Refueling After Long Efforts
An athlete asked me today if I’d ever lost my appetite after a long run, so I thought I’d answer it in a longer form here on the blog, figuring that others may be interested as well.
In her case, she did a long run, ate a good dinner, then went to bed. This morning, she had no appetite and didn’t feel like eating anything. When this happens, the thing to do is to find something that sounds appealing, or at least edible. After a big effort, either long duration or intensity, your body sources stored gylcogen in the muscles. When you’ve finished your workout and have used all the glycogen, your muscles are ready to refuel. A sports med doc explained it to me as a closing garage door, and if you don’t get adequate carbohydrates in, it can take several days to catch back up. Then if you have another workout within that timeframe, you can see how you could easily get way behind and start down the dangerous energy deficiency track, but I digress.
What to eat, however, if nothing sounds good? Ideally with enough options something will fit the bill. I just started watching the show Eat Race Win, that shows a Tour de France through the eyes of the team’s chef, and she talks a lot about how the key to getting the athletes to eat enough is to have really interesting flavors. I definitely fall into a run with cooking, but if you come up with ideas when you’re not tired from a long workout, you can do some meal prep (cook a batch of rice or beans) so that you can eat pretty quickly. And sauces! Sauces add so much to what would otherwise be a very boring meal. Everyone’s tummy is different, but here are my go-tos.
Miso soup (add a soft-boiled egg, spinach and rice/noodles for more of a meal)
Ramen (mmm. You can also add the above for more oomph)
Yogurt and granola with fruit
Superhero muffins (from the book Run Fast Eat Slow)
Potatoes or yams (fried, mashed, or even instant, with butter/oil and cheese)
Quesadilla (add beans, fried egg, avocado, sour cream, salsa, enchilada sauce for more)
Grain bowls (rice, quinoa, or other grain, with beans (black beans, adzuki, garbanzo, or pinto are my faves), sautéed greens, pickled onion, avocado, and sauce of some sort (cilantro/yogurt/lime/cashew, enchilada, hoisin, or chili sauce). The cookbook Whole Food Cooking Every Day has awesome ideas with various nut-based sauces for an extra protein punch.
Leftover pizza with a fried egg
Smoothie (any combo of kale, blueberry, carrot, ginger, beet, orange, apple, spinach, lime, turmeric, greek yogurt)
These are my favorite cookbooks for simple, nourishing, whole foods. Especially as we emerge from winter, having good recipes can help you use seasonal foods.
Happy eating!
