Fit-Equestrian-Tips || Equestrian Nutrition

First off are the basics.

• Hydration
• Whole Food Nutrition
• Nutrient Dense Foods
• Electrolytes
• Protein
• Carbs

Each of those plays a vital role in your everyday life. And understanding them and how to use them to facilitate optimum performance can not only boost your show scores but also your daily training!

Lets start with the mother of all things. Hydration. 

Hydration is vital for every little thing (thus every major thing too) your body does. I know, you hear about how important it is all the time. But until you've truly tried it, you don't know what your missing!

I used to drink like 16oz of water day. That's one regular water bottles worth. When I drank 2 or 3 water bottles I thought I was doing good. But it wasn't until I was actually hydrated that I realized exactly how deprived my body was before. 

In order to be hydrated you must drink half your weight in ounces a day. And even a little more on days you sweat or do physical activity.

So that means if you weigh 150lbs you need to drink at least 75oz of water a day since 150 divided by 2 equals 75.

Next up. Whole Foods.

No, not the store. Whole foods as in unprocessed foods. For instance fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, grains, and meats. Choose unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Stay away from packaged foods! 

Believe it or not all the preservatives, additives, and sodium in those foods is causing inflammation and bloating. Maybe even a foggy mind. Nobody needs that when there trying to communicate with a 1,000 pound animal!

That brings us to Nutrient Dense Foods.

That means foods that have a lot of nutrition packed into them.

Beans for instance. In just a 1/2 cup of beans (that's one serving) you get 7g of protein, 20g of carbs (carbs are energy!), 0 fats, that's right zero fats! Plus 7g of fiber. Not to mention all the vitamins like many B vitamins, B1, B2, B3, B6. And more like calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, zinc, and many more! Just one serving of black beans has 10% of your daily iron needs.

That's enough about beans though. just look at broccoli with 5g of protein in a cup. Quinoa has 6 grams of protein in a cup and is packed with TONS of other nutrients. Red meats have lots of iron and protein. Seafood is high in omega's amongst other nutrients.

Think of the nutritional value the food your eating has... Aim for nutritious foods. Even if they are a little processed, check to see how they stack up on nutrition.

Electrolytes. Not just for horses...

You need them too!! The best way to get them? Or at least it's my favorite way.. Pink Salt.

Yeah, you've probably heard of it. Himalayan Pink salt. Hey, maybe you already feed it to your horses! But you need it too.

Do you ever just crave something, but you don't know what?

Do you feel kinda sluggish?

You probably need some minerals..

And Himalayan Pink Salt is jam packed with em!

I find that a teaspoon of this stuff a day keeps my energy up, my mood even, and my cravings at bay.

Just try it ;)

Protein.

Everyone is talking about protein these days... But it's true. It's very important.

As equestrians we are constantly working out so to speak. Maybe not with typical weights, but we are working hard.

When we work hard and push our bodies (muscles) to do more we are literally tearing tiny little muscle fiber and they need to regrow! Our muscles need the nutritional support to grow and become stronger. They use protein (and carbs) to do that! If we starve them they will deteriorate. So make sure you eat a good amount of protein with each meal (including snacks). This will keep you full too.

Carbs.

Carbs have gotten a bad reputation. But they don't deserve it! 

Carbs literally fuel our bodies and especially our muscles. 

When we eat carbs they turn into glycogen which is stored energy that our body can use when it needs to. That's why you feel so sluggish when you eat "low carb". Carbs do not make you fat. Only overeating consistently can do that. 

Eating a high carb meal (with some protein of course) before working out or riding is a great way to give yourself energy to perform better!

Well that's all I have for today. Thanks for reading guys! :)