It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day at work on Wednesday. I moseyed into work only to find out that half the employees at my office were laid off. While this action had been expected for some time and I was lucky enough to still have my job, it didn’t make it any easier to stomach the fact that I had just lost some of my closest co-workers. The silver lining for them was that the severance package was extremely generous, but I’m sure it didn’t take away from the aftermath of being forced to decide their next steps. It was such a gut-wrenching feeling seeing all these sullen faces and realizing I may never see some of them again.
The only saving grace of my day was that I had dinner plans already scheduled with some non-co-worker friends (hubby excluded). Delicious food and catching up with hilarious folks served as a great diversion. I didn’t want this part of the day to come to an end, but I realized bedtime was slowly creeping up and I still hadn’t worked out. Hubby already had his 6 PM racquetball sesh, so it would have been so easy to give myself a pass. Still, I felt a strong urge to clear my head.
So what’s the rule of thumb for working out after eating? Most sources say it’s ideal to wait two to three hours after eating a meal to exercise. One source I found said waiting one to two hours was ok. One hour was also the waiting time recommended after eating a snack, under 200 calories. Why? Because working out sooner can affect digestion and performance.
I ended up waiting approximately an hour and a half before getting on the elliptical. I didn’t experience an upset stomach or any sluggishness. My final results on the elliptical, in fact, were on par with my performance from other days. And though I can’t say without a doubt that my digestion wasn’t affected, any issues that may have presented itself had to have been really mild. Regardless, I’m not making it a habit to exercise shortly after eating a meal.
30 Day Life Challenges 