Fuel up for a workout with this yummy shake!

Hello, hello!

Happy Tuesday!

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Whooboy, last night’s CrossFit workout was a toughie! It’s actually Tired Tuesday in my world. Oof.

I knocked out the first row in about 4 minutes and went to start the thrusters. I knocked out the first 15 and then had to break them up into groups of 10(-ish). Okay, so maybe I did groupings of 7 and 8 until I got down to the last ones.

I had planned (and by planned, I mean hoped really hard) that I would be able to kip all the pull-ups.

Um, yeah. Not so much. I got through 7 of them and then ran to go get a band.

I really should have planned ahead and had the band there from the start. My shoulders felt tired before we even started. When will I learn to listen to my body?!

Anyway, I made it through both rounds in 26:13.

My second row was just a tad slower than the first (maybe 10 seconds?) so I was pretty stoked about that.

Those thrusters. Definitely felt those this morning when I got out of bed!

On deck for tonight is deadlifts, burpees (hooray) and running (hooray!!).

(can you tell what makes me happy?) 😉

So, remember that awesome book Thing 1 got me for Mother’s Day?

(if you don’t, it’s the Runner’s World Cookbook)

Well, I decided I needed to try one of the pre-run shakes, except I wanted to adapt it to fit my nutritional needs for CrossFit.

Since I’ve been going to CrossFit after work, I’ve been working really hard to balance what I eat so I’m both fueled up for a tough workout but not overstuffed, if you know what I mean.

I tend to be a creature of habit and can seriously eat the same thing every day for a full week  because it’s easy and I know it works for me.

Well, that’s all well and good (and pretty doggone boring) except I was eating protein bars and I’d prefer to eat real food.

I generally eat 5 times a day (sometimes 6 if the ice cream is yelling at me from the freezer. gotta shut it up, you know.) – breakfast, morning snack, lunch, pm snack, and dinner.

PM snack has become my difficult meal – I’m hungry and I know I need to fuel up (especially with protein) but I don’t want to overfuel and have an upset tummy at CrossFit. On the other side of that, I don’t want to underfuel and run out of energy. Cuz that really sucks.

Gah! You would think eating wouldn’t be so difficult!

Anyway, I saw this pre-run shake recipe and knew I had to try it. It’s all real food and would definitely be easy on my tummy. The only question was whether it would be enough to keep me going.

Well, it did! I didn’t run out of steam at all. The workout kicked my butt but not because my body wasn’t fueled enough.

Like I said, I changed it up a little (you know, I just can’t help it) and made sure to get more protein packed in there. Whipped it up in the morning and kept it in the work fridge until I was ready for it.

(Ideally, I’d have a blender at work and make it right when I wanted it but ain’t nobody got time for that.)

So, here’s what I did.

Mango & cantaloupe pre-workout shake
recipe adapted from the Runner’s World Cookbook

3/4 cup frozen mango (today, I used a blend of mango, strawberry & pineapple – yum!)
1 small banana, sliced
1/2 cup diced cantaloupe
1/3 cup non-fat Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
1/4 cup unsweetened Vanilla almond milk
1 scoop EAS Lean 15 vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup granola (I used Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal)

Place mango, banana, cantaloupe, yogurt, milk, and protein powder in blender.

Puree until thick. Pour into glass or shake bottle; top with granola.

Enjoy!

If you’re using the shake as a pre-run shake, you might want to leave out the protein powder. I only added it because I know my body needs the extra protein to help me power through a workout. Also, if you wanted to change it up a little more, you could use whatever flavored yogurt you want. And, if you don’t have vanilla almond milk or use soy milk or something else, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Or, peppermint if you want. It’s your shake – make it how you want it to taste! And then go on with your bad self and get your sweat on! 🙂

Talk to me: How do you fuel before workouts? Do you prefer to workout in the morning or evening?

 

Running naked and eating right

Hello!

Happy first Thursday of 2014!

I hope you had a safe and fun New Year’s celebration! 🙂

I hit the road this morning for a short run. I actually forgot to charge my Garmin so I ran naked.

Um, not naked as in “not wearing any clothes” but naked as in “not wearing a watch.”

Sheesh.

Do you know how cold it is out there?

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Anyway, do you ever do that? You should! It’s quite liberating!

I’m sure running in your birthday suit would also be quite liberating. Until you got arrested. Then, not so liberating any more. So, I don’t recommend THAT kind of running naked.

