General Fitness & Nutrition: energy boost without the weight gain

hiya,

 I'm a normally a pretty active person but like most people I think, I go through peaks and troughs in the level of said activity. In the past I've mostly gone to the gym but after a recent trough, I've decided to take up road running as it's much cheaper! Anyway, I'm currently trying to lose weight (not much, just a few pounds) and I want to be sensible about it. I know how important it is to regain your strength by eating post-workout but at the same time I don't want to be cancelling out the good work I've just done. Any advice (bearing in mind I'm a poor student and can't really afford all those fancy energy bars/gels etc.)? I'm currently running 3-5km but working towards a 10 km.

Thanks!

Try eating a Banana BEFORE you run, if you're trying to lose weight and you're also on a tight budget, try tomatoes aplenty after a run, cheap, low in calories and great for hydration- try eating the odd slice of multi-seeded bread to boost the carbs- Just drink a pint of high-juice squash when you fisrt get back from your run.

Energy drinks? - who needs them? 

trial and error to see what works for your body type, metabolism, chemistry, etc is a "long term" project you should undertake ...

when i started running, i got advice from so many different people but quickly found out that most recommendations messed me up one way or another ... after a couple of years of tinkering, i've settled on drinking 12oz soy milk before the run, a packet of gu every 45 minutes during the run, and 20oz soy/eas protein powder after the run ... seems to work consistently for morning or evening runs ...

 the soy/protein powder after the run helped recovery in a huge way ... it also suppressed my appetite for hours after - to the point that if i ran at night, i'd usually skip dinner altogether ...

 must be aware tho that the soy/protein mix is pretty calorie rich - 20oz will be about 500 calories ...

I've recently been advised to use 'access' bars.
These are 'energy' bars allegedly being trialed by the Olympic team which have been patented to convert body fat into fuel for distance runners/swimmers/endurance athletes.

 Would LOVE to hear from anyone with any input on these bars.

Thanks!

I agree, when I ran track for my college the coaches would mention chocolate milk to us. I know it may initially sound like a bad choice but when used with soy milk and organic dark chocolate powder it's not so bad. I know your budget is low but the powder can last quite a while.

Fat-free, plain yogurt with half a banana (cheap) and a handful of any kind of organic whole grain cereal is also a good way to go for post-workout. I definitely agree with everyone who said to cut out processed foods. Sometimes you have no choice, but just try and keep it minimal, for example, use plain yogurt over flavored...the latter is crap. In actuality you could probably eat a lot more than you are if you stick to a processed food-free diet. THAT'S what messes up our metabolisms and saps our energy, trust! I know you're scarce on funds but try going organic and not eating up everything in one day just for one week and I'm positive you'll see a difference. P.S. Don't forget to switch up your workouts each week.

At the distance that you are running, I don't think you need much for a post workout recovery. But my favorite post workout recovery food, whether I have run 5 miles or 25, is a banana and a non-fat latte (non-fat milk). I have several friends that are competive athletes at an elite level and their coaches have them recover with chocolate milk - you get the carbs and the protein. Add a banana and you get your electrolytes!!

I was in the same position as you in that I needed to drop a few pounds, like 7 to 10. I knew that I had to do it via my diet because I workout consistently and there are only so many hours in the day, so working out more was not an option. What I discovered is that the banana and the milk combination post workout is really filling and would stave off my hunger from having just burned upteen calories, long enough for me to eat sensibly later instead of being so famished that I would grab anything easy to eat (i.e. high calorie energy bars or the like). I ended up losing 15 pounds!!

Good Luck.