Proper Recovery

Optimum Nutrition's Whey and Casein Protein Powders, both of which I use for recovery.
Whey immediately after a workout and Casein right before bed.

One of my post-workout meals. :) 3 egg scramble with spinach and tomatoes and 1 scoop of Whey Protein Powder mixed with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

Just as important as your workout it is the recovery that takes place after. For optimum results, it's essential to feed your muscles and fuel your body with a balance of protein, fat, and carbs immediately after working out. The ideal timeframe for you to feed your muscles is within 30 minutes of finishing your workout. Now, I take 1 scoop of Whey Protein mixed with 8 oz. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk post-workout. Each scoop has about 24g of protein. There are so many different supplements and variations of protein out there, but whey is the best directly after a workout because it digests and gets to your muscles quickly to begin the recovery process as soon as possible. 

Our nutritionist used to always tell us, "Something is better than nothing." If you don't have protein powder or a shake on hand, just make sure to get something in your system that your muscles can feed off of after being worked so hard. Don't starve them! In my opinion, you don't want anything such as candy bars, cookies, cakes, etc... As previously mentioned, working out does not give you the liberty to eat anything you want. Still look for healthy alternatives like nuts, chocolate milk, fruit with nut butter, wheat bread with nut butter, etc... things with a good amount of protein, healthy fats, and good, complex carbs. 

The only reason we were told to have something over nothing was because we were elite athletes training often and at a very competitive level. If there was no proper recovery drink/food around for us, we needed to take anything we could get into our systems to supply us with enough energy to continue performing. As a scholar athlete, getting Ws and continuing to perform had to take some priority over looking fab and fit. ;)