Wellness Wednesday

If you have been following my wellness journey, you know that I have recently started taking spin classes at the gym. It’s been a few weeks now and I’m still going strong. I was disappointed to need to take a week off last week because of a sick kid home from school. But, I jumped back in today and it felt great!

It is always a mad rush for me to get home from spin class, showered and ready to pick up my daughter from school all within an hour. Somewhere in there, I try to fit in a post work out snack-and LOTS of water to get rehydrated. I honestly have a penchant for just skipping the post workout snack due to time. I really need to change that.

 

Today, I found myself questioning what the best post work out snack would be.

I put in a lot of work at the gym and I want to see results. I want to perform better too. I know fueling my body with the best foods is vital for this.

Long story short…when you work out, your muscles quickly become depleted of glycogen. Some of the protein in your muscles also can get damaged.

A good, post-work out food can help your body repair itself. This can be done quicker if you eat the proper foods. Best of all, it can actually help you grow muscle because the muscles are getting repaired quicker.

I need something super quick and easy because my time is so limited. My husband is a tri-athelte and into all of the pre-work out and post-work out supplements. To me, that seems a little excessive (sorry hun!). Not to mention, we spend a ton of $$$$ at GNC buying his protein etc.

So, today I did some research about what the best post-workout FOODS would be. I wanted to share what I found with you! Yay-you don’t need to spend all of that time researching!

Best post-work out foods:

Proteins, Carbs and Fats!

Protein:

• Animal or plant-based protein powder-I personally like Shakeology
• Protein bar
• Greek yogurt
• Egg-I like to have a dozen boiled eggs ready to go in my refrigerator at all times. They are a good grab-n-go protein boost. They are especially helpful on my longer hikes!
• Cottage Cheese-I buy the big container and split it up in to 1 cup tupperware containers as soon as I get home from the store. That way, they are easy to grab and already portioned out to the amount I need.

Carbs:

• Chocolate milk-Can’t complain about that one. This is a big one for my hubby. Now, I understand why he loves it so much. I thought it was just being a kid at heart!
• Fruits like banana, kiwi, berries or even pineapple-banana’s are another thing I can hardly keep in my house. We LOVE bananas! Side note…have you ever tried an apple banana? They are grown here on the island (Hawaii) and they are so good. Just a little sweeter taste than a typical banana and about half the size.
• Rice cakes-I never liked these as a kid. I just recently started buying them for my kids because a good friend of mine shared hers at the pool one day and the kids loved them. I guess I might have to give them another try myself!

Fats:

• Trail mix-this is something we buy bulk sized at Costco in single servings. I don’t know if the little M&M’s in it quite fall under the list of “healthy fats” though.
• Avocado-Mmmmm….I love me some avocado so I was very excited to see this on the list!
• Nuts-nuts are always a good choice

So, after finding these foods are all good post-work out foods, I was surprised (and a little proud of myself) that most of those items are already found in my house and on my regular shopping list!

Now, it’s just a matter of having them prepared and ready to be eating within the recommended 45 minute time period after my work outs!

I’m excited to see how it affects my recovery after my next workout.

I think next week, I will share some good pre-work out foods! So, stay tuned!

What are your favorite post-workout snacks. How do you  prep them so they can be easily accessed?

With Aloha,

Lacy

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