The thought of meal prepping can seem overwhelming (even to us!), so ingredient prepping may be a lot more manageable! Simply washing and chopping fruits/veggies ahead of time can not only save you loads of time throughout the week, but also encourage healthy habits by making it easy for everyone in the household to snack on fresh fruits and veggies. Pro tip: this works for veggies you plan to cook for meals as well; pre wash and cut time consuming veggies including Brussels sprouts, squash and beets when you have time, then simply cook and eat when you are ready. Bonus: chop enough onions for the week and you’ll only have to cry once ;)

Courtesy of gimmesomeoven.com

These no bake energy bites are the perfect afternoon pick me up! The ingredients are simple and require minimal time to prep- scale the recipe as needed if you’re fueling for a family. These energy bites are a great addition to lunchboxes, as a pre-workout snack, or even as a nighttime dessert! Feel free to switch things up each week with different add-ins like chopped nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and cocoa powder for a double chocolate version. Alternatively, you can also press the dough into a lined Tupperware container and slice into bars. So many options, not enough time!

Courtesy of asweetpeachef.com

Salads can be a great way to bump up your veggie intake! Mason jar salads are perfect for on the go, extremely customizable, and are leak proof to retain all the delicious flavors. Switch up the veggies, protein, or dressing each week and you’ll have endless options! To make this salad vegetarian, opt for beans, peas, legumes, tempeh, extra nuts/seeds, and/or some nutritional yeast instead of the chicken.

Concerned about sending your kids to school with glass jars? Check out these JarJackets! These silicone sleeves are lightweight, shock absorbent, and increase grip- they’re also dishwasher, microwave, and freezer safe!

For the honey mustard dressing:

For the mason jar salad:

Fall is upon us, which means many runners are racking up mileage in preparation for in person marathon events again! While you have likely been following a training plan, do you have a nutrition plan? If not, do not fear, we are here to help!

 

Running a marathon, training for a triathlon and other such endeavors are demanding events and will require fuel to sustain you throughout your event. It is important to practice fueling during training and to learn to start ingesting fuel before you bonk or “hit the wall”. There is no need to suffer more than your event requires-so don't let lack of fueling slow you down or stop you in your tracks. Keep reading below to learn about choosing your fuel!

 

**DISCLAIMER: If you are running London, Chicago, Boston, NYC or any marathon/endurance event within the next few weeks, we really hope you have already been practicing taking in nutrition and hydration while training. If not, please think about what changes below will be best for you to try and incorporate now with only a few days…or few weeks until event day. Nothing new on race day is a reprieve we endurance athletes hear and say often and it is generally a good rule to live by. That said, if we find an athlete who comes to us close to race day who has not practiced with any or adequate nutrition it is sometimes better to strategically try something new, rather than running a marathon or other endurance even underfueled. For those of you running Chicago and Boston you have three final weeks during which you can practice, and for those running New York or later marathons/events, you still have 6 weeks to solidify your nutrition strategy…so let's get to it!

 

The preferred source of energy for muscles is carbohydrates; the body is very efficient at breaking down carbohydrates and using them to fulfill immediate energy needs. The good news is that sources of carbohydrates within the body include blood glucose, muscle glycogen, and liver glycogen. However, our body’s glycogen tank has a limited storage capacity and thus, ingesting additional fuel during a marathon will provide you with the energy required to get you across the finish line feeling your best.

 

As you may have heard, ingesting at least 30-60g of carbohydrates per hour is recommended in order to maintain glucose levels, prevent muscle fatigue, and improve performance/maintain pace. And for events that last longer than 2.5 hours (which includes all but the few fastest marathoners in the world!), we can actually absorb up to 60-90g of carbohydrates per hour-after some practice. Choosing the right fuel for you can be overwhelming, but the good news is your gut is highly trainable!

During exercise, your body needs carbohydrates aka sugar - which may be a combination of sports drinks, energy gels, candy, crackers etc.. It’s entirely up to you which you like and can ingest easily, but it’s important to have tested it out long before race day. Training runs are the best opportunities to test out carb sources- figure out how much you need, what sources you prefer, and how your body responds to what.

