Fueling Your Workout: Eating Right Before and After

Ramp up your routine right now before the winter sets in.

We all know how hard it gets in the winter to stay on task with our exercise and eating regiment. The holiday parties, the hot cocoa, the baked goods at work, plus the shorter days mean we watch the scale creep and the winter-weight slacks tighten.

Best to start strong heading into the season, as they say in sports, so that you have some momentum in the form of strong muscles. To be your best calorie burning self, think about the meals you sandwich your workout between in order to optimize your efforts. Here are a few quick ideas for simple meals that provide excellent fuel if you are trying to stay lean.

Before: Trail mix or granola with Greek yogurt. If you are one of those exercisers who doesn’t like to bog down with a big breakfast before a workout, try a few handfuls of nuts, seeds, and oats with a little dried fruit. Low fat Greek yogurt is available and a little goes a long way, helping to boost insulin levels so you don’t bonk by the end of your activity.

After: Omelet with avocado and veggies. You want to replenish your system with raw materials for muscle recovery, so a solid protein and a rainbow of veggies mixed with some good fats in the form of avocado and olive oil will do the trick.

Before: Power shake. There are all kinds of fancy, brand name protein powders, but anything that comes from whole foods will work fine, and this is a great option if you aren’t fond of trying to eat a bunch of veggies first thing in the morning. Experiment with adding avocado, spinach, blueberries, or any other seasonal fruits that you find appealing. Bonus tip: a little probiotic powder won’t hurt here either for gut health.

After: Chicken and sweet potato and green salad. Those bright orange potatoes pack some serious vitamins and trace minerals you will need at night to further the recovery process. Make sure you eat white meat and never fried.

Before: Pureed veggie soup. If eating is un-enticing, a veggie soup made with chicken or beef stock can be heated up and drank out of a coffee cup first thing in the morning. It’s soothing, easy to digest and tastes wonderful.

After: Beans and wild rice. Beans and rice together combine to make a complete protein that Central and South American tribes lived on for centuries. Black beans, pintos, kidney beans, all go really well with wild rice, and then you can chop coarse herbs, add salsa, and top with a dollop of that Greek yogurt.

Some other helpful tips:

• Don’t replace your water intake with trendy workout boosting drinks; they have a ton of additives and sugar that counteracts the water when staying well hydrated is key.

• Plan your meals so that when your blood sugar drops you aren’t trying to make decisions.

• Do something for your body every day. If you miss a workout, don’t sweat it, just stretch, take a walk, do some yoga, even take a bath.

• Let wine and dessert be weekend treats if you can.

We need not get back on that treadmill that has us sighing and resolving to get back to our happy weight at New Year’s. We can hold steady and skip that bit if we start making a little consistent effort now.