Fit N NOLA

Are you planning a trip to New Orleans this festival season? Well, I’m going to share with you a few tips & tricks for staying fit during your visit!

I had the pleasure of visiting New Orleans for the French Quarter Festival and it was great to see the city come alive during the event. The great thing about the city is that it’s very walkable. Walking the many miles of the French Quarter is a great way to stay active while visiting. If you get tired of walking I suggest renting a Blue Bike to expedite your travels and to up your workouts. The Blue Bikes is a Bikeshare service in New Orleans that allows you to pick up a bike, pay $0.15 a minute to ride it and then drop it off near your destination. It’s an affordable alternative to Uber that works way better then sitting in traffic.

There are also many amazing parks in New Orleans to do workouts at. The only problem with the ones near festival stages is that they’re way too crowded to get a good workout in. So I recommend heading over to City Park. Is is a stunning and spacious park with lots of shade, and places to go to workout. You can also enjoy the view of the lake while you do it and bring some food to enjoy a picnic post workout.

If you are looking for a good group workout to join in then consider a Move Ya Brass workout. There are tons of choices for class and really fun to join in when the weather is good.

Now I know for some of you the idea of working out in the afternoon or evening after partying or enjoying festival in New Orleans is a no go. It can also feel unmotivating to workout outside when it’s rainy or humid out. So for you, I recommend staying at a hotel with an amazing gym and working out in the morning before heading out to festival. I recommend the ACE Hotel New Orleans. Not only does this hotel have a well equipped gym, it also has a beautiful rooftop pool for you to do a swim workout or to do some yoga poolside. They even have instructors who can take you through a yoga session in the morning.

There is a restaurant and coffee shop next to the hotel which makes it easy to grab pre/post-workout meals. Bikes are also available at the hotel to use and bike around the city if you don’t want to get a Blue Bike. The ACE hotel truly has all of your needs met.

Let’s talk about some fit food choices that can be made in NOLA. First of all, let me say that I don’t expect you to not enjoy the less healthy foods like Beignets from Cafe Du Monde and maybe a strawberry Daiquiri or two from Fat Tuesday 😆. However, with great fun comes great responsibility. So that means balancing out a less then healthy food choice with 1-2 really good food choices. So let me help you with those choices.

The coffee shop called Lovage (part of the Ace Hotel) had some great plant-based food options that were grab and go. Perfect for bringing with you while biking around the city or to pack for your picnic at the park.

I also found a cool shop called Waffle Time next to Jefferson Square that served Açaí bowls. That is a refreshing and healthy choice that can be made for breakfast, lunch, or post workout snack. Just make sure to not get tempted by the ice cream.

There are options around the city and at the French Quarter Festival to have foods from the Eat Fit Nola menu. The Eat Fit options are health conscious food options that can be made at various restaurants and vendors. However, as a personal trainer I didn’t feel that all of the “Eat Fit” choices were actually good choices in terms of assisting with body composition goals and providing optimal nutrients. For example the “sugar free flavors” offered at Plum Street Snoballs were marked as “Eat Fit” but I’d hardly consider a snow cone to be a healthy or “fit” choice overall. Having them sugar free is a more health conscious choice in terms of not elevating your blood sugar as rapidly, but it’s not a better choice then having a piece of fruit if you want a healthy sweet treat.

Also, at many of the restaurants on the Eat Fit list, the whole menu wasn’t healthy but rather a few options would be “Eat Fit” options. However, they weren’t all clearly marked on the menu so if you didn’t have the nutrition education to know which item was healthy on the menu amongst a list of less healthy options, you’re very likely to make the wrong choice. Also, many of the employees and in some cases the manager himself wouldn’t know what you were referring to when asking for the eat fit options. So it’s a great idea to have the menu, but poor execution and not great guidelines for determining what should go on the list.

My overall recommendation would be to use the list as a guideline but ultimately don’t think that every choice from the menu is going to help you towards your fitness goals.

Now I’m sure you’ll want to try some seafood while in Nola. The locals are big fans of oysters so I had to give them a try. I had them both raw and grilled from the Bourbon house and I was pleasantly surprised. The last time I had oysters was in Santa Monica, CA and they tasted liken ocean ☹️. These giant oysters from the Bourbon House on Bourbon street did not taste like ocean. They went down smoothly and they were massive! Also, the grilled ones were seasoned to perfection and a unique experience so they are a must try.

Another must try is Nola is the crawfish of course. Most places will offer corn and potatoes with your crawfish so you can get some veggies in with your seafood. The only issue is you have to eat several pounds of crawfish to get enough protein post workout. But a great experience to have if you follow a regular or pescatarian diet and not fully plant-based. I got crawfish from Bevi and from Rouset Market.

There's another great seafood restaurant next to the Ace hotel is called Seaworthy. They had the most amazing Parker House Rolls to pair with your healthy seafood dishes. Also, they have a late night happy hour! So make sure to put it on your list of places to try.

If you are looking for a Black restaurant in the French Quarter, go to Vyonne’s . It’s a beautiful upscale restaurant that features French cuisine. They have a happy hour from 3-5pm if you want to sip on their house cocktails while enjoying crab cakes and Choux de Bruxelles. Brunch and Pre-fixed menus are also available. Be sure to make a reservation before arriving because it will get crowded.

If you are looking for a place to grab a cheap beer while walking around the quarter consider Ernst Cafe. It’s a chill ambiance with a full bar. A great casual place to meet up with friends or to rest your feet before continuing on to the rest of the quarter.

So there you have it. I few ways for you to eat well and stay fit while in New Orleans. Balance is key and Nola sets you up for success for how you can enjoy yourself and eat plenty of food without sacrificing fitting into your favorite pair of jeans.

Oh and just for good measure. Here’s a photo dump of some of the foods that I had while on my trip and some scenes from the French Quarter Festival!