Genuine Health: It Matters

I will never forget my first appointment with a sports dietician last year. I arrived at the appointment feeling confident in my nutrition and health. I watched my nutrients, I drank water, I tried to sleep enough hours to recover properly.

She took a look at my diet and began asking a rapid fire round of questions:

“What do you have before your workouts?”
“What fluids/nutrition do you ingest mid-workout?”
“How soon do you eat following recovery?”

I soon realized that although I was eating well when I WAS eating, I was not fueling my body for optimum performance and recovery and I certainly wasn’t eating enough!

This past weekend, I was on a run with Angela and I informed her that I think for the first time in my life, my diet is about 95% perfected. Aside from the occasional misfuelling error, I am working the hardest I ever have in workouts, recovering faster than ever before and PRing every race in 2014 since taking the advice of my nutritionist.

I eat a super healthy 80/20 diet, but I wanted to take a look at how I approach my nutrition before, during and after workouts. My sports nutritionist recommended Genuine Health supplements for me to use in my training and they have launched a campaign for athletes called IT MATTERS alongside their sports nutrition line.

PREPARE

So what does my pre-workout fuel look like?

Often, I am headed to the gym or the trails first thing in the morning and I need a quick energy boost to get me going. I will have a piece of fruit and a water bottle with Activfuel. If it is a morning workout, I have the caffeinated version and if it is an evening workout, I opt for caffeine-free.

The flavour is Black Raspberry Lemonade and it is full of carbs from agave, brown rice syrup and beet root for fuel, BCAA’s to prevent muscle breakdown (which is a huge problem when I am logging big mileage) and phytonutrients and minerals to give endurance. The caffeine is all all-natural source from the Kola nut and it contains coconut water for a perfect concoction that makes your boring water pink!

PERFORM

I continue to drink Activfuel through my endurance workouts because it is formulated to offer consistent hydration and replenish carbohydrates and electrolytes.

Recently, I have been adding in weights due to the guidance of a personal trainer. I added in BCAA+ Creatine into my rotation, not just because it is probably my favourite tasting supplement ever, but because it promotes lean muscle mass, improves strength, power and performance and assists with the digestive system which is HUGE for long distance runners with tummy trouble.

It includes:
BCAA’s that provide a source of energy for endurance.
Creatine that improves energy for quick bursts of energy, like explosive weight lifting or sprint starts.
L-Glutamine which is an amino acid that helps the body during times of stress, trama or illness, offering immune support for the high milage runner.

REBUILD

After every track practice, I will have a scoop of Chocolate protein powder in almond milk within 15 minutes of completing the workout. I find my recovery has improved as well as my post-workout meals as I am not so hungry that I will eat everything in sight.

It helps with my muscle and joint pain as well as reducing inflammation and rebuilding muscles. This is a squeaky clean protein powder with 25 g of whey-isolate protein (vegan options are also available) and all natural digestive enzymes.

Genuine Health strives to be both ethically and environmentally friendly. It is the only B-Certified supplement company and I grew up with my mom making me green drinks with their greens + powder as a child so it only made sense to continue using them as an athlete.

To join in the IT MATTERS campaign, tag your workout photos and posts with @genuinehealth followed by #itmatters.

What do you do for sports nutrition?