Energy Management Part 2: Don't Drain!
Want to energize your workout? your day? As we mentioned in Part One, whole foods GIVE energy. On the flip side of this coin, processed foods DRAIN energy. To illustrate, margarine is one example of a highly processed food. It is manufactured at such high temperatures (not to mention bleached and steam cleaned) that our bodies physically cannot break it down. Eating margarine is like shoving tin foil through your system. This DRIANS energy as your body struggles to push this "tin foil" through the system. When you hit the gym with processed food in your system, blood and energy is diverted to your digestive system when you would rather have it in your muscles, leaving you feeling less than energetic and simply unable to hit your PR.
Bottom line: eat whole foods. Avoid processed and chemicalized foods. Look at the ingredients list on your next protein bar. Do you recognize all those ingredients? Neither does your body. GAIN, don't DRAIN energy.
-Erin
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If you have a question about the impacts that processed foods have on your workouts, or if you are curious to learn about whole food, pre-workout fueling feel free to leave a comment below.