Food serves as fuel for the body, so eating prior to going to LA Fitness or another gym is a good idea. However, this will only increase your performance if you eat the right food. Eat the wrong kind of chow and all the work you do will be for naught. If you want to get in shape or stay in shape, make sure that you avoid these foods.
Flaxseed
True, flaxseed is good for the body, especially weight loss, but it’s also got plenty of fiber that could result in bloating or gas that could affect your workout routines. It is best to limit the amount of flaxseed or any fiber rich food you eat two hours prior to hitting the gym.
Apart from flaxseed, avoid high fiber breads, bran and fiber supplements two hours before and after working out. Instead of fiber, opt for foods rich in carbohydrates and protein before you work out.
Hard Boiled Eggs
Hard boiled eggs are full of lean protein but they don’t have the carbohydrates your body needs. In addition, eggs take quite a while to digest, which could affect your movements in the gym.
Spicy Food
You should avoid spicy food like Thai and Mexican dishes because they can cause heartburn and make you feel uncomfortable. While it’s true that spicy foods help burn calories, it’s not recommended you eat any before working out.
Green Bananas
Bananas are great pre-workout food, but only if they’re ripe. Unripe bananas, or any unripe fruit for that matter, make you prone to gas and bloating so you should avoid it. You should only eat fully ripe bananas without any green on the stem as ripe bananas moreover, are more easily absorbed by the body.
Hummus
Hummus and other bean based foods should be avoided before working out because they are full of difficult to digest carbohydrates that will make you vulnerable to bloating and gas. Just like flaxseed, you should avoid hummus at least three hours before going to the gym.
Salads
Salads are healthy food alternatives true, but they don’t qualify as healthy pre-workout food. According to nutritionists, vegetable salads are full of fiber that slows down digestion and make it hard to perform exercise routines or weight training.
Sauces and Herbs
Working out is difficult enough, but chow down on an assortment of sauces will make it close to impossible. Just as spicy foods cause heartburn, sauces with myriad flavorings might cause stomach upset, making workouts difficult. The basic rule is that if you’re going to the gym, avoid highly seasoned or richly flavored foods of any kind, whether they’re spicy or not.
Fried Foods
Fried foods should be avoided in general, but they’re especially bad before exercising because greasy, fried food is hard to digest and they make you feel sluggish. And just like spicy foods, fried foods tend to cause heartburn and upset the stomach. It isn’t just fried food however, but also cookies, chips and others that are low in carbohydrates and high in fat.
Candy
Some people are under the mistaken assumption that eating candy or anything with sugar will provide an energy boost. However, health experts point out that the opposite is true. You should avoid candy or any food with high sugar content before working out, as sugar leads to a surge in insulin levels that will place the muscles in “storage mode” rather than energize it. More importantly, foods rich in sugar can lead to cramping and general discomfort during workouts.
Creamy Food
Creamy foods tend to linger in the stomach for several hours and make you feel full, which is why you should never take them before exercising. Foods that are cream based also lead to gastrointestinal distress and keep your body from performing at the highest level possible. This is because energy, oxygen and blood will be used by the digestive organs instead of just for the muscles.
Burgers
Burgers, even without the cheese and other toppings, are not good for gym rats because of the high fat content. Even though burgers are rich in protein, they’re hard to digest and can cause nausea during workouts.
Whole Grains
Whole grains, like other fiber rich food, tend to cause bloating because it works like a broom for the gastrointestinal tract, cleaning it. While that’s healthy, it affects the body in a negative way when working out. For this reason, it is best avoided. You can eat fiber rich foods throughout the day, but not before you start working out.
All too often guides tell what food to eat, but it’s just as important that you know what to avoid, because the wrong diet can ruin everything. By avoiding the foods on this list, you can be certain that the stuff you eat will serve as fuel and not fat.