Carbs

Let your Breakfast say “Good Morning”!

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When it comes to fitness and/or physique goals, consistency in what you eat and daily caloric intake matters.

I have found that in any meal plan that includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, it is most pleasurable to mix things up for lunch and dinner while eating pretty much the same breakfast everyday.

This is my everyday breakfast and has been since 2017.  I really enjoy this combination of foods and have not gotten tired of it.

So every morning my breakfast consists of:

  • 1 cup of Egg Whites
  • 1/2 an Avocado
  • 1/2 cup of Rolled Oats prepped in water with 3 tbsp of Peanut Butter Powder

What varies are the veggies I cook my eggs in and oat toppings.  I usually saute raw baby spinach but when I have extra veggies laying around (and the time to chop up) like mushrooms, onions, peppers and tomatoes, I’ll throw those into the mix.  I usually have some sort of kimchi or fermented beets & carrots in the fridge, so I’ll add 2 tbsp of that on the side for a little extra probiotics.

I love Raw Unfiltered Honey in my oats but will swap it for Stevia Cinnamon Vanilla if I’m planning on eating something higher in sugar later in the day.  I’ll also add some blueberries, bananas or apples when I have some available.

 

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So, how to build your breakfast?  To get the most variety of nutritional benefits, it should include:

  • 1 protein (Eggs, Egg Whites, Bacon, Sausage, Chicken or Red Meat or a combination)
  • 1 complex carbohydrate source like Rolled Oats, Whole Wheat Toast or English Muffin or Cereal.
  • 1 source of fibrous veggies like sauteed spinach, zucchini or sweet potato noodles, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and/or peppers.  Feel free to also throw in some berries or grapefruit.
  • and to make it a “balanced” meal, add healthy fats like avocado, cooked in coconut oil or butter or full fat Greek yogurt or cottage cheese.

Find your favorite breakfast items so it’s a meal you really look forward to everyday!

Pre-Workout Nutrition

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Wanna be a beast in the gym?!

Heck yeah!

So fuel up right!

Have a heaping dose of carbs, moderate protein and some fats anywhere from 1 to 1 and half hours before you get started.  We need carbs to lift weights, for explosive power and to sustain our energy level throughout the length of our time in the gym.  Carbs give our amazing bodies ENERGY to do these things. The better we fuel our bodies the more awesome gym gains we’ll see.  On training days consume MOST of your carbs before and after your workouts.  For example, I’m currently consuming about 230g of carbs everyday. So, I’ll consume about 50-60% of that split between pre and post workout meals.  The remaining is spread out between my other meals, which will consist of a lot of veggies and fiber.

Consuming protein in your pre-workout meal will simply keep the body supplied with the aminos to keep the body from breaking down muscle and readily build up what we’re tearing apart during exercise.

Since fats take longer to digest, it’s smart to add a little fats to our pre-workout meal so that the carbs and protein we also eat aren’t burned up quickly, yielding a steady energy duration throughout our workout time.

So don’t be afraid of carbs! They can actually do us some good for our training sessions!

Need help finding macros? Message me, I’d be happy to help =)

Post Workout Eats

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So you just finished crushing a workout, guess what?! Time to refuel!

Eat PROTEIN and CARBS within 30-45min after training, this is the precious time-frame that leads to the best recovery.  The primary goal post-workout should be to provide your body with an immediate fuel source to prevent it from breaking down muscle tissue for energy.  We want to replenish our glycogen stores with fast digesting carbs so that our precious muscles can refuel for our next training session.  We want this happen quick so ditch the fats because fats will slow digestion.  Consuming protein will help repair muscle and encourage muscle growth.

I always have a scoop of Amazing Grass Protein Powder or Garden Of Life Whey in a shaker bottle in my gym bag. So all I’ve got to do is add water and kick it back.  I also have a container of my favorite cereal (because I LOVE cereal) in a container and snack on that as I make my way out of the gym.  My favorite cereal right now is Nature’s Path Honey’d Flakes, it yields 48 total grams of carbs for just one cup. So I have two to help meet my total carbs for the day.  Plan to consume your highest yielding carbs pre and post workout for best carb timing.  Carbs for the rest of the day should be fibrous carbs from fruits and veggies.