Behind every public figure's polished appearance lies a personal wellness routine. This series examines the diets, workouts, treatments, and beauty and fashion choices of notable figures as practical lifestyle information.
Singer Jang Yun-jeong recently shared her approach to post-workout eating, opting for dishes featuring chicken and whelk while keeping her carbohydrate intake in check. Her strategy centers on choosing protein-rich foods — though nutrition experts note that carbohydrates are not the enemy dieters often make them out to be, and that some carbs after exercise can actually aid muscle and energy recovery.
Jang shared the meal on her YouTube channel, heading out for a chicken-and-whelk stew after finishing a workout.
"You can't gain weight eating this after exercise," she said. "Chicken and whelk are both protein." Mid-meal, she added: "The problem, though, is the knife-cut noodles."
Chicken and whelk are indeed well-established protein sources. Consuming adequate protein after exercise helps repair and maintain muscles stressed during a workout.
That said, the idea that "protein means you won't gain weight" is not quite accurate. Protein is itself a calorie-yielding nutrient, and sustained caloric intake that significantly exceeds expenditure will lead to weight gain over time, regardless of what a person eats.
Post-workout protein aids muscle recovery
Resistance training such as weightlifting simultaneously accelerates both the synthesis and breakdown of muscle protein. Consuming sufficient protein and essential amino acids through meals at that point helps promote muscle protein synthesis.
Large-scale analysis has confirmed this effect. A meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine examined 49 studies involving 1,863 healthy adults who performed resistance training.
Those who supplemented with additional protein showed greater gains in lean mass and muscle strength than those who did resistance training alone. However, once protein intake exceeded about 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, the incremental benefit to lean mass leveled off — meaning that getting enough protein matters more than simply eating as much as possible.
Consuming protein after exercise is a sound strategy, but it does not need to happen within minutes of finishing a workout. What matters more is securing adequate total daily protein intake and spreading it appropriately across meals.
'The problem is the noodles'? Carbs matter after exercise too
Jang called the knife-cut noodles a "problem" while eating her chicken and whelk, but carbohydrates are not inherently an obstacle to weight management.
In fact, carbohydrates play an important role in post-workout recovery.
The body stores some of the carbohydrates it consumes as glycogen in the muscles and liver, drawing on that reserve as fuel during exercise. Running, cycling and other high-intensity activities deplete muscle glycogen, and eating carbohydrates after a workout helps replenish those stores.
Research on post-exercise recovery has shown that consuming carbohydrates speeds up muscle glycogen resynthesis compared with drinking water alone. For people who need to train hard again within a short window, adequate carbohydrate replenishment is especially important.
What matters more than whether someone ate knife-cut noodles after a workout is how much they ate in that sitting and how much total carbohydrate they consumed across the whole day.
A meal that starts with a generous serving of chicken, whelk and vegetables before adding a moderate portion of noodles can provide a well-balanced combination of protein and carbohydrates.
More protein means automatic weight loss? Total intake is what counts
Protein is a valuable nutrient during weight loss. It tends to sustain satiety longer than carbohydrates or fat, and it can help prevent excessive muscle loss while shedding weight.
When someone cuts food intake while also exercising, insufficient protein can cause the body to break down muscle alongside fat. Even if the number on the scale drops, a significant loss of muscle mass does not constitute a healthy change in body composition.
That does not mean protein-rich foods can be eaten in unlimited quantities, however.
The calorie content of chicken varies depending on the cut, whether the skin is included and how much oil is used in cooking. The total caloric load of a whelk dish can also shift considerably depending on the seasoning and accompanying foods. Broth-based dishes such as chicken-and-whelk stew also warrant attention to sodium intake.
The fundamental principle of weight loss is keeping caloric intake moderately below long-term expenditure. Eating enough protein is a strategy that makes that process more sustainable and healthier — it does not eliminate the calories consumed.
Don't skip meals after exercise — recovery eating matters
Skipping meals after a workout out of concern about weight gain is also inadvisable.
A body that has just exercised needs not only protein for muscle repair but also carbohydrates to replenish spent energy and fluids to rehydrate. Recent research on post-exercise nutrition has reinforced that protein supports tissue recovery while carbohydrates are essential for restoring glycogen.
A practical post-workout meal might pair a protein source — chicken, fish, eggs or tofu — with a moderate serving of carbohydrates such as rice, noodles or potatoes, along with vegetables.
For those watching their weight, the more realistic approach is not to ban a bowl of knife-cut noodles outright as a "fattening food," but to reduce the portion of noodles if other foods have already been eaten in sufficient quantity. On days with heavy training, the body may actually need more carbohydrates than usual.
The key to eating after exercise is not "unlimited protein, zero carbohydrates." What matters is supplying the muscles with protein to support recovery, replenishing spent energy with an appropriate amount of carbohydrates, and managing total daily intake accordingly.
A healthy diet is shaped less by what you avoid than by what you eat and how much.
rainbow@heraldcorp.com
