Post Workout Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

So you did the hard part: You just crushed leg day, flowed past power vinyasa, or shredded the gnar, and you looked great doing it in your floral leggings. Now comes the important part, your next move can make or break the physiological effects of exercise: nutrition.

When it comes to pre and post workout, what you eat matters. Food is fuel, but it is so much more than that. Food is information. Every single bite you eat sends information to your cells to respond in accordingly. Your body is so smart, so let's get smart with how we fuel it.

When we exercise, we are burning primarily carbohydrates. Long distance athletes do tap into fat stores after about 60+ minutes of exercise, but for most of us doing differing types of HIIT (high intensity interval training) with varied heart rates, we burn through our glycogen (or glucose, or SUGAR) stores. This is important to know because if we are using our carbohydrates for fuel, this is what we have to focus on to refuel. When you feel that burn in your muscles, that is actually your muscles TEARING. Intense exercise causes micro-tears in the muscle fibers, which your body then has to work to rebuild, hence the art of building muscle! 

Protein is essential to rebuild and repair muscle fibers. It can help you recover quickly, build lean muscle, decrease muscle soreness, help give you more restful sleep, and increase your energy for your next session.

As a Holistic Health Coach and Certified Personal Trainer, I recommend that my clients consume a healthy source of carbohydrates and protein within 1-2 hours after their workout. Your choice of protein can come from animal sources (chicken, fish, beef, turkey, eggs..), greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or plant-based protein options like tempeh, tofu, beans, nuts, seeds, etc. Carbohydrates sources to focus on are the slow digesting carbs that will not spike your blood sugar: brown rice, quinoa, fruits, vegetables, beans, and the king of all carbs- sweet potato. High in Vitamin C, A, B12, Magnesium, antioxidants, and precious carbohydrates, these little oompah loompah's are true superfoods. 

Today I am giving you two easy sweet potato recipes to power your next workout recovery: 

 

ingredients:

• small sweet potato
• 1-2 tbsp store bought pesto
• 1/4 cup shredded chicken (can use organic rotisserie chicken) 

SWEET POTATO PARFAIT BOATS:

 

ingredients:

• small sweet potato
• 1/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp almond butter

toppings:

• frozen blueberries

• chia seeds

• shredded coconut

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse sweet potatoes and pierce with a fork. Roast in oven for 1 hour. 
2. Assemble all ingredients on sweet potato and enjoy, can be stored for 3-4 days.