 

The simplest forms of carbohydrates include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Sports drinks, energy bars, and fruit (fresh or dried) can contain one or more forms of these carbohydrates as a source of energy. Maltodextrin, though not technically a simple sugar, is also a commonly used ingredient in products as it is easily digested (almost as rapidly as glucose!), meaning it provides a quick boost of calories and energy. In fact, consuming mixed sources of carbohydrates may be more beneficial as it increases the threshold of carbohydrate absorption and mitigates the risk of GI upset.

 

Following ingestion, sugars make their way across the gut using different transporters. These transporters are very picky and only allow certain sugars to pass through- think of it as your body sorting the different types of sugars into their respective destinations. For example, glucose enters the intestines via a transporter called sodium/glucose co-transporter 1 (SGLT1), but fructose enters through a different transporter, GLUT5. So, if you are only consuming one type of carbohydrate, for example glucose, the glucose transporter will fill up and prevent further glucose from entering, whereas combining fuel sources, say glucose and fructose, allows for the simultaneous use of multiple transporters, and thus enables an increased volume of absorption. Many brands of energy gels take advantage of this by incorporating a combination of carbohydrates, such as glucose and fructose, to increase the rate of uptake.

 

Adequate hydration is a key nutrition-related factor for optimal performance. Sports drinks, including the traditional Gatorade, are designed to be a tolerable and easily digestible source of fuel. Sports drinks are commonly known for their electrolyte content and role in replenishing sweat losses, but they also contribute to your overall carbohydrate intake- a win win situation! A small 12 fl oz bottle of Sports drink provides 22g of carbohydrates, but the paper cups provided at fluid stations on race day usually contain much less a than that-possibly only 4-5 oz, which would then give you ~7-9 g of carbohydrates, assuming you have mastered the running while drinking and manage to actually get most of it into your mouth! Incorporating sports drinks as a source of fuel during your training runs would be beneficial as many major races provide them (often lemon lime flavor!) along the course. There is an ever-growing list of sports drinks you can try; Infinite, Skratch, Osmo, Tailwind and many many more-taste test them until you find one you like to drink that your stomach likes too.

 

Gels offer a concentrated source of fast acting energy in the form of simple sugars. They typically contain ~20-25g of carbohydrates per packet and may consist of 1 or more sugar types including maltodextrin, glucose and/or fructose. Note: Do yourself a favor and record the type of sugar in each gel you take and how your body responds during your training runs. Below are some common brands of gels and the sources of carbohydrates they contain.

 

Note *ingredients may vary depending on line of products within the same brand, or even flavor

 

The sugar found in fruit is called fructose, which is a simple sugar that can be easily absorbed and used for energy. Fruit, dried or fresh, can be an appealing fuel source as it is a whole foods based approach, can be more cost effective, and dried fruits are a more concentrated source of calories and carbohydrates. However, there are two caveats here. 1. It is generally more difficult to consume an adequate amount of carbohydrates from fruit alone during a marathon (think about all the chewing required)! 2. Large quantities of fructose can cause GI distress-and nobody wants that. So please do yourself a favor and ingest a mixture of at least 2 carb sources and do not be afraid of simple sugars-they are what are going to keep you feeling strong.

 

What does 25g of carbohydrates from fruit look like? (roughly equivalent to the amount found per energy gel)

 

Whatever you are training for, we hope this helps you think more strategically about meeting your nutritional (carbohydrate) needs during long training sessions and endurance events. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions after reading this article, or as you put this info into practice during your training. We are here to help!

And we can't forget about our athletes! We know you are upping your training schedule now that the weather is (slowly!) starting to cool down, so take time to prepare getting together what you need (shoes, equipment, nutrition!) to ensure your training is focused and effective. Remember the type of carbohydrate is important - AND - you should be testing your nutrition and hydration already! Last but not least, make sure to spend more time resting to recover from heavier training, especially leading up to big events! When you allow your body quality rest, you can feel the difference in your performance - and your body with THANK YOU FOR IT!

If you feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start, just want to talk through a nutrition plan for yourself or your family, or need some focused support, our Dietitians are here to help! Feel free to reach out to us at our office, or on Twitter @NutritionEnergy, Instagram @NutritionEnergy and @NutritionEnergy_Fuels, or Facebook!