Fuel for Fitness

Many people I have spoken to have created his or her own eating habits before or during exercise. Often times, these habits can in fact, hinder exercise performance and effectiveness. Here is the what should be eaten before, during, and after exercise:

Pre-exercise snack: Your body needs hydration and food to keep your blood sugar level constant. Eating a heavy meal can cause sluggishness, nausea, indigestion, and impaired performance. Eat a filling meal at least three to four hours prior to exercise, giving you enough time to digest. Strive to fuel yourself with carbohydrate rich foods and moderate amounts of lean protein. Avoid high fat meals because it takes much longer to leave your stomach. A sample meal would be a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread and plenty of water.

During exercise: Drinking water throughout your workout is crucial. You must continue to replace the fluids you lose while you exercise. If you are exercising for more than an hour, try to eat 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates every thirty minutes to avoid fatigue, and supply your body with glucose when muscle glycogen runs low. For work outs shorter than an hour, water is adequate.

Post- exercise nourishment: Eating after exercise is very important. You need to recover what you have lost during your workout, and your body is better at storing fuel just after exercising. The most important is hydration to replace what you've sweat out. To rehydrate, eat/drink water, fruit juice, sports drinks, soups and watery fruits and veggies. Recovery foods to re-fuel your system include carbohydrate rich foods, lean protein, and potassium rich foods.

Carbohydrate rich foods:

Pasta
Potatoes
Rice
Breads
Fruit
Yogurt

Potassium rich foods:

Bananas

Oranges

Orange juice

Raisins

Potatoes

Fight that PMS!

It's that time of the month filled with mood swings and weird cravings. The foods women eat to satisfy these cravings can in fact, magnify PMS (premenstrual syndrome) symptoms like bloating, discomfort, and irritability. Here are some helpful tips to help curb PMS symptoms:

Eat Calcium Rich Foods: Calcium levels in the blood tend to decrease just before and during a woman's period due to falling levels of estrogen. Low calcium levels have a tendency to cause irritability, nervous tension, and sometimes mental depression. Good calcium sources include low fat dairy, sardines, soybeans, black eyed peas, collard greens, almonds, tofu, and broccoli

Eat Foods High in Magnesium: During the time of the month, falling magnesium levels cause fatigue and headaches. Good food choices containing magnesium are nuts, whole grains, beans, milk and seeds.

Limit Sugar Intake: Of course, many women crave chocolate before or during their period. However, eating excess amounts of sugar can create more highs and lows in blood sugar. These highs and lows can possibly intensify that sugar craving and destabilize mood. Stay away from candy, syrups, sweetened drinks, cookies, cakes, and other sweetened foods.

Stay Away from Excess Salt: A lot of women commonly crave salty foods before getting their periods. Eating too much salt can cause water retention, a large contributor to discomfort during PMS. Avoid salty foods like chips, soy sauce, salt, teriyaki sauce, soups, and pickles.

For some bonus points, stock up on some foods containing vitamin E, such as leafy green veggies, oats, sunflower seeds and oil, and wheatgerm. Foods with vitamin E can help alleviate breast tenderness.

Keep Your Immune System Up!

Having a strong immune system is key in avoiding illness at school. The combination between academic stress and late night studying tends to create a weakened immune system. Try to consume foods that give your immune system an extra kick, specifically foods containing Vitamin A. Some Vitamin A rich foods include:

Sweet potatoes
Carrots
Spinach
Cantaloupe
Mangoes
Apricots
Red bell peppers
Parsley
Asparagus
Romaine lettuce
Tomatoes
Winter squash

Vitamin supplements are an alternative option should your diet not be efficient in providing you with proper vitamins. A daily multiple vitamin can be taken, but please note that these products are called supplements for a reason. Try to obtain your daily doses of vitamins by eating properly, and use the supplement as a means of providing the vitamins you may lack in your daily food intake.

Click here for more information on Vitamin A.