I’ve noticed (both in others and myself), that preparing for a post workout recovery snack is often something that gets ignored. We also often wait until too close to a workout to eat, then at the last minute, stuff something down so we aren’t working out on an empty stomach. Both of these habits can be detrimental to the goals of a workout. Pre-workout, you should try to get your meal in somewhere between 1-2 hours beforehand (Some people eat closer to the event – as well as during – for marathons and other long endurance events, though that’s a whole different topic). There all all kinds of drinks that are available that your body does well at digesting before and during a workout, but eating heavy meals beforehand can drag your system down and make your workout less effective, so the 1-2 hour rule I’ve found to be helpful. Post workout, your body is depleted of glycogen, and is calling out for food. Your body is also breaking down muscle tissue during any sort of strength training, and when you don’t give it the tools to rebuild, you aren’t letting your body get the benefits of your workout. Eating both carbohydrates and proteins is important (there is debate about the ratio here, but I tend to try for a 3:1 ratio carb to protein), and 15-30 minutes post workout seems to be the sweet spot for your body’s ability to recover efficiently. Eating post workout also helps to keep your body’s metabolism geared up for longer and can prevent overeating later in the day. People dieting sometimes think that eating less should extend to pre and post-workout meals, but actually, the opposite is often true. Taking the time to plan for your nutritional needs around a workout can make a huge difference is how effective your workouts are.

I’ve been a coffee and tea drinking almost my entire life. When I was a kid, my favorite ice cream flavor was always coffee and I really looked forward to being old enough to drink a big cup of it when I was old enough that my parents would let me. I can’t actually remember a time since I was a child that I have been caffeine free. But I’ve decided to eliminate it from my diet finally. Caffeine can cause anxiety, mood swings, and insomnia, irritability, and lots of other stuff, yet most of us consume it regularly. It can also make you stiff, which is exactly the opposite of what most of us yoga practitioners are trying to be. I actually had a really hard time finding concrete studies here, but as I understand it from talking to people who know about this, caffeine can cause muscle twitching (hyperflexia), which prevents our muscles from relaxing fully, a necessity to get a good, healthy stretch. Additionally, if taken in large enough doses, it acts as a diuretic, draining you body of precious water and leaving your muscles less able to stretch. That combined with the addictive nature of the drug, are finally getting me to give it up. Instead, I’ll be relying on a short morning yoga practice (which I’ve not always done) and breathing. There are lots of good resources if you are interested in trying to kick caffeine as well. I’ve included a couple of them below:

findbliss.com
yoga journal
yoga-australia.com