While walking might not be a high intensity workout, it still requires you to fuel your body
properly. Whether you are going on the treadmill for 30 minutes or walking a few miles,
you want to be sure you nourish your body before and after your workout.
Time Your Walk Around Meals
To start with, our best tip is to try and plan your walk before one of your main meals for
the day. This prevents you from having to choose an additional snack and figure out
where to fit it in or what to eat. Think about what time you tend to have breakfast, lunch,
and dinner, and whether or not about an hour before that, you might have a window
where you can go for a walk.
Remember that you need enough time to get dressed and ready for your walk, including
transportation if it isn’t nearby. You need a short stretching and warm up routine, the
walk, and a little time to relax after your walk before eating. But this can be a great way
to schedule your time and meals, without having to plan out an additional postworkout
snack. Just make sure you still have a snack beforehand, unless you are planning on an
early morning walk where it is more of fasted cardio.
Preworkout Snack Ideas
For your preworkout snack, you want to stick to smaller snacks and not workout on a full
stomach. Even for simple walking, it can create cramps if you try to eat a large meal 10
minute before you leave on your walk. An easy way to think about this is to choose as
few ingredients for the snack as possible. For example, think of one-item snacks like
bananas, yogurt, handful of nuts, hardboiled egg.
When it comes to the nutrients of your preworkout snack, you want it to be lower in fat
and sugar, higher in carbs, and about moderate in protein. This is why people often
choose a banana, sometimes adding a spoonful of nut butter to it. If you are extra
hungry before a workout, consider a small bowl of oatmeal with some fruit on top.
Postworkout Snack Ideas
After your workout is when you can fuel up a little more with a meal or larger snack, and
really focus on getting more protein and carbs. Your postworkout snack is probably
going to be a little higher in calories and may need to sustain you for a couple hours,
depending on the timing of your workout. This is why we recommend trying to aim for a
workout before a meal.
If it is going to be just a snack, remember your protein! Maybe you have cottage cheese
or tuna salad, a protein shake or protein bar, a small salad with lots of tuns or chicken,
or have a sandwich with your favorite protein.