Nov 16 2009
Healthy Snacks For After Your Workout
Delicious Nuts
“When I work out at the gym, I am there for a couple of hours and by the end of the first hour, I am still energized but start getting hungry. I read your article on packing food for lunch but wanted to specifically ask if you recommend any specific store bought bars.”
I frequently get questions about different nutrition and energy bars. Generally I think all of them are a bad idea, since they are little more than processed food with added vitamins and/or other trendy diet ingredients–a hallmark of food from the Matrix.
Energy and meal replacement bars serve only one purpose: convenience. So let’s make no mistake about it, these are not health foods.
But I understand that quick calories can be incredibly useful, particularly when intense workouts are a regular part of your day. If you get hungry and don’t have anything around to eat, the chances of you breaking down and eating something you’ll really regret increase substantially. But I think there are better things to carry around than energy bars.
My quick snack of choice is nuts or trail mix. I always have a small stash of nuts hidden somewhere in my gym bag (which comes with me everywhere). My personal favorites are almonds, pistachios, cashews and macadamia nuts. When I’m feeling ambitious I’ll combine a few different kinds together in a plastic zipper bag along with some dried fruit, just to mix things up.
One of the only drawbacks of snacking on nuts is if you are really hungry it is easy to eat too many and ruin your appetite for dinner. Too many nuts can also be difficult to digest. To avoid this I recommend getting into the habit of counting the nuts you eat, drinking water and waiting 20 minutes before eating more. The protein and fat in nuts can be very satisfying, but it takes awhile for the satiety signals to reach your brain.
For almonds, cashews and macadamia nuts 10 is a good number to start with. For shelled pistachios and peanuts, 15-20 nuts is more realistic. You are aiming for a single serving size of 1/4 cup. After some practice, eating the proper amount will come naturally to you. But at the beginning you should either count the nuts or measure them out in advance so it is easier to make good decisions.
There are a few other easily transportable foods that can serve as good substitutes for energy bars. Fruit is a great option, particularly filling fruits with lots of fiber like apples and oranges. Be careful with soft fruits, however, or you may end up with a gym bag filled with goo. Yes, I’m speaking from experience.
(Read: How to transport soft fruits and vegetables)
Another option that I don’t often use but am not opposed to is jerky. Beef and turkey jerky are generally high in protein and very satisfying. Just be careful about the teriyaki flavor that is often high in added sugar.
As a final thought, I wonder if you are maybe spending too much time in the gym? For weight loss and fat burning, more than an hour is really overkill and may actually work against you. If you are training for a specific athletic event, you’ve gotta do what you gotta do. But for the rest of us mortals one hour in the gym is more than enough to accomplish our goals. Maybe your hunger is a signal to you that it’s time to shower up and head home?
One of the most essential aspects of a great healthstyle is planning for moments of hunger throughout your day, but processed foods are hardly ever the answer–no matter how convenient.
What are your favorite post-workout snacks?
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Tags: dried fruit, Exercise, fruit, jerky, nuts, processed foods, snacks, workout
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Couple hours in the gym?!? I’m thinking he/she is working out their jaw more than their muscles.
hm, why not cheese?
and why would i want to eat nuts in the first place, if the goal is to get protein in the system? 10 nuts will basically not give you protein at all but the amount of fat is off the hook.
and since you mentioned it, you are mixing the nuts together. is it a problem to carry the nuts mixed together in a single bag for a few days?
Thank you very much
Hi Bosie,
I didn’t say the goal was to get protein, but to stop hunger. Protein and fat are fantastic hunger stoppers, so that is why nuts are good. Cheese is fine except, as you point out, I like to carry something I can throw in my bag and forget about for weeks. Try that with cheese and the smell might get you banned from the gym! If you pack snacks for individual days, cheese is fine.
Thanks for the tips!
Hi Darya,
since you eat after the workout i just assumed you want to get protein into your system, sorry, my bad.
but yea, i get your point
cheese is edible up to a week without refrigeration, at least nobody died on our trekking tours
btw, ordered this
)
http://globetrotter.de/de/shop/detail.php?mod_nr=krk02001>ID=a19a7368d791a8121582f3aa1ca4668da32 (german)
works great for transporting soft fruits (not just banana, since i know you don’t like banana much
btw, you fixed the comment-bug, congrats
I admit to succumbing to the occasional convenient bar (like a Zbar), but I totally agree – not only are the ingredients not ideal, there’s also all that extra packaging!
Homemade granola/energy bars are a great option if you have time to cook and individually portion them. I can’t wait until I can just bring an apple I don’t have to slice (braces).
One of the best on-the-run energy snacks I use are organic medjool dates. They’re high in potassium and fiber, easy to carry around in a bag or backpack, and taste wonderful. They’re one of, if not the, oldest cultivated fruits in the world…and the vast majority of U.S. dates come from the Coachella Valley, which is great news for Californians who try to buy local.
Totally! All dried fruit is great. Most dates are more like dessert for me, but at the farmers market I’ve found some that are drier and less sugary. Love them!
I just found your blog through Obesity Panacea, and it’s awesome. Thank you!
But I did want to point out that, although that most commercial energy bars etc. are essentially sugar, salt, and processed junk, that’s not true of all energy bars. For example, pretty much the only “energy bars” I eat are Larabars. The ingredients in this one I had this afternoon are: dates, almonds, unsweetened apples, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. It’s basically smooshed-up trail mix, but easier to eat (for example, I don’t like to touch my food if I haven’t washed my hands, and it’s a lot easier to eat a wrapped bar without touching it than to eat nuts and dried fruit the same way, at least for me).
Just pointing out that not all bars = junk.
Great tip, thanks! And thanks for stopping by. Travis did a guest post here a few weeks ago if you want to check it out: http://summertomato.com/non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis-neat/
I wanted to chime in about Lara Bars too–They are incredible! Few ingredients, and they’re all natural and sourced from whole foods (mashed up fruit and nuts). And they’re completely delicious. Key lime and pecan pie are my faves. mmmmmm.