Running without a watch also gives you a chance to run by feel rather than being so focused on running a specific pace.

It’s good for you both physically and mentally. It pulls you out of your head and just puts you out there IN the run.

So, there’s 9 days until the Mississippi Blues marathon!!

I’ve only got one longish run before I really taper next week.

Because it was a short-ish run this morning – I just did 5 miles – I fueled up with some orange juice and a handful of raisins.

If you’re just getting in to running, or your trying to use running as a weight loss tool, you want to make sure you’re fueling your body properly both pre- and post-run.

You certainly don’t want all that hard (and FUN!) work to go to waste. Or, to your waist! 😉

So, the general rule of thumb is, if you’re running less than 30 minutes, you probably don’t need a snack before you head out the door.

If you’re running longer or harder (hills, tempo run, etc), you want to grab a 100-200 calorie snack about an hour before your run.

Now, if you’re like me and you run early in the morning, getting up to eat a snack an hour before a run just isn’t going to happen.

I mean, seriously.

If you’re heading out on your run at 4:30am, who wants to be up at 3:30 just to eat?!

Um, yeah, not me.

That’s why I choose orange juice. It gets the calories and carbs through my system quickly. The raisins hold me through the run.

Of course, if I wake up STARVING, I’ll usually eat a banana and/or a spoonful of peanut butter and skip the OJ and raisins.

For longer runs, I’ll usually have small bowl of cereal with some blueberries or strawberries or some instant oatmeal.

What? It’s early in the morning. You think I’m going to COOK up some oatmeal on the stove?

This is NOT the time to eat Fiber One.

Well, at least not for me. You could have an iron stomach and handle it well but, generally, too much fiber before a run can make a tummy feel really blech.

I don’t like blech.

In fact, I don’t like blech so much that I pack my own food when I travel for races. I’m sure the TSA folk think I’m strange for having packets of oatmeal, Justin’s peanut and almond butters, Larabars and Jelly Bellys in my bag. Don’t care.

Now that you’ve run and you’re back home, what should you eat?

If you’ve done a short, easy-ish run (and yes, easy/hard is different for everyone so you will need to learn to listen to your body), you’re probably fine with just drinking some water (rehydration is KEY! You don’t want to feel bad later. It’s not fun. Trust me.) and then grabbing a healthy breakfast after a shower, etc.

If you’ve done a hard/long run, you want to fuel within 30 minutes to an hour of your workout. Your muscles need it even if your stomach thinks it doesn’t.  Again, trust me. If you don’t fuel then, you’ll eat the entire McDonald’s menu later. And then your belly will REALLY hurt.

You want to aim for a ratio of 4:1 carbs:protein. I don’t know why that is the magic number but it is. Science is awesome. And chocolate milk is the BOMB-diggity after a workout and gives you the right amount of fuel. This one is my favorite! It’s the perfect size!

If you’re not a fan of chocolate milk (seriously, there are people out there who actually don’t like it. like my uncle. he’s strange.), try to keep your snack around 200 calories.  Then, a few hours later, eat a healthy snack/small meal and continue on with your day.

If you’re like me (okay, fine, I have a somewhat disagreeable tummy), you’re probably going to feel a little ick after an especially long run (for me, that’s a marathon) and you don’t want to eat anything AT ALL.

Don’t do that. It’s bad.

If you can’t do chocolate milk, make a fruit smoothie and add a scoop of your favorite protein powder. Or, if you’ve traveled for a race and you can’t just whip up a fruit smoothie, maybe you should have remembered to pack your blender.  Ha! I’m kidding. 🙂  You should check out the selections by Naked Juice, Odwalla, and Bolthouse Farms. Many of those have a great blend of fruit (and vitamin C!) and have a shot of protein to help refuel your tired muscles. Just make sure you watch the serving size or you may bounce off the walls because of all the sugar!

And then, don’t forget to stretch!

I get a lot of information from Runner’s World. They have a plethora of articles on nutrition for runners, how to fuel for various races and distances, suggestions for both pre- and post-workout meals, etc.  I am not an expert on this subject nor am I an expert on nutrition although I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. No, not really. 🙂 I try to make as many healthy choices as I can and I have learned my own requirements through trial and error and listening to my body (most specifically – my tummy) but I have taken guidance/ideas from them and tried them out. You have to find what works for you as far as what fuels you properly before a workout and what your tummy can handle post-workout.

Question: What’s your favorite blend of fruit smoothie?

– jennifer