Eating for quick recovery on a low calorie diet.

So the number one thing I've heard that helps recovery from a workout, (apart from sleep) is making sure you eat enough food.  I've made the logical assumption that if you're focusing on losing weight, it's probably going to eat into your recovery abilities.

That being said, what are the best things to eat to help you recover from a workout while eating a low calorie diet.  I assume mostly vegetables, but which ones in particular are better than others?

Whey protein. Some kind of carbs.

Blairbob said:

...Whey protein....

I'm assuming whey protein because it's a quick acting source of protein, which is good for muscle growth yeah?  Wouldn't say, eggs be better, since they contain a complete profile of amino acids?

Okay facepalm aside, I'm looking for a real answer here.  For example, ZMA seems to work well because a zinc deficiency can result from intensive training right?  And a zinc deficiency can cause CNS fatigue, right?

I seem to remember calcium is used to make chemical bonds in contractile elements of the muscle fibers, so a high calcium diet would be really helpful, right?

I've heard good things about beta-carotene, so I eat a couple carrots after every workout?

Look, I know nutrition isn't my strong suit, I've never cared much about what I put into my body, but I'm pretty sure it isn't as simple as "protein and carbs."  When you eat less you have less fuel to grow/regenerate.  So if you are working with less fuel, you need better fuel right?

I refer you to this:

Bipocni said:

 

Look, I know nutrition isn't my strong suit, I've never cared much about what I put into my body, but I'm pretty sure it isn't as simple as "protein and carbs."

 

What makes you so sure? If your general nutrition is already garbage, supplements aren't going to be worth a damn. No magic powder taken in the half hour after working out is going to alter the course of the other 23 and a half hours in a day.

Bipocni said:

Look, I know nutrition isn't my strong suit, I've never cared much about what I put into my body, but I'm pretty sure it isn't as simple as "protein and carbs."

Well, it pretty much is for me.

That and butter.

Yep.

Butter.

Honestly, Bipocni, in your nutrition situation (which is basically garbage, yes?), then yes, your nutrition should concentrate on getting protein and carbs in reasonable doses throughout the day. That's really simple. The most important thing is that you can do this consistently. Only then should you advance to a more sophisticated nutritional plan.

If you care to hear it, I'll go over what I do for my nutrition:

I literally eat almost nothing but milk protein, whey protein (both from truenutrition.com which I cannot recommend to you enough), some hot dogs (not many), brown rice, chopped up walnuts, and steamed vegetables (which I buy frozen from the store in large quantities). I also occasionally eat scrambled eggs in extra virgin olive oil.

It's cheap and ridiculously effective. As far as protein goes, the milk protein is my main protein source. The whey is used for peri-workout stuff. There is nothing more cost efficient than this protein powder especially when purchased from True Nutrition. At 7.5 USD a pound, the milk protein I buy gives me 360 grams of protein. I usually buy 8-10+ pounds at a time to save on shipping (it lasts me a long time), which gives me as many as 3600 grams of protein for as little as 75 USD. Insane. The whey is more or less the same. Since I train intensely everyday, about 3/5 of my daily protein is taken up by whey for peri-workout nutrition. The whey is actually only 6.4 USD per pound, and yields the same amount of protein as the milk protein. Meaning, you can get 3600 grams of whey protein for only 65 USD. Also insane. If you consume 200 grams of protein a day (probably high end for you, it might be less) then for only 140 USD (minus shipping) you will have enough protein for 36 days. Although to be honest you will have many more days because the other food you have also has protein in it.

The brown rice and steamed vegetables are insanely cheap (at least around here), easy to eat, and super easy to prepare/store. They're super dense foods with tons of carbs, vitamins, and minerals, and they supply my carbohydrate needs perfectly. The rice also has about 6-7ish grams of protein per cup which, if you eat a lot of rice like I do, really chips away at the amount of protein powder you need at every meal which in turn gives you a few extra days of protein powder.

I haven't tallied it all up exactly, but I eat a lot and I probably don't spend more than 250 USD on food per month. If you have a part time job and don't pay a ton of rent, I think it's a pretty great deal. I haven't kept up with your other thread, but I'm pretty convinced this is one of the cheapest ways you can eat while also being extremely healthy and pro-athletics.

Blairbob said:

 

 

 

I'm sorry you had to come here, Jean Luc... T_T

 Whey is a complete protein comparable to egg protein but just breaks down faster. There are some slight differences in the amount of certain amino acids but it's very comparable. Eggs obviously have other nutrients to contribute besides amino acids though.

 You asked for "QUICK" recovery. Digesting food isn't quick as whey.

 Whey also has about half the calories of eggs if you are going to use servings around 25g of protein of each.

 Get some protein throw in some carbs if you want such as a banana, potato, carrot, apple whatever to restore glycogen.

Greens for low calorie workout recovery, peruse the ANDI ratings of foods and then find the ones you like.  Veggies are good too and often more convenient than sauteing  greens so try both celery and collard greens and everything else in that section of your grocery store.

Apart from sleep, you will recover faster by moving more (and burn more calories). So add stretching in the evening, a light bicycle ride in the morning or other easy activities throughout the day that will raise your heart rate and increase circulation.

dmcmanam said:

Greens for low calorie workout recovery, peruse the ANDI ratings of foods and then find the ones you like. 

I had no idea this existed.  Thank you, that seems to be exactly what I was looking for.

Joshua Naterman said:

I'm sorry you had to come here, Jean Luc... T_T

Believe me, not as sorry as I am.  That's the first time I've let the captain down....

Bipocni said:

Believe me, not as sorry as I am.  That's the first time I've let the captain down....

It was just too funny for me to pass up

I only skimmed, but did anyone tell him to get a bunch of good fats too?

Bipocni said:

So the number one thing I've heard that helps recovery from a workout, (apart from sleep) is making sure you eat enough food.  I've made the logical assumption that if you're focusing on losing weight, it's probably going to eat into your recovery abilities.

 

That being said, what are the best things to eat to help you recover from a workout while eating a low calorie diet.  I assume mostly vegetables, but which ones in particular are better than others?

Unless you're obese, you've already made the wrong decision. A little excess weight will go away on its own if you focus on training hard and eating healthy. 

Prometheus said:

I only skimmed, but did anyone tell him to get a bunch of good fats too?

You heard the low calorie part, right? A bunch of fats, good or bad, is going to undermine that quite rapidly.

This is not really a productive conversation, because it is literally THE wrong strategy to use, as Josh has already mentioned.