Sports nutrition isn’t just about protein shakes. A dietitian breaks down how hydration, timing and balance impact results. @ClevelandClinic

What Athletes Need To Know About Sports Nutrition

Having a well-rounded, healthy nutrition plan is just as important as staying consistent with your exercise routine

When you’re an athlete racking up miles and muscle, your body needs extra fuel to keep up with the amount of exercise you’re doing and help speed up recovery. That’s what makes sports nutrition so important — it offers you a path to making sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need, even as you sweat.

Sports and nutrition

For the most part, athletes will eat higher quantities of food more often than non-athletes because food is equivalent to energy. But that isn’t always the case, and some meal plans may work better for you than for someone else.

“Everyone’s body is very different, so it’s really important that we specialize individualized nutrition plans,” says registered dietitian Carly Sedlacek, RD, LD.

Bringing your physical fitness goals to a dietitian can help provide you with a holistic, balanced and personalized approach to eating healthy beyond simply counting calories. If you’re trying to build muscle, for example, your goals for nutrition will likely be different from someone who’s trying to lose weight.

Overall, when sports nutrition is combined with consistent exercise, it can boost your performance and help you feel great, even on rest days. Regardless of your goals, the following areas of sports nutrition can help.

Hydration

When you exercise, you lose a lot of water and electrolytes through sweating. Drinking enough water before a training session and throughout a workout can help replenish what’s lost.

At minimum, you should drink about 16 ounces of water two to three hours before exercise, and about 4 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes while exercising. It’s also important to make sure you’re drinking plenty of water throughout the entire day.

Sometimes, athletes prefer to use sports drinks after exercising because they’re packed with electrolytes to replace what was lost in sweat. “Electrolyte beverages should be used during activities lasting longer than 60 minutes,” says Sedlacek. “If you have a history of chronic disease or conditions, check with your doctor before including higher sodium beverages.”

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are your body’s main source of energy. While carbs are not the only food you should focus on, they should be something you consider as part of every meal, especially in the hours leading up to a workout or training session.

“Before exercising, you want to stick with foods that tend to digest easily, including some carbohydrate sources like fruits (bananas, apples or oranges), oatmeal or rice,” advises Sedlacek. “If you’re doing a longer workout routine that’s more than an hour long, you’ll want carbohydrates during that time to get that boost of quick-acting energy.”

Protein

Protein is the building block for your muscles. Without it, muscle recovery slows, along with your ability to build muscle mass. In general, you should try and get most of your protein from whole food sources like:

Salmon and other fish
Eggs and egg whites
Greek yogurt
Beans and legumes
Chicken
Tofu
Low-fat cheeses

But when you’re short on time, you can turn to protein powders or protein shakes between meals, in addition to having some protein at every meal.

“Protein helps with muscle recovery,” shares Sedlacek. “Getting at least 25 to 35 grams of protein right after exercise is helpful because that’s when your body prefers to use it.”

Fats

In general, having a healthy, well-rounded diet that incorporates an abundance of fruits, vegetables and plant- or animal-based sources of protein is key. That means healthy fats (like olive oil, avocado and fatty fish) also play a role as a secondary source of energy. Not only do they fill you up faster, but they also help your body better process other micronutrients, like fat-soluble vitamins.

Supplements

When it comes to supplements (like protein powders or pre-workout beverages), you want to use them sparingly. As you’re consuming more than the general population to keep up with your level of athleticism, supplements should be used to fill in a gap and not as a meal replacement.

“We want to try and stick to a food-first approach the best we can because the body is able to utilize those sources a little bit better than supplements,” explains Sedlacek.

Timing

When it comes to meals and snacks, timing is everything. You should try to aim for three spaced-out meals a day with snacks in between each meal. When it comes to exercise, you’ll want to have something small to eat (usually carbs or protein) at least an hour or two before exercising and immediately after a workout.

“It’s important to be consistent,” states Sedlacek. “If we’re going into an exercise and we don’t have enough energy to pull from, our body can end up pulling energy from our muscles. So, it’s important to have something small to eat before working out.”

Next steps

Sports nutrition can require a lot of fine-tuning, especially when you’re just getting started. Working with a dietitian and a physical fitness trainer can help get you the support you need for your specific situation.

