5 Great Post-Swim Snacks!

You burn a lot of calories while swimming.  And that's great--it's helped me lose weight.  But, I've also learned that it's really important to eat post-swim to ensure that I'm being kind to my body, that I have plenty of energy and that I'm building up my muscles, not tearing them down.  Over the last year, I've developed a cadre of easy snacks to eat after workouts, so I thought I'd share with you.

1. Banana and an Iced Coffee/Soy Latte--When I swim before work, this is my go to snack.  I suffer from charley horses, and have found that bananas are a key to preventing them.  From what I understand it's the potassium and magnesium in bananas that is key, as is hydration and stretching.  In the hot summer months of DC, I opt for an iced coffee with lots of skim milk.  When the weather cools down, my favorite post-workout drink is a soy latte.

My hunch is that most of the readers of the Team Goldfish blog did not watch Ryan Lochte's reality show.  However, if you're looking for a guilty pleasure, I recommend it.  Proof, here's a hilarious 30 second clip involving a banana (it's not crude in the least).



2. Almond Butter Delight with Crackers and Apples
Lots of people love nuts, and I do too.  But peanut butter and almond butter are sometimes a bit too much for me.  When I was visiting Canyon Ranch, I discovered almond butter delight and loved it.  It's a mix of almond butter, fat free ricotta, vanilla, honey and cinnamon and the recipe's online here.  I pair it with savory crackers (like the ones that Trader Joe's makes) and an apple.

3. Chocolate Milk
I've read that lowfat chocolate milk has the right balance between fat, protein, calories to help with recovery after workouts.  And the same week I'm posting this, the great blog Swim Science posted an analysis of the scientific literature on Chocolate Milk for Recovery concluding "Overall, the evidence shows that chocolate milk is at least comparable, if not superior to high-carbohydrate recovery options."

Chocolate milk isn't an every day snack for me.  But I've found that on days where I'm doing heavy yardage workouts, it's a great and quick thing to bring with me to the pool.  I buy the Horizon Organic shelf stable single serving low fat chocolate milk, and just throw one into my swim bag on my way to the pool.  Also they have great ads featuring some of my favorite swimmers: Ricky Berens, Chloe Sutton and Nathan Adrian.

4. Babybel Cheese and Berries
Who doesn't love cheese covered in wax?  For some reason it is so much more satisfying to eat.  I snack on these with a side of berries (raspberries or strawberries are my favorites) or grapes, and it feels downright elegant!

5. Assorted Veggies and Healthy Dips
I tend to favor fruit as a snack, but I recently was chatting with a nutritionist and she said that after 2 pm, since fruit is high in sugar, I'd be better off switching to veggies and dip.  So I've been experimenting with different combos of carrots, cucumbers, peppers, celery with hummus, eggplant and red pepper dip, and tatziki.  My favorite dips come from a local store called Cava.  They have a grill near my house, but Whole Foods and Giant both stock their dips in the DC area.   

Do you have other favorite post-swim snacks?  Email me or tweet me with the hashtag #swimsnacks.