During strenuous exercise your body uses up alot of resources; minerals (electrolytes), carbs, sugars and protein.
Let’s start with minerals. The most common vitamins and minerals found to be of concern in athletes’ diets are calcium and vitamin D, the B vitamins, iron, zinc, magnesium, as well as some antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, β-carotene, and selenium.
Minerals are important for your body to stay healthy. Your body uses minerals for many different jobs, including keeping your bones, muscles, heart, and brain working properly. Minerals are also important for making enzymes and hormones.
Best food sources for minerals:
- Calcium: yogurt, cheese, milk, salmon, leafy green vegetables
- Chloride: salt
- Magnesium: Spinach, broccoli, legumes, seeds, whole-wheat bread
- Potassium: meat, milk, fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes
- Sodium: salt, soy sauce, vegetables
- Trace:
- Chromium: meat, poultry, fish, nuts, cheese
- Copper: shellfish, nuts, seeds, whole-grain products, beans, prunes
- Fluoride: fish, teas
- Iodine: Iodized salt, seafood
- Iron: red meat, poultry, eggs, fruits, green vegetables, fortified bread
- Manganese: nuts, legumes, whole grains, tea
- Selenium: Organ meat, seafood, walnuts
- Zinc: meat, shellfish, legumes, whole grains
From the list above you should notice some foods contain multiple minerals.
A fresh salad with spinach, romaine lettuce, some seeds like sunflower seeds or chai seeds with broccoli, peppers and other assorted vegetables would be perfect for replacing minerals used. Adding a protein like tuna, chicken or red meat to your salad would make a perfect addition to a post workout meal.
What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are found in a wide array of both healthy and unhealthy foods—bread, beans, milk, popcorn, potatoes, cookies, spaghetti, soft drinks, corn, and cherry pie. They also come in a variety of forms. The most common and abundant forms are sugars, fibers, and starches.
Some of the best sources of healthy carbs are:
- Sweet potatoes
- Legumes (beans)
- Squash (acorn, butternut, etc)
- Oats (oatmeal)
- Whole grains
- Bananas
- Apples
A good addition to the salad for your post workout meal would be oatmeal with slices bananas and apples.
Proteins
Proteins are large, complex molecules that play many critical roles in the body. They do most of the work in cells and are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs.
Best sources of easily digestable proteins
- Eggs
- Nuts
- Cottage cheese
- Lentils
- Fish
- Peanut butter
- Lean cuts of beef
- Skinless chicken
So to add to the salad and oatmeal for your post workout meal you could simply add some hard boiled eggs, a nice grilled piece of fish, beef or chicken.
Some quick and easy meals ideal for post workout are listed below.
Here are a few examples of quick and easy meals to eat after your workout:
- Grilled chicken with roasted vegetables.
- Egg omelet with avocado spread on toast.
- Salmon with sweet potato.
- Tuna salad sandwich on whole grain bread.
- Tuna and crackers.
Oatmeal, whey protein, banana and almonds.
- Cottage cheese and fruits.
- Pita and hummus.
- Rice crackers and peanut butter.
- Whole grain toast and almond butter.
Cereal and skim milk.
- Greek yogurt, berries and granola. and a banana.
- Quinoa bowl with berries and pecans.
- Multi-grain bread and raw peanuts.