AFTER MARATHON TRAINING

BEFORE WEIGHT-LIFTING

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Workouts go beyond the gym. What you put into your body before and after working out plays a huge part in the efficiency of exercise. Here are three exercise-specific meal plans to get you started...

BEFORE SWIMMING

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Minty scrambled eggs and macerated blueberries and raspberries with chia seeds

BEFORE SWIMMING

This is a light, easily-digestible meal which won’t leave you bloated before taking to the pool. The eggs provide protein and B vitamins. Use coconut oil rather then olive or vegetable oil as it has antibacterial properties and doesn’t turn into artery-clogging trans fats. Blueberries and raspberries are high in vitamin C and antioxidants and are both low glycemic fruits, so they don’t cause a massive sugar rush. Consuming more protein than carbs will make you less bloated before exercise.

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Minty scrambled eggs and macerated blueberries and raspberries with chia seeds

BEFORE SWIMMING

The berries: Wash an orange before zesting a quarter of it. Juice the orange and pour into a sauce-pan. Bring the juice to the boil until it reduces by half. Once reduced, lower the heat for it to simmer and add the zests and blueberries. Let it simmer for five minutes, then take it off the stove. Add the raspberries and keep aside.

The chia seeds: Place a pan on the stove on high heat. Once your pan is hot, pour in the chia seeds and shake the pan constantly for 30 to 45 seconds. Remove the pan from the stove once you get a nice roasted smell. Place the roasted seeds into a bowl and keep aside.

The scrambled eggs: Chop the mint finely and keep it aside in a bowl. Lightly whisk the eggs, low fat milk and a pinch of salt together until the mixture has one consistency. Heat a small non-stick frying pan for a minute or so, then add the coconut oil and let it heat up. Pour in the egg mixture and let it sit, without stirring, for 20 seconds. Stir with a whisk, let it sit for another 10 seconds then stir again. Repeat until the eggs are softly set and slightly runny in places, then remove from the heat and leave for a few seconds to finish cook-ing. Add the chopped mint and give a final stir.

The plating: Take a plate and place the scrambled eggs in the middle. Then, place the berries with a little juice around the eggs using a soup spoon. Sprinkle the chia seeds over and gar-nish the eggs with a mint leaf before serving immediately.

Ingredients:

FOR 2 PEOPLE – PREP TIME: 10MINS – COOKING TIME: 5MINSRECIPE

4 eggs20ml low fat milk5g mint5ml coconut oil

3g chia seeds

60g blueberries60g raspberriesJuice of 1 orangeZests of ¼ orange

Salt & pepper

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Herb-crusted chicken with virgin dressing and sweet potato & roasted garlic mash

AFTER MARATHON TRAINING

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Herb-crusted chicken with virgin dressing and sweet potato & roasted garlic mash

AFTER MARATHON TRAINING

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For those who’d rather get their post-cardio recovery O’natural rather than from a shake, this meal will leave you feeling rejuvenated the following day, so you can run for hours all over again. The chicken breast is a good source of lean protein while almonds are high in zinc, which aids muscle recovery by preventing inflammation. Sweet potato is high in carbs but has a moderate glycemic index relative to other veggies. This means it will raise blood sugar levels just enough to promote glycogen muscle storage – perfect to rebuild damaged muscles after a long run. They key is to balance the ratio of protein and carbs to replenish depleted glycogen stores post workout.

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The roasted garlic: Preheat your oven to 205° C (400°F). Peel and discard the papery outer layers of the garlic bulb, leaving intact the skins of the individual cloves. Using a sharp knife, cut 1/4 to a 1/2 inch from the top of the bulb, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.Place the garlic bulb onto a small piece of aluminum foil and drizzle over the olive oil, using your fingers to rub the oil into the exposed cloves. Wrap the garlic in the foil and bake it in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.Take it out of the oven and let it cool down. Use a small knife to cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins. Keep them aside in a bowl.

The herb crust: Put the soft butter and the herbs into a bowl. With a spatula, mix them together until you obtain a consistent paste. Add the breadcrumbs and stir again. Keep in the fridge if you prepare it in advance or at room temperature if you’re using it straight away.

