The basic principle about losing weight is eating less and burning more calories.
Hence, it seems logical not to eat before or after an exercise, right?
But according to Pop Sugar, an American lifestyle website, some experts do not recommend this practice.
Its interview with registered dietitian Michele Fumagalli revealed that eating within at least two hours of a workout can actually burn a lot of calories faster, and may help in muscle growth by increasing the production of proteins.
The website also said that curbing your hunger will mostly likely lead to overeating subsequently.
On the other hand, based on the experiments conducted by Healthline.com, not eating before exercising may have better effect on muscle recovery than on fat loss.
The experiments concluded that fasted exercise can help improve "the ability of the muscles to burn fat during exercise and the ability of the body to maintain its blood sugar levels."
In addition, the nutrients, which, "may still be present in high concentrations" in the blood during and after exercise, can aid recovery.
THE RIGHT CALORIES FOR THE BODY
Nikki Torres, a certified Holistic Wellness coach and a yoga teacher, further talked about eating after exercising in her interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Enetrtainment Portal) in November 2019.
But she underlined the importance of feeding your body with the right calories.
She said, "When you wear yourself out during workouts, when you do something that's way too intense, your body would want to refuel itself. Because it's like survival instinct.
"It's going to prepare itself for the next time it happens. That's why it starts to load up.
"It's so important for you to feed it with the right stuff because the body is so smart. It's the smartest machine.
"It knows when it's not getting the nutrients it needs, and you keep feeding it with empty calories. After a while, it's going to ask for more food."
And this will not make you lose weight.
Torres continued, "It's a vicious cycle. You're gonna eat empty calories, it's gonna ask for more food, you gain weight. Calories make you gain weight."
PROPER DIET AFTER A WORKOUT
What exactly is the right kind of food for the body after exercising?
Torres said, "If you eat something that's packed with nutrients like your vegetable, your fruit, your whole foods, and your whole grains.
"When you incorporate those in your diet, you will not crave because your body will no longer tell you that 'I need more nutrients to function.'
"That's the science behind it."
She stressed that changing one's diet and lifestyle has to be "a gradual shift."
Torres said, "For most people, you don't have to go overnight... An overhaul is not sustainable. Like a quick overhaul of your diet is not going to be sustainable.
"It's going to be hard, you're not going to enjoy it. You have to do it little by little and it has to be something you enjoy.
"Otherwise, you're going to get off in a week; you're gonna get tired of it. It took me years.
"There's a journey to it that escalates, and then by the time I learned about proper nutrition and proper workouts and fitness and movement, that's when, without effort, the weight just declined.
"Then you start getting more muscle, you get more energy. It takes time."