Fuel Up: Exercise Nutrition Tips

“Why do I need to eat to exercise, I'm trying to lose weight. Doesn't that defeat the purpose?”

How many times have you asked that question?

Proper nutrition is very important for successful exercise programming. Just like your car needs gas to run, your body needs sugar for energy. During exercise your body primarily uses sugar for fuel. Your body gets sugar from 2 different places: sugar stored in your muscle and sugar in your blood stream. Carbohydrates that you eat turn into blood sugar and can be used for fuel during exercise. Without fuel your body will feel sluggish and too tired to do exercise.

You will burn more calories during and after the exercise than the small snack that you will need to maintain energy level.

“When should I eat?”

If you are only doing a 30 - 45 minute exercise session then chances are you don't need to eat anything to fuel your body. That is, as long as you have eaten some food during the day. If you haven't eaten anything for over 4 hours and feel tired during exercise, have a 15 gram carbohydrate snack or drink. For this duration of activity, the most important thing is to stay hydrated. Water is the best thing to drink during exercise - 4 to 6 oz of water for every 15 to 20 minutes of exercise.

For longer duration activities, longer than 60 minutes, then you need to eat some carbohydrates in order to sustain energy. The usual recommendation is 15 grams of carbohydrate for every 60 minutes of activity. This can be in the form of a carbohydrate snack or drink. (See Table 1.) If you have diabetes check with your health care team for individualized snack adjustments.

Table 1: Snack Options

 

Snack	Serving (approx. 15 gm of carbohydrate)
Juice	4 oz
Sports drink	8 oz
Banana	½
Apple, orange, pear	Medium size
Grapes	15
Snack crackers	4 to 5
Fruit Roll Up/Fruit leather	1 serving
Dried fruit	¼ cup
Fig bars	2 bars
Granola bar	1 serving

Remember to hydrate! Drink plenty of fluids during the day and especially during exercise.