Smoothies and taking Whey Before Cardio

[Wired for Sound]

Two quick questions...

I thought I was doing something GOOD by having a Jamba Juice smoothie every other day or so, since I'd be getting my daily requirements of fruit. However, since I'm cutting right now I checked the nutrition facts and I saw that they had upwards of 60g of sugar and 80g of carbs! Negligible calories. I mean, I know fruits have a lot of sugar and carbs, but that's crazy. Should I stop drinking these altogether or is that a "good" sort of sugar and carbs?

And the other one is, I do cardio right after weight training. Usually I'll have 2 scoops of whey and a sports drink right after the weights, but if I drink all that liquid right before I run I'll get cramps hardcore. Is it ok to wait an extra 20-30 minutes after the cardio to drink my stuff or should I drink half or what? A bit confused here.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

1. Replace it by having just fruit without the smoothie, or have a much smaller serving of the jamba juice

2. In your case your probably better off waiting til after you run . Personally I'd rather drink the whey and then walk for a certain amount of time then run.

THe cardio issue is much debated so really its up to you, but I've read that doing high intense running after a workout is not good for muscle growth at all and can ruin your workout. Maybe someone with more experience can chime in here to help you with your decision.

 

[Mavrick]

It's best to do cardio when you wake up in the morning. You're more prone to burn fat after a night of fasting. Just drink some water and go do cardio. Also, you should wait at least an hour after you've done cardio so that your body will burn fat as apposed to your intake.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Fruit juice is loaded with sugar. I avoid it when trying to cut fat. Fruit itself is not so bad, but juice is just concentrated sugar. In fruit like oranges, the anti-cancer flavanoids are mostly in the pulp anyway.

 

[j0n024]

Wait I thought you should eat before you do cardio or work out in the morning...

 

[Quiksilver]

It depends what your goals are Jon...

If your goals are to shed fat, then eating before cardio or workouts is probably a bad idea. The logic behind it is you want your body to use bodyfat to fuel your exercise. If you eat right before, guess what your body is going to use for energy?

On the other hand, if your goal is performance then by all means eat before exercise because you want your body to have all the energy it can get for pushing yourself that extra little bit.

 

[j0n024]

I never knew that, I thought that if you DIDNT eat before you worked out then your body would try to hold onto the fat and you would not lose as much fat as opposed to eating a little bit before working out. I DO eat before I work out but I only eat cereal (NEVER anything huge) so I think that's a good compromise.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Something that changed my ideas about working out...that way you never have to cut or bulk

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=81893

For cardio in the morning I really like what WBA has to say as i have found success in his theory

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=114618

As for eating before a workout, Manuva makes good points why it shouldn't be on a empty stomach

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=82328

 

[Wired for Sound]

Ok, thanks for the responses. However I still don't know if it's a good idea to be eating those smoothies though. I'll do cardio in the morning from now on, which solves the fullness/cramps issue, but are the carbs and sugar in the smoothies GOOD sugar and carbs...or should I just cut out them out and just stick with a can of mixed fruit it extra light syrup to get my daily req's?

 

[Quiksilver]

The carbs in retail smoothies are bad. Those things are loaded with syrups, corn starch, and well... sugar.

Best to make your own. Buy a good blender, put ice in it, put your choice of fruits in it, add an ounce of half & half cream/milk, and you've got yourself a true shake. You know what's in it, and it's all relatively healthy. The sugars in fruit are STILL sugars, but at least you know what's in it, and there are no added sugars or garbage.

Good fruits for smoothies are:

bananas, apples, oranges, mixed berries.

 

[martinM.]

I agree with Quicksilver. I really wouldn't trust the retail smoothies, making your own is great advice. It's a good and convienent way of getting your daily recomended servings of fruit.

This may not be for everyone, but i sometimes use half an avacado instead of the banana as a thickener.