How to Take Your Meals to the Next Level
Regardless of whether you're new to yoga or a seasoned practitioner, one thing's for certain: you need to treat your body right. One of the best ways to do that is, of course, through ensuring that you're taking in the nutrition and fuel that your body needs.
Sustained physical activity— even activity as gentle as yoga— is something that requires mindful care and proper nutrition. We've written about the benefits of this mindfulness before in our piece on 'Meal Planning'. Today, we're going to expand that potential even further by illustration just what you should be putting into your meals to fill in those nutritional gaps and get even stronger.
Whole Foods
The foundation of any good, nutritionally balanced diet isn't more vegetables or more meat— it's whole foods. A 2014 study conducted by researchers at Yale University found that the secret to better nutrition wasn't any single diet. You could typically eat almost anything, as long as it was completely natural and whole food, and have the same kind of nutritional benefits.
The high sodium and fat content that we get from modern food is largely due to processing. Once you cut processed foods out, you have food sources that are as close to nature as possible, leaving you feeling lighter and more prepared for your yoga practice.
Lighter Foods
While in general your diet should focus on whole, natural foods, you'll also need to adjust depending on your lifestyle. Yoga requires a lot of sustained posing and meditation, so it isn't always a good idea to stuff yourself before a session. That can leave you feeling bloated and uncomfortable, which is a huge downside.
Experts at U.S. News recommend lighter meals before your next yoga practice. Try to keep your meals anywhere before two hours before class. A light, plain meal like a salad or soup is always best, especially if you're planning to do more intensive routines.
Nutrient-rich Foods
While whole foods are always the best source for nutrition, they can sometimes be difficult to access or prepare. In those cases, you can always turn to nutritional heavy hitters like superfoods to do the work for you. Superfoods are foods that are packed with more nutrition per serving than other foods. They can be anything from fatty fish like salmon, to vegetables, to lean meats, to berries.
You can even take them as powder supplements in addition to the meals that you already have planned. A post on superfood powder benefits by Brightcore outlines how they are beneficial because they're convenient, and contain a wide array of benefits like stabilizing your blood pressure and boosting your energy levels. Superfood powders can be blended into a quick smoothie before your next class, and keep you as recharged and high energy as ever.
Protein-rich Foods
One thing that should always be at the top of your mind when it comes to your meal planning is the nutritional content of your food. For athletes, this means you should be prioritizing protein. Protein is essential because it helps with muscle repair and maintenance. No matter how light the exercise, you should be taking in the right amount of protein for proper recovery.
Luckily for yoga practitioners, this doesn't necessarily mean that you need to buy a gallon tub of protein powder. Yoga London’s post says that you only need around 10 to 20 grams of protein after a yoga workout. This makes it easy enough to fit protein sources like meat or meat substitutes into your meal plans, without having to go overboard.
Ensuring that you get the right amount of nutrition is tantamount to caring for your body as an athlete. While the tips that we shared above are applicable to most yoga practitioners, always be sure that you're adjusting your meals to your personal fitness goals and lifestyle needs. When you eat well, you feel even better, and that can only improve your yoga practice further.
Best of luck!