Vegan Snacks for Your next Workout

Working out is important to live a well balanced life. When working out, you need to make sure that your body is getting proper nutrition to see progress. 

Many people assume that a vegan diet is healthy. It definitely can be, but you have to pay extra attention to make sure that you are getting proper nutrients, especially protein. In this, we will be highlighting the best vegan snacks with protein for before and after your workout.

Vegan Snack Ideas 

Let’s start off with a list of quick high protein vegan snack ideas that you can enjoy throughout the day. 

Chia Pudding 

• You can buy chia pudding from the grocery store or you can make it yourself by steeping chia seeds in almond milk or another plant-based milk overnight to swell.  If you want it to have a smoother texture, you can pulse it in the blender for a few minutes. Stir in fruit, sweetener, or other toppings you would like. It provides you with 13 grams of protein per serving. 

Tofu 

• Warmed or chilled tofu can make a great snack. It can be cubed, marinated, or roasted and has 19 grams of protein per serving. 

Roasted Chickpeas 

• Roasted chickpeas can make you feel like you’re eating potato chips with about double the protein. Roasting them at home takes about 45 minutes in the oven or you can buy them at your local grocery store. 

Hummus and Bean Dips 

• You can get hummus at the grocery store or make it fresh by blending, black beans, white beans, and chickpeas. You can eat hummus with pita chips or cut up veggies and you will be getting 3 to 5 grams of protein for a quarter-cup serving.

Vegan Snacks for Before a Workout

Before a workout, you want to load up on healthy carbohydrates and some protein to have energy and support muscle growth. Make sure to eat 1-2 hours before and stay away from large portions, which will cause you to feel sluggish instead of energized. Here are some quick vegan snack ideas for before a workout!

Bananas 

• This fruit offers easy-to-access energy and is really convenient for travel. It’s high in potassium, which supports nerve and muscle function. 
• If you have time, you can put some peanut butter and banana on top of whole grain toast for carbs and protein. 
• If you want something cooling, blend frozen bananas, berries, soy milk, and nut butter for a sweet treat of healthy banana ice cream. 

Green Smoothies

• After an early morning, a green smoothie is a great choice to boost your energy. From the fruits, it provides fast-burning carbohydrates and essential minerals from leafy green vegetables, like spinach or kale. 

Oatmeal

• Need long-lasting energy for your whole workout? Oatmeal helps store glycogen which improves your stamina and the complex carbs in it helps you digest slowly to last the whole workout. 

Loaded Potato 

• Have a white potato loaded with beans for an easy vegan snack with protein. If you want something sweet, load a sweet potato with banana, berries of your choice, and cinnamon to mix it up. 

Vegan Snacks For After a Workout

Post-workout snacks need to be high in protein and contain good carbs. Eating an adequate amount of protein after a workout helps your body repair and rebuild mechanisms. Try to consume your snack (or next meal) about 30 minutes after finishing your workout session to contribute to the positive energy balance that is needed to grow muscle and recover from training. Here are some vegan plant-based protein options for your next after workout snack. 

• Lentils and beans (e.g. black beans, lima beans, kidney beans)
• Tempeh, tofu, edamame and soy products (soy milk, soy yogurt)
• Seeds (chia seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds)
• Nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, cashews)
• Whole grains (rice, oats, wholemeal bread, quinoa, barley)

Now that you know what vegan snacks are the best to give you the protein your body needs, you need to make sure that you are using the right equipment when working out. This equipment needs to be durable to last you through dozens of workouts. URBNFit has everything you need to get the most out of your workout from yoga blocks to elite ab wheel rollers. 

Having the right food with proper nutrients and workout equipment will help you to reach your fitness goals that you’re working towards. While working out make sure that you are getting proper nutrition and contact your doctor or trainer if you have any questions about what your body needs. Let’s get snacking!

Contributing Writer: Madeline Collins