With bank holiday in action, today’s post is about what to eat on rest days!🥱
I think we all know how important rest days are, reducing the risk of injury, improving overall athletic performance, and preventing over training. Take rest days seriously and use it as an opportunity to recover and fuelling your body with the best foods to make the most of this day of rest.
Here are some top tips on what to consume while on your rest day:
- Quality over quantity – the quality of food can make all the difference, especially protein, high quality protein such as eggs, free range lean meat such as chicken. Focus on these rather than protein sources coming from high processed food such as processed meats such as ham, salami etc or processed cheeses such as ‘Babybels’. 🧀
- Hydration – water helps to avoid muscle cramps and helps to deliver nutrients throughout the body!🚰
- Complex carbohydrates with low GI – these break down slower, so keep you fuller for longer, these include, oats, brown pasta, lentils, beans.🍝
- Limit fast food – these foods, often high in saturated fat and refined carbohydrates, if consumed regularly can lead to weight gain, unnecessary adipose tissue around organs such as the heart, affect metabolism. 🍔
They can also leave you feeling lethargic and inflamed the next day, not what you want for a new day of training after a rest day!
- Listen to hunger cues – you may not be expending as many calories on rest days, however it is very common to find yourself eating more on rest days. Listen to your hunger cues, if you are hungry then listen to this and consume good nutritious food accordingly to what your body is telling you. Don’t succumb to the voices of ‘you aren’t exercising, so don’t need to eat’. Eating well on rest days are KEY to success and recovery. 💪
- Focus on colour – More colour = more vitamins and minerals! All the goodness to help you recovery in the best possible way, leaving you feeling nourished for the next day and helping to fight off any illness too.
Have a lovely rest of the bank holiday weekend and enjoy these tips for the best rest days possible!