Stay-Fit Bug | Killer Foods for Fitness (part 1)

In the last few weeks there has been much discussion on and off of stayfitbug.com regarding what’s the best food to eat for fitness when exercising.  We are talking about food that is high in,

• Carbs
• Protein
• Helps burn fat
• Helps build muscle
• Improves cardiovascular health
• Provides pain relief

Now I could dive straight in and talk about foods that most of you know and that others are aware of. But I won’t! That’s just boring. What we will cover here are,

- Unique food combinations (with uncommon foods and those foods you are familiar with)
- Foods from across the globe

These are foods that some of the top performing sports men and women that you know of are stacking away in their guts, which help them rocket down the runway in their sport leaving their competition at the terminal!

I don’t plan to cover all of these in one week; I think that would be information overload for almost anyone. Besides, I don’t want you to get too excited from feeding you the secret formulas all in one go.

Week by week there will be an update and most of this will come from myself, but also from community members and contributors.

Lets begin

Porridge with bread

I’m starting with porridge, as this is an athlete’s favourite. It is made up of rice, wheat, barley and corn and my favourite brands that provide this are Ready Break and Quaker Oats. Eating this every morning will fill you up till lunch for sure, but if you want to really boost your carb intake,

Add Bread

White or wholemeal, both are good. Bread is filled with carbs so you really are packing it in here. But be warned if you do this make sure you wake up early and give yourself plenty of time to digest it. It will take an hour at least. If not, you might just throw it all back up.

Instructions

• Get 1 or 2 slices of bread
• Spread butter
• Slice into medium sized pieces
• Mix and blend with porridge

Salmon rolls in Nori

Good for cardiovascular fitness

The reason for eating fish is because of the oil inside of it. By eating fish, it will lower your heart rate and you will consume less oxygen during intense training or exercise. The fatty acids in fish oil need to become incorporated into muscle and heart cells to have an effect, and that takes weeks of consumption.  So either,

- Take fish oil pills
- Or eat Salmon rolls in Nori

Why salmon in Nori?

Nori is a sushi wrapper made of seaweed. So along with the benefits of the fish oil you consume, you can add seaweed to that. Seaweed is good because,

• Great for digestive health
• High in nutrients, low in calories
• May improve heart health
• Good for de-toxing your body
• May help regulate hormones (helps in preventing cancer)
• Goes well will other healthy foods (like salmon)

Now that’s a mix!

Here’s what you need to make Salmon rolls in Nori

• 1 pack of Japanese Yaki Sushi Nori (roasted seaweed – .75 oz pack)
• 3 cups uncooked Japanese sushi rice
• 1/2 cup Japanese rice wine vinegar
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar
• 1-tablespoon salt
• 4 oz thinly sliced smoked salmon
• 1 tube Wasabi paste (Japanese horseradish paste)
• Strips of thinly sliced carrot
• Strips of thinly sliced peeled cucumber
• Optional thinly sliced ripe avocado
• Optional sesame seeds
• Optional: favourite dipping sauces for the Nori rolls (soy sauce, wasabi sauce)

Chocolate milk

Good for hydration

Milk is better than water or sports drinks at re-hydrating the body after exercise, as milk has more electrolytes and potassium.

Add chocolate

The addition of chocolate gives milk the perfect balance of carbs, protein, and fat for a speedy muscle recovery.

Peanut butter and jelly/jam sandwiches

It always is a good idea to eat after a workout. The perfect meal would consist of

• 400 calories
• 20 to 30 grams of protein (to build new muscle)
• 50 to 65 grams of carbohydrates (to repair old muscle)

And Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches contain just that!

This is a favourite in Europe and the UK and I definitely grew up eating it. But I didn’t realise its greatness until I was much older,

Recommended

• Pepperidge Farm Bread
• Plain white bread
• Or toasted if you find it the bread is too soft
• Santa Cruz Organic Dark Roasted Creamy Peanut Butter

Peanut butter and banana toast

This is one of my favourites, especially as a pre-workout snack. It works best with by using a proper toast maker as it prevents the filling from spilling out of the sides.

This meal has a good source of fat, protein and carbs.

Ingredients

• Bread
• Peanut butter
• Banana (sliced)

Instructions

• Toast the bread in toaster
• Spread peanut butter on toast
• Arrange banana on top of peanut butter
• Eat and enjoy!

If you really want to spice things up add honey. That’s it for this week, but I’ll leave you with a picture.

See you in the comments.

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