Healthy Eating Tips: Your Summer Diet for Living it Up!
Summer time is for living life to the fullest, staying fit while having fun, and snacking on fresh fruits and colorful salads. Whether you’ll be deep sea diving or laying by the pool with a slice of watermelon in hand, we’re here to make sure you feel your best.
Read on for healthy eating tips to help you make the most of your summer.
Logan’s Summer Nutrition Tips
Logan is our Director of Education, and a phenomenal former Personal Trainer and Fitness Manager. With so much talent, we are confident that Logan will motivate you.
Director of Education.
Nutritional Goals
This summer, we want to stay healthy and feel awesome. To do this, our nutrition will support:
- Balanced blood sugar
- Energy and focus
- A comfortable stomach
Eating Right, All Day Long
There’s a big difference between working out at 5am, lunchtime or after work, so don’t forget to factor in when you eat, as well as what you eat:
- Do eat normally leading up to your workout.
- Don’t workout hard after fasting for a long period of time. Try not to choose an early morning high intensity workout after an all-night fast, or a heavy lifting session after a day at work that was so busy you ended up skipping lunch.
- Don’t eat a big meal right before a workout; it takes around 4 hours to digest an average meal.
Pre-Workout Snack Ideas
Need a little something before you head to the gym? Try eating one of the following snacks within two hours leading up to your session:
- 1-2 scoops of dotFIT Pre/Post Workout Shake, a meal replacement offering a mix of protein, carbs and fats. Just add water. It blends really easily and tastes great! I like to put the dry powder in my shaker cup and then just add water when I’m ready to drink it.
- A tasty piece of fruit and a small handful of nuts.
- A protein bar (nothing crazy, aim for 150 calories with around 10-15 grams of protein.)
- Half a sandwich.
- A yogurt with berries.
- In a pinch? Grab a protein box from Starbucks or your favourite local café. My top choice contains eggs, pita and fruit.
Post-Workout Nutrition
Post-workout snacks contribute to our overall intake for the day. Specifically, our goals are to:
- Replenish glycogen
- Establish positive protein balance
- Promote muscle recovery
- Ensure immune system recovery
Workouts are actually a stress on the body, creating a catabolic state that is linked to stress hormones and overall breakdown, similar to the “fight or flight” response. That’s not a bad thing – you have to create little micro-tears in the muscles in order to get stronger. But, we don’t want to stay in that state. Our goal is to recover and move into the “rest and digest” phase, where stress hormones recede and the body can use nutrients to repair and grow muscle.
A Note on Timing
Timing can be important when it comes to choosing post workout snacks. Some research shows that it’s best to eat during a defined window of time, post workout. Advised timing varies, between around 30 minutes and 2 hours post-workout.
However, other research shows that managing what you eat over the course of the whole day is also effective.
That’s why fasting windows and post-workout timing can make a difference for some, but for other people, they’re not factors that are necessary to consider.
Beginner and intermediate participants probably don’t have to worry too much about timing, while those who are more experienced with advanced workouts may wish to.
Post-Workout Snacks
There are plenty of great post-workout snacks to choose from to support your summer diet. Here are just a few:
- Smoothies are a great option, so check out the smoothie bars at our Langley and Surrey clubs. Most of the workouts we see happening in the gym are glycogen-dependent. This means that, based on the intensity of the exercise, you’re mostly using glycogen as your source of fuel, so your smoothie can have between a 2:1 and a 4:1 carb to protein ratio. E.g., 500ml of fluid = 100g carbs & 30g protein.
- Grab a protein shake.
- Try one serving of 0% fat Greek yogurt, and a banana.
- Choose a side of pasta salad and a chicken breast.
- Enjoy a salad with lots of healthy toppings like chick peas, tomatoes, dried cranberries, avocado, pecans, carrots, etc. If you’re watching your calories, make sure to track your toppings and dressing.
Looking for a full summer diet and exercise plan? Pair these diet tips with Ingrid’s summer fitness plan, or book a 1:1 personal training session for exercise and nutrition tips tailored to you.
Meet Us IRL!
Live in Vancouver or around British Columbia? We’ve got plenty of fitness club locations near you, so stop by before you head to one of our beautiful local beaches. Our 200 – 2150 W Broadway club is just a 15 minute walk from Kitsilano Beach! For healthy eating tips tailored to your goals, book a free 1:1 personal training session, which includes a nutritional consultation. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for fun fitness and nutrition tips, wherever you are.
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