The virgin dressing: Wash the tomato, remove the pulp and dice the flesh into small pieces. Thinly slice half of a shallot and add it to the tomato. Cut a lemon in quarters and collect only the flesh. Cut it thinly and add it to the mixture together with the chopped basil. Add the olive oil and stir all the ingredients together. Season and keep aside.

The mash: Wash the sweet potatoes, peel them and cut them into cubes. Bring salted water to the boil in a pot. Once the water is boiling, put the sweet potato cubes in and let it cook on medium heat for 20-25min. Poke one of the cubes with a knife – if it slides off the knife, the sweet potatoes are cooked. Strain them, put them back into the pot and add two or three roasted garlic cloves. Mash both together using a potato-masher then quickly add the butter and the low fat milk while it’s still hot. Season with salt and pepper and keep aside.

The chicken: Preheat your oven to 180° C (356°F). Pan fry your chicken breasts in a small drop of olive oil on a high heat. Fry for one minute on each side until golden brown, then place them onto an oven tray and into the oven for 10 minutes at 180° C. Take them out and evenly spread the herb crust onto each chicken breast using a spatula. Put the chicken breasts back into the oven for two minutes at 250° C (482°F) until the crust takes on a nice golden colour.

The plating: On a plate, place the chicken breast slightly off centre. Using two soup spoons, shape your mash into four quenelles around the chicken. Place a roasted garlic clove on two of the quenelles and chive on the other two. Pour the virgin dressing around the chicken and mash before serving immediately.

Ingredients:

RECIPEFOR 2 PEOPLE – PREP TIME: 30MINS – COOKING TIME: 45MINS

2 chicken breasts

100g soft organic butter5g Italian parsley5g chervil5g chive50g breadcrumbs (or 50g ground almonds as a gluten free option)

1 tomato½ shallot ¼ lemon5g basil10ml olive oil

1 garlic bulb2ml olive oil

2 big sweet potatoes or 3 small20g organic butter30ml low fat milk

Salt & pepper

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Beef Tenderloin with baby spinach, radish and pear salad, and lime juice dressing

BEFORE WEIGHT-LIFTING

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BEFORE WEIGHT-LIFTING

High in creatine, zinc, vitamin C, and complete amino acids (the building blocks of muscles). Eating this meal 1-2 hours before your workout will maximise your muscle growth without contributing to a barrel belly. A lean cut of grass-fed beef tenderloin is not only rich in protein and zinc, but also high in conjugated linoleic acids – good fatty acids which help promote lean muscle mass. The salad is high in fibre to aid digestion while pear and radish are low in sugar to prevent an unwanted insulin spike. This will ensure that once you start lifting, your body will start burning fat and building muscle. Remember that saturated fats in the right amounts are good for you. In the body they help promote a healthy digestive system and increase testosterone.

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Beef Tenderloin with baby spinach, radish and pear salad, and lime juice dressing

RECIPE

The salad: Thinly slice the radish and the pear using a mandolin slicer. Mix them with the baby spinach and keep aside in the fridge.

The tenderloin: Preheat your oven at 180° C (356°F). Pan fry your tenderloins in a small drop of olive oil on a high heat for one minute on each side until they turn slightly brown. Then place them on an oven tray and into the oven at 180° C. Cook for six minutes for medium rare; eight minutes for medium; and 12 minutes for well done (timing may vary depending on the thickness of the meat). Throw away the oil in your pan and place it back on the stove on a high heat. Pour in the water and stir to deglaze your pan. Don’t let it reduce too much as this will be your jus for the meat.

The plating: Just before serving, mix the olive oil with the juice of half a lime into a bowl. If you like the citrusy taste you can add the zests. Add the salad, mix it together and add salt and pepper. Place your beef tenderloin slightly off centre onto a plate and the salad next to it. Pour the jus over the meat and season lightly before serving immediately.

Ingredients:

2 beef tenderloin (150 to 200g each)5ml water

40 leaves of baby spinach1 red radish½ pear½ lime 5ml Olive oil

Salt & pepper

FOR 2 PEOPLE – PREP TIME: 15MINS – COOKING TIME: 7MINS

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