Everyone wants to get the best out of their body. Food, health and nutrition are important in every area of life but especially when it comes to athletic activity. What you put in your body is the fuel that powers performance. General nutrition is an absolute necessity, but there are a host of foods that are invaluable to those looking to really outdo the competition. 

Here is a list of 7 key foods to help improve athletic performance. 

Berries

Take your pick from the brightly colored, flavorful group of delicious berries. Blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries are all packed with antioxidants. A handful of berries will help aid recovery and replenish some much-needed nutrients post-workout. 

Bananas

Some athletes swear by bananas. Bananas are an easily digestible carbohydrate and help to provide fuel for further activity. Packed with minerals and potassium, bananas can help reduce soreness and cramps associated with physical activity. 

Salmon

If what you need is lean protein and a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is the way to go. Not only is it versatile and delicious, but fish like salmon help reduce inflammation and should be a stable of a well-balanced meal plan. 

Pasta

When paired with a balanced diet, pasta provides fuel for athletes in the form of carbohydrates. Opt for the whole grains. Pasta can also provide a solid amount of fiber to your diet. 

What you put in your body is the fuel that powers performance.

Cruciferous Vegetables

Spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower are all rich in vitamins and minerals. Just like berries, these leafy greens provide antioxidants that your body needs. 

Sweet Potatoes

The humble sweet potato is one of the best foods that athletes can ingest. Teeming with iron, antioxidants, vitamins, and carbs, the sweet potato has long been a staple food for many groups of people and provides a healthy option for modern meals.  

Oatmeal 

It might not seem like much, but oats loads you up with Vitamin B. Oatmeal is one of the most nourishing foods for the body and delivers some of the same vitamins and minerals offered by other alternatives. It’s cheap, easy to find, and provides a solid food option for athletes. 

Maintaining a balanced diet is important for everyone–but especially for athletes. Fit Five Meals specializes in providing alternatives that save you time and money while supplying delicious food that is well-balanced and nutritious. Check out the nutritious meals we offer that are sure to provide the nutrition every athlete needs.

When it comes to food, making a plan can be more beneficial than anything else. Meal planning and preparation helps set you up for success and accomplish the nutritional, diet, and weight loss goals you have. Plus, setting a weekly meal plan can streamline your day-to-day chores and make mealtime one of your favorite times. 

Meal planning and preparation helps set you up for success and accomplish the nutritional, diet, and weight loss goals you have.

All things considered, setting a weekly meal plan can seem unimportant or overwhelming. Here are three reasons why you should weekly meal plan:  

Save time and money.

Those who fail to plan are planning to fail. When meals are approached haphazardly it’s easy to fall into the trap of grabbing a quick bite through the drive-thru or spending hours in the kitchen searching for ingredients before finally ordering takeout. One of the best ways to save time in the kitchen and money on groceries is to meal plan ahead of time. By setting a weekly meal plan, you can shop for groceries all at once and avoid impulse buys that sink your budget. Having a plan to follow also limits the number of times you eat out every week, and that can save you loads of money. 

It’s healthier.

Generally speaking, quick, fast, and easy does not always include healthy and nutritious. When we wait to make decisions about what to eat until the last minute, it’s easy to justify grabbing whatever junk food is nearby and shoveling it into our faces. By setting a weekly meal plan, you can make sure that the foods on the menu are healthy and provide a well-balanced diet. 

Enjoy more variety.

No one likes to eat the same meal over and over again. It gets monotonous and kills the joy that we often associate with food. A weekly meal plan makes it possible to work in a variety of new foods and cuisines. Have a recipe you found last week that sounded appetizing? Add it to the meal plan. Been craving a particular dish or family favorite? Add it to the meal plan. It’s easy to work in food groups that you overlook when you can plan ahead. 

Fit Five Meals makes it easy to set a meal plan and follow through. New meals are available each week. Place an order, choose your pickup location, and have healthy meals in your fridge for up to four days. Making a weekly meal plan couldn’t be easier–for you or for your budget. 

When life gets hectic, busy, and overwhelming, it’s easy to set aside self-care and health for the sake of productivity and anxiety management. But by neglecting your own health, you precipitate a condition that only makes matters worse. When you are super busy you need to eat meals that provide you with adequate nutrition and give you the energy you need to knock things off of your to-do list. 

