Eating junk food will give you energy, but it is also often higher in saturated fat, salt and sugar. Excess amounts of fat and sugar in your diet can cause you to gain weight if your do not exercise regularly and affect your body's ability to maximize energy and finish an intense workout.
What is Junk Food?
Junk food is any type of food that is low in nutrients and high in sodium, saturated fat and sugar when compared with the total calories in that food. In general, the amounts of sodium, fat and sugar in junk food exceed daily recommendations. For example, one serving of 35 g potato chips has 190 calories, 13 g of fat, which is 117 calories, and 230 mg of sodium. Junk foods include snacks such as cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, potato chips, chocolate, cakes and soft drinks.
Junk Food and Your Workout
The high sugar and fat from junk food affects your workout by interfering with your body's ability to maximize the use of energy or calories from food. Fat takes a bit longer for your body to process. This reduces readily available energy, while increasing longer term energy release. Because your body is efficient at getting nutrients to cells and then storage, your body can process simple sugars quicker than you can use that energy. This can deprive you of much-needed energy during an intense workout and promote fat storage.
Eat Before a Workout
If you work out in the mornings, do not skip breakfast. The Mayo Clinic suggests eating a small 100-calorie snack, such as yogurt or fruit, at least an hour before you work out. During the morning, your blood sugar and liver glycogen stores are low after a good night's sleep. A small meal will help your blood sugar levels.
Before and After a Workout
You should not eat a "heavy" meal right before a workout. Your body needs at least three to four hours to digest larger amounts of food. If you prefer workouts before breakfast, lunch or dinner, eat a snack of complex carbohydrates, such as a fruit smoothie, granola bar or whole-grain crackers with peanut butter. Eat a well-balanced meal of protein and carbohydrates within two hours after a workout. This will help your muscles recover and replace glycogen stores. Hydration is important too. Drink water or sports drinks to replace fluids and replenish electrolytes lost during an intense workout.
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