Summer adventure season is starting! Whether you are trail running, mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, or playing in our beautiful mountains, this is a great time to improve cardio fitness and muscle mass, and also to fuel your body with healthy foods.

Basic Nutrition for Colorado Adventurers

1. Don't Skip Meals. Eat a mix of protein, whole-grain carbohydrates, and healthy fats at each meal and snack.

2. Have Lean Protein with each meal and snack: chicken, turkey, tofu, pork or beef tenderloin, fish, canned tuna, deli meats, hummus, peanut butter, edamame, nuts, and seeds.

3. Eat a colorful variety of Fruits and Vegetables.

4. Choose Whole-Grain Carbohydrates with good fiber such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole grains breads, whole grains pasta, and quinoa.

5. Include Healthy Fats such as avocados, fish, olive oil, flaxseed, nuts and seeds.

6. Stay Hydrated. Your performance will suffer if you are dehydrated. Most people need to drink enough water equal to half their body weight in ounces daily. But at altitude, in the dry Colorado mountains, and sweating through your activity, you will likely need more.

7. Feed your muscles a Recovery Snack within 30 minutes of moderate exercise that lasts for 60+ minutes. Aim for a 4-1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein. Then be certain to eat a healthy meal (see #1) within two hours.

8. Limit foods with added sugars, sugar substitutes, sugar alcohols, trans fats and saturated fats. These are found mostly in processed snack foods and sugary drinks.