You completed another intense workout and you want to reward your body with some nutrient dense yumminess.
Making sure you eat high protein foods is important post-gym, but so is making sure you replenish your energy levels with the right amount of carbs and other healthy sugars and fats.
After a particularly sweaty session consider whether you should be replenishing your electrolyte levels while choosing what to eat and drink.
Here are a few ideas for healthy post-workout snacks:
1. The Lighter Side
For a lighter, low-calorie snack, use a ½ cup of cottage cheese and a handful of your favorite fruit.
The fruit provides your body with sugars to use throughout the day and electrolytes to replenish your body post workout. The cottage cheese is super high in protein.
2. Coconut Slushy
There is nothing like an ice cold coconut water post-Hot yoga to replenish your electrolytes! Try adding to it to your post-workout snack to entice more muscular and cardiovascular health.
Blend 2 cups of coconut water with ice, a cup of spinach, ¼ cup mango, and a handful of blueberries or raspberries. Then add some healthy fatty acids and omegas with one tablespoon of either ground flax seeds or chia seeds (leave the chia in for 10 minutes before drinking so that they swell up and are easier to digest).
3. Kale and Walnut Slurpee
Staying with the coconut water idea, grab 2 cups of cold coconut water mixed with a ¼ cup almond milk and ¼ cup juiced kale (just enough for the nutrients, but not enough to make your slurpee bitter). Blend this concoction with walnuts.
The coconut is high in potassium for muscle replenishment and the walnuts and almond milk provide some delicious fatty acids and a bunch of protein to encourage muscle health.
Blend with honey to sweeten.
4. Hard Boiled Eggs
Simply peel and eat. Add a dash of your favorite seasoning to spice it up a little; turmeric, curry powder, cyan pepper, you name it.
A straight up protein fix that is easy to prepare prior to your work out and feeds your hungry body pronto after your gym sesh.
5. Berried Yogurt
Try 1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt (vanilla is usually a good flavor choice), and add ½ cup of berries and top with local honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger.
Berries are filled with antioxidants which is good for your cellular health after a workout, and the yogurt is very high in protein and probiotics. Therefore, you are taking care of your digestive tract whilst boosting your muscle health.
6. Eggs on Toast
Carbs on the bottom for an energy boost, and protein on top to replenish muscles! Keep it healthy by poaching or hard-boiling those eggs and then slice or smash them on to multi-grain toast for higher nutritional value. Add a little greenery to the top with spinach or baby arugula, and a slice of avocado to help digest the veggies.
Top with a pinch of Pink Himalayan salt or a chopped tomato for electrolytes.
7. Banana Shake
Blend up a potassium-filled banana with ice, 1 cup of low fat milk (go ahead reach for the chocolate milk if you want a little extra flavor), and a tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter.
8. Popeye Special
For a little extra green to benefit your bones, blend some ice with ½ cup Greek yogurt and a scoop of peanut butter with 1 cup of almond milk and 4 cups of spinach.
Spinach is shown to improve muscle performance and strengthen your bones.
9. The Classic
An oldie but a goodie, especially if your workout is after work and before dinner. Choose a lean protein like grilled chicken and put it on a bed of nutrient dense butternut squash.
This will help you nourish a deep hunger after an intense day at the gym.
Taking all your needs into consideration is the best way to replenish after any work out, and eating the right foods when your body needs them most will bring your body into better health more quickly.
