24 Aug Best Snacks for After a Workout

The best time to eat after your workout is within the next 30 minutes.  The snack should be mostly made of carbohydrates and protein to regain some energy and can aid in the repair of muscle and tissue areas that have been worked out.  The size of this snack depends on the time until the next meal.  If they will have dinner within the hour, a smaller snack will be enough but if they have to wait awhile before eating another meal, you might need a larger snack.

Some snack ideas are:

• Fruit with plain or vanilla yogurt.
• Plain low fat or fat free milk. Chocolate milk is often mentioned for replenishing due to its higher sugar content but a healthier option is plain milk with a serving of fruit.
• Fruit with cheese or nut butter
• Trial mix which includes nuts or seeds and dried fruit. (Be aware of any nut allergies if you are providing for other children). Avoid trail mix with added chocolate or candy.
• Crackers with hummus or national peanut butter or cheese
• Homemade fruit and yoghurt smoothie
• Oat bar or muesli bar. Good options are around 150 calories with less than 1gm saturated fat, at least 5gm protein, 5gm or less of added sugar and at least 3gm dietary fibre.
• Rice cakes with hummus or peanut butter

Try to avoid the idea of ‘rewarding’ a workout with sweets and instead focus on these healthy snacks which will aid with recovery.

Read more: http://www.thefresh20.com/ask-the-nutritionist-3614/

Kane