Here are a few ways to earth healthy when you are super busy. 

Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan. 

For people with a full schedule, taking a few minutes to set a meal plan can make all the difference. In a matter of minutes, you can piece together a plan of attack for securing yourself appropriate nutrition. Making a weekly meal plan saves you time for worrying about where your next meal is coming from and ensures that you don’t reach for a candy bar between clients or meetings. 

Support Local Healthy Businesses. 

Some days you just don’t have time to pack a lunch. Between meetings, errands, and family obligations, thirty minutes is all you can work in to find something healthy to eat. Fortunately, there are dozens of local restaurants that provide quick, healthy options for when you’re on the go. Call ahead, place an order, or pick up something nutritious through the drive-thru. Just make sure that choose foods that are going to give you energy and not precipitate a sugar crash. 

“When you are super busy you need to eat meals that provide you with adequate nutrition and give you the energy you need to knock things off of your to-do list.”

Pack a Snack. 

Some days are so packed you may not have time to eat. Struggling through the afternoon on an empty stomach isn’t the best option. Instead, pack a nutritious snack to help get you through the day. Trail mix, a piece of fruit, or a well-balanced meal replacement can be what you need to get through a full schedule. 

Prioritize Your Health. 

Even if you’re swamped, don’t lose sight of how important your health is. One of the easiest ways to kill productivity and to limit your effectiveness is through a poor diet. Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself, your business, and your family is prioritizing your health. 

At Fit Five Meals we specialize in helping busy people find solutions to their nutritional needs. Our meals are well-balanced and go from your fridge to your microwave to your table in 90 seconds, making it easy to eat healthy when you’re super busy. Click through to see how Fit Five Meals works.

Being selective about what you put in your body is a good thing, but being a picky eater can make healthy nutrition a struggle. Eating a balanced diet is incredibly important. Picky eaters–whether adults or children–have a hard time eating broadly enough to get the nutrients necessary to sustain healthy body function. 

Here are three suggestions for how to eat healthy–especially when you are a picky eater. 

If you love a healthy food, eat more of it.

Picky eaters often come back to the same foods again and again. They are safe, reliable, and palatable. The trick is finding a healthy dish that you love and sticking with it. Despise spinach but love kale? Eat all the kale you want. Have an abhorrence for broccoli but an affinity for cauliflower? Keeping coming back to the cauliflower for seconds. Instead of binging on junk food, find nutritious foods that you actually like and eat more of them. 

Don’t be afraid to try new things.

This can be a daunting task for picky eaters. Some of us are still unraveling the trauma of dinners past when parents nearly force-fed us undercooked brussel sprouts. This long-standing fear of new foods–or foods we don’t know we like in general–can keep us locked in a neverending cycle of the same foods. The problem is that when we eat the same items over and over again, we are missing nutrients available in other foods and miss out on trying items we might actually like. Don’t let fear keep you from finding your next love on the next grocery aisle. 

Take supplements.

If you’ve tried finding healthy foods and experimenting with new dishes to no avail, taking a solid multivitamin and additional supplements can help make up for missed nutrients. Vitamins D and B12 are good to add to any diet. You can even work in minerals like iron and calcium or take fish oil and other supplements to make up for nutrients that might be lacking in your diet. While pills and supplements can’t completely replace the food our body needs for fuel, they can help bridge the gap when personal tastes keep us from eating as broadly as we might. 

One of the easiest ways to try new things, discover healthy food loves, and get all the nutrients your body needs is by trying Fit Five Meals. We offer delicious, new meals each week. Browse our offerings, make your choices, pick them up at your convenience, and heat them when ready to enjoy. Our skilled chefs make it easy to find menu items to suit different tastes and dietary preferences. 

The holiday season–those months spanning from October to December–is filled with a flurry of activity. Between company holiday parties, family get-togethers, and end of the year festivities, it’s easy to set personal goals and focus on all that is happening. One of the first things to fall by the wayside is health and nutrition. By the time we’ve made the rounds to a dozen holiday events, the last thing on our mind is preparing nutritious food for the week ahead. 

One of the easiest ways to combat unhealthy eating habits during the holiday season is to lean heavily into meal prep–and while you are meal prepping, you might as well utilize some of those delicious holiday flavors. 

