Happy Hump Day!

I hope you were able to power through the first half of the week, and that you have smooth sailing the rest of the week!

I, for one, have had a wicked busy week, y’all. Homegirl is tired! But, never fear! I leave for a conference in Ocean City tomorrow, so I plan to go on a beach run Friday morning, and get some sun and sand after the conference ends. Sun Rays, send me your love!

Today, like many Wednesdays past, I am linking up for the Workout Wednesday Linkup (#wowlinkup), hosted by the lovely and knowledgeable Diatta from Femme Fatale Fit Club and Sheila from The Frugal Exerciser.

As a reminder, my ENERGYbits Giveaway is ending today! Make sure that you enter if you haven’t already! (Check here for additional rules.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now back to this week’s Workout Wednesday topic: Workout Fuel. I don’t know about you, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to change how I work out. I don’t have as much energy and enthusiasm right after work, or first thing in the morning, like I used to. This makes it incredibly difficult to find the motivation to crank out a run or a lifting session.

Recently, I’ve started thinking about how I fuel before a workout, and how that affects my willingness to workout, my performance while training, and my recovery after working out. A lot of people with a lot of degrees spend a lot of time researching this issue, and it’s hard to keep up with what is good or bad, trendy or lame. Nevertheless, I’ve been trying to read up on all of this so that I can figure out what works best for me.

Currently, the Vega Sport Pre-Workout Energizer I was given to sample through my Sweat Pink Ambassadorship has been amazing, but I’ve been having to ration it out over the last week. I’m running low on my supply, and I haven’t yet talked my cheap self into refilling my supply. It really works similarly to coffee in waking me up, and it is amazing for helping me stay focused throughout my workouts. I’m usually very skeptical of such claims, so I did my best to doubt it the whole time I was using it, but I couldn’t deny the benefits and the way I felt upon using it.

While I’m working out, I mostly just sip water that has been infused with NUUN (which is really amazing and delicious during a workout). I’ve also tried ENERGYbits, which are great for giving yourself a little touch-up during your workout, but, as I’ve said many times before, I really just can’t put much into my system while I’m exercising. Maybe one day I will (when I start training for longer distance runs), but I just cannot right now.

Right now, I’m really looking for something to help me with recovery. I like to eat bars when I’m done working out, but I mostly drink a lot of water and have a craving for cheese. Let me take that back. I always have a craving for cheese. I crave MORE cheese when I’m done with a workout than usual (which is really almost impossible). I think this means I want protein? But it could mean that I’m turning into a cheese monster. I’m not really sure. Help!

Does anyone out there have suggestions for great recovery snacks/drinks/products? Maybe something that will help with my muscles getting all tight and sore, even after stretching? Can you help a sista out?