How long should I wait with eating after an exercise?
I hear sometimes that after running you should wait with eating for 30 or 40 minutes (may be the metabolism is still in fat burning mode?).
What is the reason for this advice? How long exactly should I wait? And is it valid for any food or is e.g. okay to eat a banana after the exercise?
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You get free increased calorie burning after exercise for up to two hours, so if you can hold off that long you'll still be burning calories at a higher rate than you BMR. You can drink water during this period to help stave it off, 30 minutes is about the length I can manage without grabbing at least a fruit drink.
Carbohydrates are best for post run, combined with protein on a 60/40 ratio. For example a yoghurt and sandwich - it promotes protein synthesis in the muscles and also glycogen recovery.
The first few chapters of this Anita Bean book goes into masses of detail on pre-workout, during-workout and post-workout foods.
It depends on your goals. If you want to lose weight, don't consume food after a run; wait up to two hours if you can. If you want to to go hard your next run, consume food (80% carb / 20% protein) within 30 minutes.
Yes, the body is still in full gear burning calories for a time (up to an hour) after exercise (especially cardio). After that your metabolism will slow again. So the idea is to burn as much fat from your body for fuel as possible, rather than fueling it with food, especially carbohydrate-rich foods which are converted faster to energy and will prevent the body from burning it's own fat stores first. However, if you aren't worried about burning fat, there's really no other reason to wait.
On the other hand, on days you do strength training or muscle building workouts, eating a short time after your workout is fine, as your metabolism isn't in high gear the same way, and the extra protein that you might consume will help to begin rebuilding your muscles.
This is not to say that you should overeat. If you take in more calories than you burn during your exercise, you will gain weight.
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