And if at any point you feel lightheaded, dizzy or even experience hunger pangs, it might be a result of not eating enough or having enough water to keep up with the physical demands of exercise. In those cases, trying to level out your blood sugars and electrolytes is important, as well as seeing a healthcare provider if issues continue.

November 24, 2025

Sports nutrition isn’t just about protein shakes. A dietitian breaks down how hydration, timing and balance impact results. @ClevelandClinic

What Athletes Need To Know About Sports Nutrition

Having a well-rounded, healthy nutrition plan is just as important as staying consistent with your exercise routine

Sports and nutrition

“Everyone’s body is very different, so it’s really important that we specialize individualized nutrition plans,” says registered dietitian Carly Sedlacek, RD, LD.

Hydration

When you exercise, you lose a lot of water and electrolytes through sweating. Drinking enough water before a training session and throughout a workout can help replenish what’s lost.

Carbohydrates

Protein

Salmon and other fish
Eggs and egg whites
Greek yogurt
Beans and legumes
Chicken
Tofu
Low-fat cheeses

But when you’re short on time, you can turn to protein powders or protein shakes between meals, in addition to having some protein at every meal.

“Protein helps with muscle recovery,” shares Sedlacek. “Getting at least 25 to 35 grams of protein right after exercise is helpful because that’s when your body prefers to use it.”

Fats

Supplements

“We want to try and stick to a food-first approach the best we can because the body is able to utilize those sources a little bit better than supplements,” explains Sedlacek.

Timing

Next steps

November 16, 2025

Our secret? The Dirty Dozen. It never ages.@oiselle

oiselle‏Verified account @oiselle 14h14 hours ago

Our secret? The #DirtyDozen. It never ages. The time-tested, athlete approved 15-minute strength routine: http://bit.ly/2JuppwR

November 11, 2025

Does exercise give you energy? @HarvardHealth

Adapted from Boosting Your Energy, Medical Editor: Anthony L. Komaroff, MD, Simcox-Clifford-Higby Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Senior Physician, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston.

The benefits of exercise are truly profound. Exercise helps you feel better, think more clearly, and look your best. It also helps to control appetite, boost mood, improve sleep, and reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, depression, and many cancers.

Add to that long list of benefits that exercising regularly remains one of the most powerful ways to boost your energy. In fact, nothing medicine has ever invented or discovered rivals regular exercise when it comes to protecting your health and sustaining your energy.

Exercise boosts your energy

Think of your energy level as a rechargeable battery. Being active is like plugging in the battery and recharging it, while sitting idle causes the energy to drain away.

Boosting Your Energy

Fatigue is a symptom, not a disease, and it’s experienced differently by different people. Fatigue from stress or lack of sleep usually subsides after a good night’s rest, while other fatigue is more persistent and may be debilitating even after restful sleep. Harvard’s Special Health Report Boosting Your Energy provides advice and information from world-renowned medical experts that can help you discover the cause of your fatigue and find the right treatment or lifestyle changes.

When you’re inactive, you are losing muscle cells. The cells that remain have fewer mitochondria, which lowers their ability to produce energy. It’s remarkable how little time it takes to see the effects of this.

People who have a limb immobilized because of an injury or illness begin losing muscle cells within just six hours. With weaker muscles, everything you ask your muscles to do requires more effort, leaving less energy for other activities.

It’s particularly important to keep exercising as you age because muscle mass tends to decline over the years. Sarcopenia, the gradual decrease in muscle tissue, starts earlier than you may realize — around age 30.

The average 30-year-old can expect to lose about 25% or more of his or her muscle mass and strength by age 70, and another 25% by age 90. The result is not only a decrease in energy, but also an increase in risk for a host of other diseases.

Lack of exercise also causes changes in your heart and lungs. These organs become less efficient at oxygenating your blood and pumping that blood (along with nutrients) to the different parts of your body.

Starting to Exercise

What can improve your mood, boost your ability to fend off infection, and lower your risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and colon cancer? The answer is regular exercise. It may seem too good to be true, but it’s not. Hundreds of studies demonstrate that exercise helps you feel better and live longer. Starting to Exercise answers many important questions about physical activity. It will also help guide you through starting and maintaining an exercise program that suits your abilities and lifestyle.

That in turn affects your energy level, most noticeably during periods of physical exertion. Compared with an active person, a sedentary person experiences more fatigue when carrying out a physically demanding task and has both a higher heart rate and lower oxygen consumption.

