As you ramp up your training for the 2024 Christie Clinic Illinois Race Weekend, consider adding foods to your plan to help you lower inflammation. Soreness and inflammation are common when you change your workouts, increase mileage, or stress your body in new ways. And for some of us, feeling creaky and stiff is also part of getting older. Anything we can do (and anything we can eat) to decrease inflammation and aid our bodies in healing is a step in the right direction!

Eat the following foods more often to help combat inflammation and boost your well-being at the same time! And I’d love your feedback on one of my favorite lunches, Super Salad in a Jar, found in my new book Eat Move Groove: Unlock the Simple Steps to Lifelong Nutrition, Fitness & Wellness. Click here for a free PDF copy of the book during my book launch. And I’ll see you at the Health & Fitness Expo on April 25 & 26, where you can grab a signed copy!

Produce to include more often:

• Beets
• Berries, including blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and others
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Cherries and tart cherry juice
• Citrus fruits, including oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit
• Grapes
• Greens-dark, leafy especially beet greens, Swiss chard, and cooked spinach
• Mushrooms
• Peppers and
• Tomatoes

Proteins to enjoy more often:

• Beans and peas (legumes), including black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, and others
• Eggs, especially omega-3 fortified eggs
• Fish, especially salmon, tuna, herring, sardines, trout, tilapia, shad, mullet, and pollock
• Hummus
• Nuts, especially walnuts, peanuts, cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and nut butters and
• Seeds, especially sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, ground flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, and seed butters

Grains and starches to eat more often:

• Sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, and yams
• White, yellow, and purple potatoes
• Whole-grain bread like whole wheat, rye, or oat and
• Whole-grain cereal like wheat flakes, toasted oats, or rye flakes

Healthy fats:

• Avocados
• Fish, especially salmon, tuna, herring, sardines, trout, tilapia, shad, mullet, and pollock
• Nuts, especially walnuts, peanuts, cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and nut butters
• Oils, especially extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), safflower oil, grapeseed oil, sesame oil, and canola oil
• Seeds, especially sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, ground flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, and seed butters

Love Foods

• Dark chocolate, try a 1-ounce piece

Super Salad in a Jar

Makes 2 servings

Mason jar salads are so easy to make, plus they last up to three days in the fridge. Layer this way: salad dressing, chopped veggies or fruits, cooked grains, proteins, greens, and nuts and seeds last. This recipe is just a guideline. Be creative by adding any ingredients you have on hand in the order listed. If you’ve got a few minutes to wait for your dinner to cook, that’s the perfect time to make tomorrow’s mason jar salad!

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons of your favorite salad dressing
• 2 cups finely chopped carrots
• 1 cup cooked barley, brown rice, or quinoa (or any grain)
• 1 cup chopped grilled chicken breast or other protein of your choice
• 2 cups mixed greens
• 4 Tablespoons slivered almonds

Directions:

1. Divide the ingredients in the order listed between two 16-ounce Mason jars.
2. When ready to eat, turn the jar upside down to mix the salad ingredients with the dressing.

2211 Meal Plan Servings

2 – carrots and greens

2 – chicken and almonds

1 – ½ cup cooked grain

1 – salad dressing and almonds

 

Susie Kundrat, MS, RD, LDN, is the founder of Eat Move Groove (www.eatmovegroove.com) and the author of Eat Move Groove: Unlock the Simple Steps to Lifelong Nutrition, Fitness, and Wellness, to be released in March 2024. She has worked with athletes and active people of all ages and levels (youth to professional) to boost performance and well-being with optimal nutrition, including the Milwaukee Bucks, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Fighting Illini, and the Northwestern University Wildcats. She is a clinical professor emeritus with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health and an adjunct instructor with the University of Illinois Food Science and Human Nutrition Department and Walla Walla Community College. For more fast and easy nutrition, fitness, and wellness tips, join Susie’s newsletter at Eat Move Groove.