, high in protein and extra convenient. With many proteins shakes currently on the market, there is a wide variety of choices. With the standard protein shake containing between 25-30g of whey protein, essential vitamins, electrolytes, and amino acids, this makes for a high-quality, post-workout drink. Coming in many different flavors, protein-shakes will soon become your best friend, especially once you see the results from taking them regularly. Also containing electrolytes, protein shakes will help rehydrate you and bring your body into its regular state whilst kick-starting recovery and feeding your hungry muscles.
4. Cottage cheese
Cottage cheese sounds good, right? Yes. Cottage cheese is a perfect post-workout snack. Containing a high quantity of sodium, cottage cheese is ideal for replacing electrolytes lost during sweat in your workout, starting your recovery faster and returning your body to its usual state. Not only this, cottage cheese, much like green yogurt also contains casein protein, a whole 28g of it. This is also a great option for a late-night post-workout snack to feed the hungry muscles and promote lean muscle growth and fat loss.
5. Nuts
Often everybody’s favorite snack, nuts are high in magnesium which is important for muscle growth and strength, making it a win, win situation. Eating nuts as a snack all of the time, however, will not promote muscle growth, these need to be eaten in the right period of time. Instead, eating nuts directly after your workout will promote muscle growth and strength, also whilst tasting great. For weight-loss, it is essential to eat the right quantity of nuts, since they are high in calories, eating too many will promote weight gain, whereas eating too little will not promote muscle and strength gains. Try cashew nuts, high in protein essential for weight-loss, however, remember to be restrictive and don’t eat the entire bag in one sitting.
A final thought
With a wide-variety of post-workout snacks and meals, it can often be difficult to choose. What we suggest is to try them all and see what works best for you, after all, you may not like Greek yogurt or to eat cottage cheese before bed, it is completely individual. One thing to definitely take away from this, however, is to eat your greens, essential to remain healthy and increase your metabolism, your greens will soon turn from your nemesis to your muscle building companion. The inclusion of high protein packed shake is definitely a must, you will have often seen a lot of gym goers drinking this post-workout, that’s because they work. Really well too.
Therefore, find what works for you and stick at that. And remember, try tracking your macros (this means counting your carbs, protein, fats, and vegetables and monitoring these closely. This will allow you to see how many calories you are consuming, ideal for finding what works for you. Try using the app ‘myfitnesspal’ to help you through the process, with an extensive food diary, and will help you on your way, promoting lean muscle growth, fat loss, and improved strength.
About The Author:
Barry White is the Professional writer at Gym equipment. He has a background in writing an article for blog When not working, Barry enjoys rugby and swimming.