Inactivity also has psychological effects. The less active you are, the less active you want to be. People who don’t exercise have a greater perception of fatigue than people who do.

The benefits of exercise: protecting your health

Regular physical activity not only increases your day-to-day vitality, but also helps prevent the kinds of illnesses that drain your energy over time. Strong evidence from thousands of studies shows that regular exercise delivers wide-ranging benefits, including

reducing your risks of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol
lowering blood sugar levels and reducing your risk for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome
reducing the risk of certain cancers, including breast and colon cancers
easing mild to moderate depression
reducing your risk for osteoporosis (provided you do weight-bearing exercise, meaning exercise where you work against gravity)
helping prevent or ease low back pain
relieving arthritis pain and expanding a limited range of motion
helping maintain muscle mass and prevent falls
boosting mental sharpness in older adults
strengthening your muscles, lungs, and heart
improving functional abilities in older adults, such as being able to walk up stairs or through a store, heft groceries, rise from a chair without help, and perform a multitude of other activities that allow independence
helping prevent weight gain, and possibly aid weight loss when combined with the proper diet
lowering the risk for hip fractures.

The bottom line: move more, feel more energetic

Regular exercise doesn’t just build strength and fitness; it keeps your internal “battery” charged by preserving muscle, boosting heart and lung function, and keeping diseases at bay. Even small, consistent steps — like walking, stretching, or light strength training — can make a big difference in your daily energy and long-term health.

October 31, 2025

Red Bean, Onion and Coconut Rice.@Yoga_Journal

red bean & cocnut rice

Red Bean and Coconut Rice

This colorful rice plate is a great stand-alone dish or the perfect base layer for another protein.

Monisha Bharadwaj

7 hours ago

The sweetness of the onion and the coconut milk complements the saltiness of the rice, so ensure you season this dish well. You can use red onion if you want a sweeter flavor and add a couple of finely diced fresh green chilies along with the onion, if you’d like more heat. The rice gets a beautiful pink color from the red kidney beans that looks pretty served with a mixed green salad, such as lettuce and sliced avocado.

25minDuration
4Servings

Ingredients

1 large onion, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups basmati rice, washed and drained
1/2 x 14 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
a big handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped (stems and all)
scant 1 cup coconut milk mixed with the same amount of cold water

Preparation

Heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a heavy-based saucepan and fry the onion and garlic on high heat for 3–4 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and fry for a further 2 minutes, or until soft.

Add the rice and fry for 30 seconds, without stirring too much, then add the kidney beans, cilantro, and some salt and black pepper to taste.

Pour in the coconut milk and water mixture. Bring to a boil, then stir the rice once and cover. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and simmer for 12 minutes without lifting the lid.

Remove from the heat and leave the pan, covered, for a further 5 minutes to allow the rice to finish cooking in the steam.

Remove the lid, fluff up the rice with a fork, and serve hot.

Excerpted from Indian in 7: Delicious Indian Recipes in 7 Ingredients or Fewer by Monisha Bharadwaj, Kyle Books 2019. Reprinted with permission.

October 11, 2025

What to Eat Before a Run of Any Distance – Lizzie Kasparek RD @runnersworld

runners world food for your run

Runner’s World

@runnersworld

Your body usually needs something to kick-start your workout. Here’s a breakdown of what you need depending on the type of run.

Choosing what to eat before a run plagues nearly every one of us until you figure out what works best for you. And because people tolerate foods differently, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to prerun fueling. Some runners swear by eating nothing before short or easier runs, while others have to put something in their system. That said, there are some general guidelines to follow as you prepare a prerun snack or meal.

What to Eat Before a Long Run

Long runs are most commonly defined as being 60 minutes or more, and once you get into half or full marathon training, a good chunk of your runs will be at least 60 minutes.

What you eat before a long run is a good dress rehearsal for your prerace breakfast, says Lizzie Kasparek, R.D., sports dietitian for the Sanford Sports Science Institute.

Long runs require more energy than shorter runs, which means your prerun snack or meal will be larger and take a little more time to digest. That’s why Kasparek recommends eating two to four hours before a long run (and eventually, your race).

“Whether you give yourself a few hours or just an hour to digest, focus on consuming mostly carbs,” she says. Your body’s preferred fuel source is simple carbs—banana, oatmeal, white bagel, a honey packet—because it can be quickly turned into energy.

