Post-Workout Fueling: What to Eat After Exercise

In the last article, we talked about the importance of pre-workout fueling and how it can improve your performance and overall health. This time around, we want to talk about what to fuel with once the workout is done and your body is in recovery mode.

So as you crush the Project 61 Step Challenge with your walks and workouts, let’s also make sure to crush the post-workout fueling too!

What to Eat After Exercise

Similarly to what we said in the pre-workout fueling article, there is some time-specific advice for post-workout fueling, broken down into immediately after and hours after.

“Immediately after” refers to right after your workout to less than an hour afterward. “Hours after” will depend on when you work out during the day and how many meals you eat the rest of the day.

The main thing to consider for the “hours after” category is to try to limit large meals too close to bed, as this can hurt sleep, which in turn hurts your recovery.

Now enough talking. Here are some real-world examples of what to eat:

Immediately After Exercise

Lean Protein

• Chicken.
• Tuna or salmon packet.
• Beans.
• Protein shake.
• Protein bar.
• Greek yogurt with fruit.
• Low-fat milk, plain or chocolate.
• Eggs.
• Tofu.

Carbohydrates

• Your choice of fruit: fresh, canned, dried, or frozen.
• Whole-wheat bread.
• Whole-wheat bagel.
• Rice, brown or white.
• Your choice of potato.

The focus here is to get protein and carbs into your system to help repair and rebuild the muscles that you used.

A good target to aim for is 20–40 grams of protein and around 40–60 grams of carbs, which you can easily get with the foods above.

Lastly, continuing to hydrate with water after your workouts is extremely important too!

Hours After Exercise

• Chicken, rice, and broccoli.
• Tuna sandwich with a garden salad and light dressing.
• Rice and bean bowl with mixed vegetables and salsa.
• Salmon with a potato and vegetables.
• Veggie power bowl with tofu, beans, mixed vegetables, and avocado.

These are just some post-workout meals that you can have hours after training, whether that is lunch or dinner for you. The options are endless, and there are only a few things to keep in mind when choosing what to eat:

• Try to eat your last large meal at least two hours before bed so your sleep isn’t disrupted.
• Make sure to have plenty of fiber in your post-workout meals from beans, vegetables, and/or whole-grain carbs.
• Continue to eat lean proteins hours after workouts, as protein is very important for protecting, repairing, and rebuilding your muscles.
• Add healthy fats to your post-workout meals from foods like avocados, pumpkin or chia seeds, olive oil, and/or seed oils.
• Make sure to drink water throughout the day with your meals.

Nutrition and exercise go hand in hand, which is why it’s so important to make sure you are fueling right before and after your workouts. This way, you can come back the next day feeling recovered and ready to crush whatever challenge lies ahead!

Put It Into Practice With Project 61

FUEL and MOVE are two of Project 61’s 5 Axles of Health™: Fuel, Move, Recharge, Mental Drive, and Preventive Maintenance. Together, they address the whole driver through small, sustainable habits built for life on the road.

Project 61 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping professional truck drivers live longer, healthier lives through awareness, education, engagement, and free resources.

Get the free Project 61 app for practical tools and daily guidance to help you build small, sustainable habits across our 5 Axles of Health™.

For fleets: Bring Project 61 to your drivers and help make healthier habits easier to build and sustain.