Jumping right in to what I ate yesterday!
Breakfast:
Pre-Run: Coffee, water, small bowl of oatmeal with mashed banana.
There’s nothing more satisfying to me than my post-run oatmeal especially when served in an almost empty peanut butter jar. Remember a few months ago when I sort of fell off the peanut butter wagon? Well, that was short-lived.
This peanut butter jar contains cold, cooked oatmeal mixed with frozen blueberries, diced strawberries, Skoop B-Strong (my favorite plant-based protein powder), almond milk and some peanut butter.
Oh, and lots of sea salt. I don’t even mean a pinch of sea salt, I mean A LOT of sea salt. Several good shakes.
The hotter and more humid the air during my runs (which seems like every single day this summer), the more salt I add to my post-run breakfast to get my electrolytes back to balanced.
I briefly mentioned last week in my review of Laura’s Master Your Fueling & Hydration E-Course that I didn’t even realize I had been walking around on a daily basis in a dehydrated state, with an electrolyte imbalance.
Adding some serious shakes of sea salt to my food, especially post-run, has made a huge difference in how I feel this summer after running.
I no longer walk around thirsty with the inability to quench the feeling.
I don’t feel as light-headed (I am sort of always a bit light-headed when I stand up but that’s just me in general with low blood pressure. But after running, especially after running hard/long in the summer, I feel noticeably better).
I am less headachy after hard workouts. And, if I feel a headache after a workout that won’t go away following breakfast, I eat again (something with sea salt) which usually takes it away.
I can tolerate caffeine better after a workout. It was getting to the point where I couldn’t drink coffee at all post-run without feeling extremely dizzy but that hasn’t happened as frequently since upping my salt intake.
I am rarely bloated and never have stomach issues anymore after a long run. My stomach used to be so finicky in the hours after hard/long runs but having balanced electrolytes seems to be all I needed.
You would think that salt would do the opposite, that it would bloat you, but that is not always the case. The body actually does need salt to function properly so when you hear all of those news claims that say you should limit salt in the diet, that may not be the best or smartest option for you.
There is so much more I can say about electrolytes and hydration but this is a what I ate Wednesday post so instead of me rambling, I am going recommend you check out my review of Laura’s e-course and consider signing up for it to learn more about proper fueling and hydration. Not everyone is the same when it comes to fueling and hydrations needs so it’s important to figure out what works for you personally. 🙂
Lunch:
My son is still on a kick of going to all of his favorite food places now that he is back from camp. I had no complaints when he asked to go to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. I can always eat my favorite salad.
Dinner:
I had some romaine lettuce to use up in the refrigerator so I made a salad that involved the ingredients of the Power Salad recipe I shared recently with the addition of lentils too. I had made another batch of lentils and quinoa this week so basically every meal I make at home will involve the combo until I finish it.
In the salad:
- Roasted brussels sprouts
- Roasted cauliflower
- Roasted sweet potato wedges
- Lentils & Quinoa
- Chopped romaine lettuce
- Feta cheese
I diced a granny smith apple and dipped the slices quickly in the peanut butter jar while hustling my son out the door to practice last night. Being a mom is all about multi-tasking!
I snacked on watermelon at random times yesterday too. Stew Leonard’s had watermelons on sale for $2.88 this week but the one I bought wasn’t as good as usual. I think watermelon season may be coming to an end shortly which makes me sad.
Be sure to check out what everyone else is eating today!
[bctt tweet=”Lots of sea salt in my diet plus what I ate yesterday! #WIAW #salt #hydration #cheesecakefactory #watermelon #running @healthyskoop #fitfluential” username=”cookiechrunicle”]
What are your symptoms when you know your electrolytes are off/you are dehydrated from your workouts?
Has the watermelon been iffy by you lately?
What was for dinner last night?
The Cookie ChRUNicles 
Lots of sea salt is like a religion for me, I don’t think I’ve ever been short on it! Lately though with the heat wave I felt bad after just 4 miles outside. For me the symptoms are lightheadedness and mild nausea along with fatigue. Can’t wait until it feels good outside again.
Thats so interesting how different you feel from adding the sea salt. I had read about how if you always feel thirsty and no amount of water feels satisfying that you may need more electrolytes. Glad that you are feeling so much better!
yup, for sure I now know that being way too thirsy means I didn’t have enough salt. I used to try to cure it with watermelon but now the extra salt does the trick
Your power salad looks great! I love roasted veggies on top of salads.
