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Athletes care about efficiency. Improvements to your technique will help give you more distance per stroke in the water, a more powerful pedal stroke, and the least wasteful running form. Budgeting your time and your training program allows you to get quality training in a limited amount of time. You can also be efficient with your diet. Fruits and vegetables offer a lot of bang for not a whole lot of buck. Nutritionists have recently developed a list of “superfoods” containing antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. The good stuff with lots of benefits. The superfood list includes selected fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and even bacteria. Nutrients found in superfoods are concentrated, meaning you consume a multitude of vitamins and minerals in only one food item. These nutrients also complement each other so that they are more easily absorbed by the body.One item on this list, though green and squishy, is commonly found in sushi rolls and salads, as a burger topping, and in dips. This food is high in vitamins A, C, E, and K and also contains high amounts of potassium (more than a banana), folate, and fiber. Not only is it tasty, it is know to soothe sunburn, calm your stomach, and vanquish bad breath. Yet despite its nutritional and functional merit this fruit has a bad reputation.

A normal-sized avocado has about three hundred calories and, wait for it, thirty-one grams of fat. How can that be healthy? This “fatty fruit” contains the same type of monounsaturated fat as found in olive oil. Monounsaturated fats improve your heart health, and might lower cholesterol. Two slices of avocado have less calories than two tablespoons of butter or mayonnaise, less fat than two tablespoons of sour cream, and less cholesterol than cheese. In fact, avocado does not contain cholesterol. And like other fatty foods, a few slices of avocado will leave you feeling quite satisfied.

So where can you fit those few slices into your diet? First, you want to make sure that the fruit is ready to eat. Unripened avocados have green skin which will get darker as the fruit ripens. Green avocados are also firmer to the touch and get squishier when ready to eat. You can speed up the ripening process by placing firmer avocados in a paper bag with an apple. Then try out some of these ideas at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

• Spread – Instead of butter, spread mashed up avocado on a piece of whole grain toast
• Sandwich/Salad – Replace mayo or cheese with a few slices
• Omelette – Chop up the fruit and mix with red pepper, onion, and other veggies
• Dip – Mash it up and mix it in
• Hint: Leave the pit in with the other ingredients until you are ready to serve/eat to keep the fruit from turning brown. You can also squeeze lemon juice over sliced avocado to keep the fruit from oxidizing and changing color

Written by Carrie Smith