Yes, we know that may mean an early wake-up for morning runners, but you’ll be grateful when you have the energy to push past the first hour. Plus, you can always wake up, eat a little something, and go back to sleep until run time.

Try: A small bowl of oatmeal topped with a few slices of banana
For sensitive stomachs: Half a white bagel with peanut butter or serving of white rice

What to Eat Before a Sprint/Interval Workout

Often, speed work doesn’t last for more than 60 minutes, but the workout is much more intense than slower, longer miles. And because of this, your body needs prerun carbs, says Kasparek, who points out that some people also like a little bit of protein with this snack.

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“You need to provide your body with quick carbs that give your body energy it can use right away,” she says.

Try: Plain greek yogurt with blueberries or banana with peanut butter or handful of dry cereal or Honey Stinger gel
For sensitive stomachs: Half a banana

What to Eat Before an Easy Run

Most easy runs don’t require a prerun snack—even those that are pushing 60 minutes, says Kasparek.

“If you’re going out for a quick 30- or 40-minute easy run, and you haven’t eaten in a couple of hours or it’s in the morning after an overnight fast, you’re probably not going to die if you don’t eat before that run,” she says.

The best thing to do is schedule those easy runs around your normal snacks and meals. For example, after a morning run, use your breakfast as your recovery meal, which will include carbs plus 15 to 25 grams of protein, says Kasparek.

If you’re running in the afternoon, instead of having your usual 3 p.m. snack and a 4 p.m. prerun snack, skip the prerun snack, or bump your 3 p.m. snack to an hour before your run. Then Kasparek suggests making your postrun meal your dinner.

That said, if you know that you can’t run well or safely without something in your system, have something small like half a banana or a tablespoon of peanut butter. And remember, easy means easy, so running at a relaxed pace that you can maintain and talk to a friend effortlessly if needed.

Try: Eggs with toast or a protein shake or oatmeal made with milk after a morning run, or salmon with rice or a veggie stir-fry after an afternoon or evening run

What to Eat Before a Race

If you’ve been training properly, you have practiced your prerace meal before your long runs, says Susan Paul, exercise physiologist and program director for the Orlando Track Shack Foundation. “Race morning is not the time to try anything new,” she says.

For shorter distances, like a 5K or 10K, your breakfast should be similar to what you’d eat before a track (interval) workout, because the intensity is higher, while the duration is shorter.

The Right Way to Carb-Load Before a Big Race

For longer distances, like a half or full marathon, your breakfast—and the timing of when you have it—should be similar to what you practiced eating before your long runs.

As Paul and Kasparek point out, give yourself plenty of time to digest before you head to the start line. And because you might have hours between the time you have breakfast and toe the line, bring an extra snack, says Kasparek.

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“You don’t want to be hungry on the start line,” she says.

Try: Bagel with peanut butter + gel or Clif bar 30 minutes prior to the start

RELATED: Build a killer midsection in the kitchen for powerful, effortless miles on the road with Eat for Abs!

September 13, 2025

Sports nutrition isn’t just about protein shakes. A dietitian breaks down how hydration, timing and balance impact results. @ClevelandClinic

What Athletes Need To Know About Sports Nutrition

Having a well-rounded, healthy nutrition plan is just as important as staying consistent with your exercise routine

Sports and nutrition

“Everyone’s body is very different, so it’s really important that we specialize individualized nutrition plans,” says registered dietitian Carly Sedlacek, RD, LD.

Hydration

When you exercise, you lose a lot of water and electrolytes through sweating. Drinking enough water before a training session and throughout a workout can help replenish what’s lost.

Carbohydrates

Protein

Salmon and other fish
Eggs and egg whites
Greek yogurt
Beans and legumes
Chicken
Tofu
Low-fat cheeses

But when you’re short on time, you can turn to protein powders or protein shakes between meals, in addition to having some protein at every meal.

“Protein helps with muscle recovery,” shares Sedlacek. “Getting at least 25 to 35 grams of protein right after exercise is helpful because that’s when your body prefers to use it.”

Fats

Supplements

“We want to try and stick to a food-first approach the best we can because the body is able to utilize those sources a little bit better than supplements,” explains Sedlacek.

