With weather forecasters predicting a brutal winter, now is a good time to winterize your approach to nutrition.

Whether your sport of choice is alpine or cross country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing or running in the great outdoors, winter sport enthusiasts have special nutrition needs.
Here are some guidelines to ensure that you will be able to perform the outdoor activity of your choice this winter at optimum performance.

Stay Hydrated
People often feel that they do not need to drink as much in the cold weather as they do in the summer months, but that just isn’t the case. Even though you may not break a sweat, breathing in cold, dry air forces your lungs in to over-drive to warm the incoming air. With each exhalation, you lose significant amounts of water.

To ensure you area well hydrated drink 2 – 3 glasses of water 2 hours before starting to exercise and another 8 oz 20-minutes before heading outside. Combat dehydration during exercise by taking small amounts of water every 15 – 20 minutes. Avoid caffeinated and alcoholic beverages as they act as a diuretic and contribute to dehydration.

Don’t Skimp on Carbs
Food is energy and carbohydrates are the primary energy source for your body when performing exercise. Eating a high carbohydrate meal a couple of hours before heading outdoors will not only keep your body fueled for a workout, but the metabolic heat generated by oxidation of that meal will help keep you warm.

For your pre-workout meal focus on carbs that are high in dietary fiber such as oatmeal, sweet potato, whole wheat pasta, lentil soup and All Bran cereal, as these foods promote a sustained release of energy.

If you’re going to be outside for an extended period of time, to help re-fuel carb stores during exercise take along high glycemic snacks such as dried fruit, trail mix and pretzels.

Re-Fuel For Tomorrow
A few hours out on the slopes will likely deplete your glycogen stores. To be energized for tomorrow, within an hour of coming indoors consume high glycemic carbohydrates and protein. Consider liquid meals which are both palatable and digestible after intense exercise and also have a faster absorption profile than whole foods.

A good option post workout would be a commercially available recovery drink or an old fashioned hot cocoa made with skim milk and unsweetened cocoa powder.

Susan Weiner is a Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and Core Conditioning Specialist who blogs at www.CatapultFitnessBlog.com.