Thanks for the e-course shout-out! I put sea salt in most of my meals especially in summer or when training hard. That was even one of the nutrition rules in Shalane’s cookbook – don’t fear salt and don’t fear fat. I’m glad that adding in more salt helped you!
it’s sounds so super silly, especially for me when the doctors always told me to eat salt and i never listened, but now, omg i feel so much better. all it took was reviewing my symptoms with you! thank you.
Ohh this all looks great! I just picked up some new sea salt from trader joes that is AMAZING!! I never knew salt could be different, but this one makes everything taste so much better.
that’s the sea salt i use too!
I find the whole electrolyte thing so interesting! I really need to learn more though. Your salad combo looks amazing by the way.
electrolyte balance is very interesting for sure!
ALL THE SALADS look like the perfect salads! They are so loaded with so much good stuff, and I really agree that when I’ve sweated so much, I actually do crave salt, which is so unusual for me, because I’m usually a sweets person. It’s so cool that God made our bodies with the incredible need for such a balance of nutrients. 🙂 Enjoy all this awesome time catching up with your son.
Whenever I’ve been away from my kids I always miss them SO much and can’t wait to see them, but then after about an hour I’m like okay, I’m good now. Go back! Ha ha. Anyway, I’m the same way with the salt thing. I am such a salty sweater and a huge sweater to begin with so I really have to take care of my salt input! I NEED A LOT OF IT.
yup, an hour sounds about right!
I’ve still been loving the watermelon but my dad has a knack for picking the good ones 🙂 And is kind enough to bring a container sliced up to NYC for me on weekends lol
does he knock on the watermelons like i do? lol
Because of my mom’s addison’s disease, I’m extremely conscious of my salt intake. I always add it to pasta, green beans, potatoes, or other random things and I do eat pretzels or cheez its or snacks that do have some salt on them. I get really lightheaded after hard/sweaty runs and will feel nauseous the rest of the day if I don’t eat enough salt. That probably also has something to do with my excessive water intake though haha
i ate a lot of cheez its when i was pregnant. i used to keep the box in my car lol
Do you have POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)? You mentioned you have low blood pressure and get dizzy and headachy. I also have the same problem and I was diagnosed with POTS. At first my doctor put me on salt tablets, but those made me feel so, so thirsty and a sort of bloated. Now I just have to throw salt over everything, haha XD !
xxMeah
That’s not what the doctors diagnosed it as when i was younger but yes, i probably have it! I fit all of the symptoms. They diagnosed mine as a neurological syncope back in the day – it was something with my nerve endings combined with low blood pressure. Certain things will trigger me to faint because the nerve endings won’t do their job or something like that. they wanted to give me salt tablets too but i refused to take them! increasing the blood volume through adding sodium does help for sure though!
LOVE what you said about salt! I had a massive headache for the first two days that I was in Vegas, and it wasn’t until I started eating more salt and drinking more water that that sucker disappeared. I hate that it’s been getting such a bad rap lately, because our bodies need it! And with so much focus being put on drinking more and more water, people are just throwing their electrolytes way off.
I definitely need to try adding a little sea salt, I have been having that dehydrated feeling even though I’ve had plenty of water. And those salads looks amazing! Last night we had scrambled eggs with some veggies and I made a turkey sausage for dinner. It was just like a giant breakfast bowl.
It’s a good thing I love salt in general because I’m a sweaty gal, whether I work out or not, although I did get a run in yesterday WITH Ave. It was out first run together. Woot, woot.
I need that Cheesecake Factory Salad.
Thanks for the reminder about salt intake; I felt pretty wonky for a couple days after running longer on Saturday when it was 82 degrees and 100% humidity (gotta love Houston) and that was at 5am! I bet I needed some more salt because I feel much better today after chewing down on triscuits and salted almonds yesterday. That salad you made looks and sounds delicious!
omg I feel you on that weather! it’s been relentless like that here too – definitely try upping the sea salt and see how you feel.
Okay….it is Winter here right now and I most definitely don’t run but DAMN the salt cravings are extreme. Maybe it is dehydration gah!
My friend won’t shut up about those onion rings from TCF.
Yes to adding more salt to food/ drinks especially after training! I always make sure my post training meal had salt added and I add it to my water bottle when training, especially during the summer. The improvements it can make are like night and day!
How interesting about salt! I don’t add any salt to my diet, but I don’t actively avoid it either.