Fuelling for Fitness with Lifebox and Energy Snacks

November 29, 2016

Considering what to eat and when for exercise can be complicated – too little fuel and your body won’t be able to function at it’s peak during the workout, too much and you’ll struggle with cramps, bloating and generally feeling sick and sluggish.

Supporting your body with what it needs before, during and after activity is key for great performance and a more enjoyable session!

Fuelling for Fitness

Before activity – concentrate on carbohydrates and fluids

Eat 3-4 hours before an event, consuming a balanced carb-rich meal to ensure that you’re starting your activity with a full glycogen store.
Closer to the start of the race, or workout, have a quick carb snack – this is the body’s preferred source of fuel for moderate intensity exercise and is quicker to digest than protein and fats.

During activity – concentrate on carbohydrates, electrolytes and fluid

For activities lasting longer than 1 hour, consume up for 30-60g of carbs per hour to keep your energy levels topped up
Fluids are important to replace what is lost through sweating!

After activity – consumer a combination of carbohydrates, protein and fluid

Try and eat 30-60 minutes after exercise, and go for 20-30g of protein to help muscle recovery.
Carbohydrates will also replenish your energy stores.

Recovery

Recovery is also an important part of exercising – it’s at times of rest that our bodies adapt and change to better prepare us for the next time we train. Sleep and making sure we take enough time in between intense sessions to recover is super important!

Energy Snacks and Lifebox

I recently discovered some great new fitness fuel options from Energy Snacks and Lifebox. Both of these are subscription box services that deliver you healthy snacks on a monthly basis. Energy Snacks focuses on sports nutrition for runners, cyclists, triathletes and other endurance sports, and also sells products individually. Their box contained products from some of the best sports nutrition brands for hydration, energy and recovery such as Gu energy gels, Tribe and Mule bars.

LifeBox offer health and superfood products including wholefood bars, natural unprocessed snacks, teas, drinks, raw chocolate, natural protein, spice mixes, nuts, seeds and so much more! The boxes are designed for a range of different lifestyles including those aimed at vegans, kids and active women. They are a great way to discover new items and definitely introduced me to some healthfoods I’d never come across before – the Pulsin chocolate brownie bar was awesome!