For those of you who paid attention to the title, you may be wondering why in the world I am writing about post-workout snacks. Most of my posts are about yoga, right? Well, yes…but yoga can be quite a workout, depending on the style you practice, wouldn’t you agree? Also, I do other types of exercise besides yoga, and much of it can be quite strenuous.

For example, I weight train 3X per week. I approach my weight training from a “lift heavy things” perspective, so my goal is to lift to failure. This means I am tired when I finish, and my muscles need good fuel to repair and recover.

I also do a lot of walking/hiking, I attend indoor cycling classes, and I love to do HIIT workouts. All of these types of workouts, just like strength training, require fueling up properly afterwards without undoing all the hard work I just did.

No matter what kind of workout you do, it’s important to eat something pretty soon after the workout is complete – ideally, within an hour of finishing your workout. Because your muscles need to repair and recover, it’s important that what you eat be a nice mix of protein and carbohydrates. Add in some good fat if you can. It’s not necessary to eat a full meal, as many of us can’t handle that after we’ve just exhausted ourselves physically. A decent snack will do the trick!

Many of you know I am gluten-free, and as much as possible, I also try to be dairy-free. So after I’ve completed a workout, I try to reach for a snack that contains a nice mix of protein, carbohydrates and good fat. AND it should be REAL food…not processed! Here are some of my favorites:

Apples w/Almond Butter

An apple with almond butter is an amazing post-workout snack! Coming in at just under 150 calories (if the apple is small, and you limit yourself to 1 tbsp. of almond butter), you’ll get enough fuel to help those muscles repair and recover. I prefer almond butter over peanut butter, but you could use peanut butter for sure.

(Photo Courtesy of Food Lover’s Cleanse 2015)

Trail Mix

This is a tough one, as there are SO many varieties of trail mix you can buy. Some are perfectly healthy, but many are laden with sugar you don’t need and a TON of calories! You could make your own by mixing in a variety of things you like. For example, granola, raisins, chocolate chips, your favorite nuts, maybe some coconut flakes. I do this sometimes, but I just don’t have the time anymore like I used to. So, I highly recommend this Organic Trail Mix from nuts.com. It’s a great mix of nuts, seeds and fruits AND it’s not that expensive. You can’t lose with this one!

(Photo Courtesy of Nuts.com)

Greek Yogurt with Fruit

I don’t do a lot of dairy, but I do like greek yogurt. Greek yogurt has TONS of protein, which I mentioned is important to helping those muscles repair and recover. Add in some fresh fruit, and you’ve got a great blend of proteins and carbs with this healthy snack! I recommend buying plain greek yogurt (don’t get any added flavoring or fruit…it’s not the healthiest!), and then I would add fresh fruit. My favorite is to add fresh blueberries and strawberries to plain greek yogurt. Yum!

(Photo courtesy of Go for Greek Yogurt)

Other Healthy Snacks

If none of the snacks I’ve listed here appeal to you, I encourage you to check out Nuts.com’s Healthy Snacks page. They truly have something for everyone on this site, and I think they are very reasonably priced. If you check them out, let me know if you love them as much as I do!

So, what are YOUR favorite post-workout snacks? I am always looking for something new, especially if it’s something super easy to make and is easily transportable. Post a comment as to what works best for you…let’s all help each other choose the healthiest snacks possible!

Namaste,

Melanie