Submitted By: Annick Mercier, Allentown, PA

First off, I'd like to express my thanks for all of your great work. I just finished reading both your books (the NHE and the HIE). Very well done and informative. I was confused about what was your recommendation as pre-post workout meal. I really hope that you'll be able to help me with this dilemma since I believe in the program and I feel stuck when it comes to this. I like to workout first thing in the morning and I can't wait more than 1.5 hour before hitting the gym, for schedule reason. Please let me know what's the optimal pre-post workout meal.

Your best bet post workout is a salad of some kind with a substantial serving of protein. For example, egg salad with tomato or sliced turkey on a bed of lettuce with low-carb dressing. Your post-workout salad can be as simplistic or gourmet as you wish and as time allows. Especially for someone on a tight schedule who trains in the morning, preparing or at least planning meals in advance is wise.

There are innumerable variations on the salad theme so with some ingenuity you can eliminate much of the redundancy. Furthermore, research indicates that consuming antioxidants after training (when oxidative stress levels are elevated) can enhance recovery - and a mixed-vegetable salad is a means of obtaining multi-antioxidant coverage. Incorporating raw nuts, such as sunflower seeds, into the post-workout salad provides vitamin E, which works synergistically with the water-soluble antioxidants predominately found in fruits and vegetables.

You can tastefully supplement low-carb/high-fat dressing with flaxseed oil, Udo’s Choice, or other “EFA” - essential fatty acid - source, and add avocado to increase the good fat content. As long as saturated and trans fat intake are kept low, people on a controlled-carb diet should be more concerned about getting enough fat than getting too much.

One advantage of this type of post-workout meal, as compared with one that causes a spike in blood sugar and insulin levels, is not reaped until hours later. Predictably, the person who loads up on carbs after working out will experience a potent craving for carbs a few hours later when blood sugar levels drop once again. This prompts another round of high-carb feeding, perpetuating your body’s reliance on sugar for energy and, correspondingly, your desire to consume more of the foods you wish to avoid. A meal containing more fat and protein than carbohydrate promotes more stable blood sugar and energy levels, and facilitates fat burning and appetite control. This is why the post-workout meal should not be assessed in isolation, but rather in the context of the overall diet and with reference to your objectives. Apples and natural peanut butter also fulfill the nutritional criteria of the optimal post-workout meal in the context of the optimal overall diet.

The pre-workout meal follows the same general guidelines as the post-workout meal, except there is an emphasis on easily digested foods if you are unable to allow much time between eating and training. Cottage cheese and an orange works for a quick pre-workout meal, so does a protein shake. Plain whole yogurt is another option to consider, and the live cultures in yogurt provide an added health benefit.

If plain yogurt is too plain for your taste, sweeten it with a carb-free sweetener and add strawberries. If you wish to be more adventurous combine (and mix thoroughly) plain whole yogurt with your favorite flavor of carb-free sweetened protein powder to make high-protein/low-carb pudding. Eggs are a more conservative option - a small tomato pepper omelet with a slice of toast and black coffee, three eggs scrambled with a small cup of oatmeal and hot tea, or a few hard-boiled eggs or egg whites and a piece of fruit.

Sour cream and blueberries or mozzarella and tomato slices are tasty options requiring less time to prepare than eggs. Just keep in mind, since there is often a temptation to skip breakfast especially when training in the morning: a small breakfast and a moderate-sized lunch is better than the same amount of food eaten in one meal. So make it a priority to eat not only what, but when, you are supposed to.