Anyone who has health and fitness education understands the link between dietary habits and sports performance. Health and nutrition companies help wellness professions by providing tips and motivation for creating new healthy habits and supporting healthy lifestyle choices. Nutrition certificates can be earned online to help learn about healthy eating habits to support your workouts. Here are five healthy snack tips for pre-workout energy that will help support your training:
- Healthy blend of carbs & protein. Carbs provide us instant fuel and protein supports our muscles. Protein also takes longer for the stomach to digest so it helps prevent us from feeling too hungry too soon. Because protein takes longer to digest in the stomach, it is important to not over do it with protein intake before a workout. Too much protein can cause GI distress or cramping. Healthy blends for snacking include an apple with a handful of almonds, or a piece of toast with 1 T. of peanut butter, or carrot/celery sticks & bagel crisps with 2 T. of hummus dip.
- Limit your snacks to around 200 calories. Remember this is a pre-workout snack, not a meal. Eating more than 200 calories can make your stomach feel heavy and can cause our workout to end before you finish your goals for the day. Using premeasured snacks and prepackaged snacks take the guess work out of counting calories and also travels well so you can make sure you get some fuel and calories inside your body no matter how busy or hectic your day is.
- Avoid caffeinated beverages, like coffee, just before a workout. Morning beverages like coffee have been linked to GI distress during workouts and caffeine triggers the bladder, causing you to feel like you have to go to the bathroom more than usual. If your workout is running, you can see the complications this can cause when trying to squeeze in a few miles before getting ready for work. Caffeine has also be linked to dehydration.
- Hydrate! Be sure you are hydrated before starting your workout to get the most form your fitness sessions. You should try to drink approximately 12-16 ounces of fluids at least 30 minutes before starting your workout. Electrolyte replacements are important to remember because they support healthy organ function as well.
- Don’t try any new foods before a big workout. Train with what you know works with your body. Important training days could be impacted by eating snacks that your body will not agree with. Use shorter workouts or lighter training session for experimentation with new snacks. A nutrition coaching app can help connect you to nutrition consultants to help fine tune your pre-workout snacking habits.