Here are four great make-ahead meals for the holiday season. 

A Pomegranate Salad with Candied Walnuts and Balsamic Vinaigrette 

Picture this: a bed of baby arugula and mixed greens topped with lightly toasted candied walnuts and pops of crimson pomegranate. Atop it all is a rich fig and balsamic dressing that makes the underlying ingredients sing. It doesn’t bet much better. The best thing about this meal is that you can roast your walnuts, prepare all your other ingredients ahead of time, and throw it together in a hurry. There is no reason to skimp on flavor or nutrition when it is this easy and delicious. Here’s the recipe, courtesy of Half Baked Harvest.

Roasted BN Squash and Wild Rice with Apples and Cranberries

Butternut squash is a fantastic fall staple and pairs well with apples and cranberries. When mixed with some wild rice, the roasted squash is smooth, flavorful, and hearty and the apples and cranberries provide pops of tart sweetness. If you’re feeling extra festive, add some toasted pecans and a honey or maple dijon dressing. Kristine’s Kitchen really came through with this favorite.

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs (with Cranberries) 

Sometimes we need some comfort to deal with the stresses that often come during the holiday months. A plate of red wine braised short ribs alongside a perfectly portioned serving of mashed potatoes will do the trick. Sear your shortribs in a hot skillet and then put the meat, red wine, cranberries, and a host of delicious accouterments in a slow cooker for six hours. When you open the cooker you’ll find a delicious holiday meal that you can reheat and eat again and again. Half Baked Harvest has this recipe available as well.

Fall Pasta Salad 

For quick, easy, and nutritious, it’s hard to beat this recipe for Fall Pasta Salad from Easy Cooking with Molly. Prepare your pasta, roast your vegetables, and add in bacon and cranberries. That’s all it takes to have a phenomenal make-ahead fall meal. If you’d like, top the pasta salad with goat cheese for a little more decadence. 

If you’re still looking for simple, nutritious meals, Fit Five Meals has you covered. All our meals are good for up to three days and go from the fridge to the table after only 90 seconds in the microwave. You’ll get affordable, delicious meals that provide all the health and nutrition you need to live well through the holiday. 

Mood swings and oscillations between happy and sad or motivated and demotivated are common but rarely do we pause to consider their root causes. It’s true that a change in diet alone may not be an adequate treatment for depression and other mood disorders; however, proper nutrition is an integral part of an overarching treatment plan. 

Diet does influence mood. It’s even possible for changes in our diet to bring about changes in our brain chemistry and composition. In a real way, what we put into our bodies shapes who we are. 

Here are a handful of helpful tips for boosting your mood with food. 

Load up on Omega-3. 

Studies have shown that Omega-3 fatty acids can help to combat depression and contribute to positive mental health. Omega-3 is found in fish, walnuts, and flaxseed. It’s an easy addition to a balanced diet and can help boost mood with only 2-3 servings of fish a week. 

Eat lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

It almost goes without saying: eating fruits, vegetables, and nuts that are fresh and aren’t processed could be one of the best things for your mental health. Try eating something similar to the Mediterranean diet. Foods commonly associated with the Mediterranean–fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and fish–are loaded with B12. B12 helps to combat depression and positively contribute to positive mental health. 

Search for selenium. 

A study from Texas Tech suggests that microdosing selenium improved rates of depression–particularly among elderly participants. Instead of getting it from supplements, get your dose of selenium from whole foods. Seafood, nuts, legumes, lean meat, and whole grains all contain selenium. Essentially, stay away from highly processed food that’s devoid of the nutrients your body needs. 

Limit caffeine intake. 

Caffeine intake late in the day can hinder healthy sleeping patterns and contribute to symptoms of depression. On top of that, caffeine can increase feelings of anxiety. If you’re feeling particularly anxious, laying off the coffee for a while might help improve your mood. 

The best thing that you can do for your health–both mental and physical–is to eat a balanced diet that is filled with vitamins and nutrients you need. Fit Five Meals makes it easy. By providing fresh food that fits your life, Fit Five Meals allows you to choose your own meals, set a pickup location, and enjoy your food. Each meal is well balanced and packed with good food to fuel your positive mental health.