Timing

Next steps

July 11, 2025

Is salad on the menu for lunch? Make it your best one ever with these five tips: @Yoga_Journal

**5 Steps to Seriously Superior Salads**
Apply these tried-and-true cooking tricks to salad-making, and you’ll be making the best veggie-packed dishes ever.
**July 31, 2021** **Ivy Manning**

Your go-to bowl of greens may be a good salad, but is it the best salad? Some of the best cooking tricks can be applied to salad-making. Here are five game changers that will help take your salads to a new level.
**1. Season it**
We season everything else, so why skip your salad? A pinch of coarse sea salt and a few grinds of pepper enhance the flavors in salads, too. But don’t stop there! Spices can amp up the natural sweetness of vegetables both raw and cooked. Try this homemade toasted spice blend on salads to turn a ho-hum salads into the best salad with grilled shrimp, sprinkle nutritional yeast on slaws for a savory boost, or herby-tart za’atar blend on a cucumber tomato salad with feta.
**2. Underdress**
Err on the side of underdressing your salads. You need less dressing than you think, and you can always add more, but you can’t remove dressing from a soggy salad. As a general rule, add ½ tablespoon of dressing, gently toss, taste, and add more until the ingredients are very lightly coated. Another option for chronic over-dressers, pour out small amounts of dressing (about 1 tablespoon per person) into a small ramekin and dip your fork into it before each bite of undressed salad.
**3. Hands on**
Toss your salads with your hands in a large bowl, this helps coat all the ingredients with seasonings and dressing and it’s gentler on tender greens. If you’d rather not get your hands dirty, use kitchen tongs to even toss things together.
**4. Balance textures**
Try to choose a balance of elements – fluffy leaves, creamy elements like avocado or cheese, crunchy items like nuts or seeds, something substantial like roasted squash, meat, seafood and juicy/crisp elements like apple, tomato, or celery. And remember, we eat with our eyes, so arrange elements artfully for a more satisfying meal. Click here for a handy chart on how to build a well composed, best salad recipes ever.
**5. Herbs are salad leaves, too.**
Herbs are a mainstay of salad dressing, but they are also delicious by themselves tucked into leafy salads. Fresh, tender herbs like basil, cilantro, dill, basil, parsley, and mint blend right in with lettuce plus they add little pops of fresh flavor that are unexpected and make salads more interesting. Make sure to remove any tough or stringy stems…concentrating on the juicy leaves instead.

June 25, 2025

Lunch anyone? 😋 Avocado Ribbons + Smoked Chipotle Black Bean Mushroom + Broccoli Rabe Flowers and Leaves + Cilantro Jalapeño Dressing.

Yoga Rebel‏ @yogarebellondon 2h2 hours ago

Lunch anyone? Avocado Ribbons + Smoked Chipotle Black Bean Mushroom + Broccoli Rabe Flowers and Leaves + Cilantro Jalapeño Dressing. PC: @conscious_cooking

June 13, 2025

This Anything-Goes Green Goddess Salad is a Nutrition Goldmine @WomensRunning #fitnessaware

womensrunning.com

This Anything-Goes Green Goddess Salad is a Nutrition Goldmine

This green goddess salad recipe hits all the flavor and texture sweet spots and proves that green is indeed the color of health.

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

Salad

1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 large green bell pepper, sliced
1 cup green lentils
1 cup freekeh
1 (8 ounce) container of store-bought hummus
4 cups arugula
1 cucumber, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1/4 cup roasted shelled sunflower seeds

Dressing

1 cup chopped zucchini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. water
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 scallions (green onions), chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 Tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

Place green pepper slices in a large wide-mouth jar or bowl. Place sugar and salt in a separate bowl and add 2/3 cup boiled water; stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Stir in cider vinegar. Let cool for a few minutes and then add vinegar mixture to peppers. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to several days.
Cook lentils in a large saucepan of simmering, salted water until they are tender but still retain their shape, about 25 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold running water, and drain well again.
Bring 2 1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Add freekeh and a couple pinches of salt. Reduce heat to medium/low and simmer covered until grains are tender, about 25 minutes. Drain any excess water.
To make the dressing, blend together olive oil, water, zucchini, lemon juice, parsley, scallions, jalapeño, garlic, tahini, honey, and salt until smooth.
To serve, spread hummus on serving plates and scatter on lentils, arugula, freekeh, cucumber, avocado, and sunflower seeds. Drizzle on dressing and garnish with microgreens if using.