The nutrition side of Fit Day
One of the most important aspects of our Fit Day May 9th was the nutrition. I planned our food intake thoroughly, to help with boosts of energy before a workout, refueling and recovery. In a health concious group this size, we had many different diets to satisfy. We had vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free and meat-eaters alike, and had to make sure everyone had enough of the proper fuel for our 9 hour day. Any good trainer, nutritionist or dietician will agree that eating a healthy diet is 80% of the recipe for a healthy lifestyle. And we successfully kept everyone hydrated and energized throughout the entire day!Upon arrival, we had coffee, water, cherries, oranges and homemade sweet potato muffins (gluten-free, vegan, and delicious, if I do say so myself!) made with all nutritious, organic and simple ingredients. We kept these, along with Lorie's sampler of energy bites, on hand throughout the day, along with plenty of water.
After our first yoga class, we headed to one of my favorite spots, The Weekly Juicery in Hyde Park, for lunch. Everyone was able to choose their own cold-pressed green juice and relax and mingle over our incredible lunch. There, we dined on crudite with sweet potato hummus and cashew queso with the entree being a gorgeous superfood salad. This was accompanied by the juicery's own roasted corn vinagrette; I cannot stop talking about this salad dressing! I have tried to recreate it at home, but nothing yet has come close. On a side note, I have recently made it more of a priority to make my own salad dressings at home, after having read some of the labels of even the "healthiest" dressings on the shelf. It is so simple, uses less ingredients and can be a healthy addition to your salad rather than something we try to eliminate or use less of on our food. But I digress! By the way, The Weekly Juicery has some great grab-n-go meals, too, where you can sample some of the food we had, so go check them out.
One of the Juicery's owners, Elizabeth Beal, was in town from Lexington to give us a little summary of what they do at the Juicery, and some ways to incorporate juice and raw foods into your diet. We then got to sample their amazing raw fudge for dessert before heading off to OTR for yoga. Our lunch was the perfect light fuel for our bodies for the day, and we left feeling rejuvinated instead of lethargic.
After yoga and our intense hour of exercise at CoreStrong, it was time to wind down and treat ourselves to a healthier happy hour before heading home. Steve and I worked in the kitchen to create better happy hour choices, such as a white bean spread on crostini, ginger marinated chicken skewers with a peanut dipping sauce, and watermelon, olive, mint and feta bites to name a few. The Weekly Juicery also provided us some of their "Felon Melon" juice with which we created a light cocktail, for those who wanted to indulge a little! Happy Hour was a great way for people to get to know the instructors and reflect on our awesome day. And everyone's bodies deserved a little reward!
In creating this menu for our day, I was reminded that planning ahead can be the key to success. Yes, it takes a little more time and preparation, and I know it can be more expensive and sometimes difficult to buy organic, but the payoff is a well-nourished body that feels good because it is fed well. This is evident in and essential for a day like this, when I am looking out for the health of my friends and clients, and everything must be prepped in advance. But it is a good reminder for us all to look out for ourselves and our loved ones on a daily basis, as well. But if you are starting or freshening up your current fitness plan, you cannot afford to forget about the fuel you are feeding your body. By thinking of it as putting good, quality food into our bodies, we put out good, quality energy into our daily lives.