What to Eat After a Yoga Class

Yoga is all about finding stability and inner peace, as well as aligning your body with your mind. Taking this logic into consideration, it is clear that healthy eating patterns play a vital role in the success of your yoga practice; however, it barely gets a mention. We want to show you what to eat after a yoga class.

While most yogis look forward to their workout sessions, they don’t put much thought into the things they put in their bodies right before and after the practice. Gobbling down unhealthy munchies, or grabbing that convenient takeout too often can act as a hurdle in your spiritual path, and make it difficult for you to enjoy a beautiful aspect of yoga, i.e. connecting to your body.

It is important to fuel your yoga practice properly and know when to do yoga after food-consumption in order to have a blissful experience. Here is a mini guide to help you make the ideal diet choices to get the most out of your practice.

Post Yoga Snacks (What to Eat After a Yoga Class?)

You can have a wonderfully relaxing and refreshing session where you burn off excess calories, but then you can eat the wrong foods and disrupt that whole process. It’s important to have the right post-yoga snacks to make the most of your session.

While losing weight with yoga isn’t everyone’s goal, it is for many and you don’t want to ruin your hard work by eating crap afterwards.

Fresh Veggie Salad

After returning from your yoga class, you can fill your stomach with a bowl of salad made with leafy, organic vegetables. You can add a few drops of olive oil and a pinch of various spices to give your salad a refreshing flavor.

Scrambled Egg Whites with Toast

If you have an early morning class, scrambled egg whites and whole-grain toast make for an excellent post-workout snack. Whole-grain toasts contain complex carbohydrates, and there is ample protein and no cholesterol in egg whites, which makes for a perfect energizing combination.

Green Tea

Green tea is known to be most effective and provide several health benefits when you consume it after your yoga sessions. The antioxidants in green tea act as a stress buster and circulate throughout the body after the increased blood circulation due to yoga.

Don’t have a fave green tea yet? We love this green tea sampler from Amazon. You may find it hard to pick just one!

Bananas and Almond Butter with Toast

Spread a moderate amount of almond butter on your toast and top it with a few banana slices. With this snack, you get a good dose of nutrition, extra protein, and healthy fiber and fats without taking in any extra amount of calories.

Tuna

Energy-giving foods like tuna can provide you with the protein intake you need. You can make tuna sandwiches to go and have them after you’re done with your session.

Vegetable Soup

A nutritious diet is essential after burning lots of calories at yoga class. Homemade vegetable soups using spinach, carrots, cabbages, and various spices for flavor are extremely beneficial for health, and do not contain excessive amounts of sodium like the ready-to-heat products do. Sorry, Campbell’s!

Fresh Juice

A large glass of juice made with fresh fruits is on the checklist of healthy post-yoga snacks. Use combinations of different fruits that go well together but avoid artificial sugars as they can do more harm than good.

Water

Last but certainly not the least on the list of post-yoga snacks is the one and only water. It is essential to keep your body hydrated and plain water is the ideal choice for the purpose. If you want to jazz it up, however, you can also opt for coconut water.

For a quick shot of vitamin C, you can simply add a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Pre-Yoga Snacks (What Can We Eat Before a Yoga Class?)

Now that we’ve covered what to eat after your class, it’s also important to consider what you’re putting into your body before a yoga class too.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is rich in fiber and easy to digest. Have one bowl of oatmeal before you leave for your class. You can also add a few drops of honey, or a spoon of yogurt to enhance the flavor.

Berries

Berries are rich in fiber and filled with antioxidants and vitamins. The natural content of sugar in berries like blueberries and strawberries will help you keep energized!

Nut Bars and Dried Fruit

You can munch on nut bars or dried fruit prior to your practice as they both provide sufficient energy that can last a session. However, make sure that the calorie count on the nut bar doesn’t exceed 300.

These Amazon-branded nut bars are a great gluten-free, kosher option and only have 200 calories. Lots of flavor choices, too.

Raisins

You can carry raisins in your gym bag in a small pouch, and chew on them whenever you like. Along with offering energy in the form of healthy natural sugars, they also taste great.

Almonds

Almonds contain healthy fats, magnesium, and vitamin E, and eating them raw can give you just the energy boost you need to kick start your yoga class.

Yogurt

There are several different ways to consume yogurt. You can have it directly from the tub or blend fresh fruits in it to prepare a refreshing snack. Try to stay with low-fat options.

Apples

Being alkaline fruits that are rich in fiber and contain natural sugars, apples can help counter stomach acidity. Apples keep you hydrated during your session and the vitamin C present in them provides you with the energy you need.

It’s hard to beat an apple. Easy to transport, relatively inexpensive, healthy and refreshing!

Fruit Smoothies

Homemade smoothies are the ideal pre-yoga beverages for practitioners. They hydrate the body and provide adequate nutrition. The best thing about this snack is variety. You can change up your flavors as often as you like to keep it interesting. To make healthy low-fat yogurt smoothies, it is best to use fresh fruit and low-fat yogurt, and steer clear from any artificial sugars.

If you want to really up your smoothie game, consider adding a Ninja personal blender to your yoga arsenal. You’ll soon become addicted to creating awesome combos in your at-home smoothie bar.

Bananas

Bananas are rich in nutrients. The potassium and magnesium they contain help reduce muscle cramps and make the fruit an ideal pre-yoga snack. You can consume them raw, with salads, or as a smoothie.

Avocados

With ample quantity of potassium and magnesium, avocados enhance the functioning of cells and muscles in your body. They keep you full for some time, and are quite easy to digest. Moreover, the healthy fats present in them help reduce cholesterol levels.

Start with the healthy and scrumptious pre- or post-yoga snacks you love the most from the long list provided above, and then along the road you can enhance them as you like to add to your kick-ass yoga experience.