Best Snacks for Athletes: Costco Edition

For endurance athletes seeking to fuel their training and recovery, Costco offers a variety of some of the best snacks for athletes! These snacks, including carb-rich bars, dried fruits, and packaged crackers provide sustained energy. This energy is paramount to enhance performance while you’re logging those endless miles. 

Packed with complex carbohydrates and simple sugars, these snacks help replenish glycogen stores and stabilize energy levels. Whether preparing for a long run or a long ride, our list of Costco snacks offers a practical choice for boosting endurance. Read on to find out what the ALN dietitian team favorites are!

Be sure to check out our Easy Costco Meals for the Busy Athlete article!

Foods to Include When Training

Nutrition for any person is challenging, and for endurance athletes, there’s so much to consider it can feel overwhelming. You’re very competitive, which is why you may find yourself Googling and asking what the best snacks for endurance athletes are.

Your everyday eating and how you fuel around workouts can make a huge difference in your athletic performance and offer endless benefits to other areas of your life. When it comes to improving nutrition, my dietitian team and I see athletes reporting several perks including:

• improved sleep
• a better overall mood
• more productive at work
• regulated hormones
• increased energy levels throughout the day
• and just simply feeling better

Though overwhelming it may be, it doesn’t need to be. Let’s simplify what foods are best to fuel your training.

Best Snacks for Athletes: Look for the Carbs!

Carbohydrates are our body’s preferred fuel source when it comes to filling your nutrition tank because it’s incredibly efficient.

The body will breakdown carbohydrates into glucose (sugar) to be used as energy for activity (i.e. an upcoming run) or will convert it into glycogen and stored in the liver or muscles to be used later. Typically, most runners require at least 50-55% of their calorie intake from carbohydrates. However, this can vary based on factors, such as duration and intensity of run and carbohydrate-loading for an upcoming race. 

Simple carbohydrates:

Simple carbs are easy to digest and are found in many foods. Such as, table sugar, syrup, energy gels, energy or sports drinks, fruit and fruit juices, candies, and baked goods and desserts. These foods are effective while training as they are digested quickly and will provide quick bursts of energy. During your workouts, it’s recommended to consume 30-90g of simple carbohydrates per hour to maintain consistent energy levels throughout your training session. 

Complex carbohydrates:

Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest. They are found in higher fiber, nutrient-dense foods such as whole grains (barley, brown rice, quinoa, oats, and cereals), legumes including beans and lentils, starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes and pumpkin. These foods are excellent to include throughout the day in meals and snacks to boost your vitamin and mineral intake and help keep you feeling satisfied.

Fueling Guidelines for Endurance Athletes

Adequate practice and preparation are key for what to eat during training. It is important to experiment with a wide variety of liquid and solid nutrition. For most endurance athletes the recommendation while training is to aim for:

• 60-90 g of carbohydrates per hour,
• 200-500 mg of sodium per hour, potentially more if you’re a salty sweater
• and 5-10 oz of fluids every 15 minutes during the race (potentially more if the weather is hot, humid or at elevation)

Simple carbohydrates such as energy gels and sports drink beverages are the most convenient options for hitting these nutrition goals. Fortunately, there are so many solid food options to experiment with as well and these options can make fueling feel fun!

Best Snacks for Athletes: What To Look For

There are a variety of factors to consider when choosing your workout nutrition. Taste and palatability, cost, and convenience are all important factors to consider. While gels, bars, and hydration mixes are all great options for fueling your workouts, they can get so very expensive! Fortunately, Costco offers a variety of tasty options without breaking the bank. Keep reading for a listing of some of our favorite solid food options available at Costco for fueling your workouts. 

Best Snacks for Athletes: What To Get At Costco

Animal crackers

Animal crackers are always convenient and portable to fuel those miles! 

Nutrition per serving: 11 crackers (28g), 120 calories, 3g fat, 85mg sodium, 22g of carbs, 0g of fiber, 2 g protein

Applesauce pouches

Applesauce pouches are incredibly convenient and offer a low-fiber, easy carb source. I especially like these for athletes who struggle with gastrointestinal issues during their workouts as they are often well tolerated.

Nutrition per serving: 1 pouch (90g), 50 calories, 0g fat, 0mg sodium, 13g carbs, 1g of fiber, 0g protein

Belvita bars

Often marketed as “breakfast” bars, these bars are also a crunchy option for any run or ride. Available in a wide variety of flavors to satisfy your flair.

Nutrition per serving: 1 pack (50g), 230 calories, 8g fat, 220mg sodium, 35g carbs, 3g fiber, 4g protein

Bobo’s Oat Bites

Chewy, bite-sized and flavorful. Also, available in a wide variety of flavors ranging from chocolate chip to lemon poppyseed. These are so good!

Nutrition per serving: 1 oat bite (37g), 150 calories, 6g fat, 75mg sodium, 27g carbs, 2g fiber, 2g protein

Dates

A good source of potassium, which is an important electrolyte that is lost in sweat. Dates fit conveniently in any hydration vest when you’re hitting the roads or trails. Beware of how many you’re eating as 2-6 dates will offer 3 g of fiber. The fiber content can add up quickly for a long-duration exercise and could cause your bowels to need to relieve themselves mid-workout.

Nutrition per serving: 2-6 dates depending on the size (40g), 110 calories, 0g fat, 0mg sodium, 30g carbs, 3g fiber, 1g protein

Dried cherries

Dried cherries provide a fresh and tart flavor with the slightest bit of chewiness. These are also tasty baked into homemade granola bars when you’re out and about.

Nutrition per serving: ⅓ cup (40g), 130 calories, 0g fat, 10mg sodium, 32g carbs, 1g fiber, 1g protein

Dried mango

Mix with other dried fruit such as the dried papaya spears for a fresh trail mix to fuel those miles. Again, don’t go overboard on the portion size as they can add up quickly in fiber.

Nutrition per serving: 42g, 160 calories, 0g fat, 55mg sodium, 39g carbs, 1g fiber, 1g protein

Fig Bars

This is an adult- and kid-favorite snacks. A wonderful portable option when you’re quite literally on the go.

Nutrition per serving: 1 package (57g), 200 calories, 5g fat, 80mg sodium, 38g carbs, 3g fiber, 3g protein

Kirkland granola bars

This one is for the chocolate lovers out there! This carb-rich fuel source is soft, chewy, and so very cheap ($0.19) per serving.

Nutrition per serving: 1 bar (24g), 100 calories, 3g fat, 35mg sodium, 18g carbs, 1g fiber, 1g protein

Black Forest Gummy Bears

I never met an endurance athlete who didn’t like gummy bears. They work incredibly well as a workout fuel option.

Nutrition per serving: 1 pouch (22g), 70 calories, 0g fat, 0mg sodium, 17g carbs, 0g fiber, <1g protein

Honey Maid graham crackers

A classic endurance athlete fan favorite that is so very easy to digest before or during your workout!

Nutrition per serving: 2 full sheets (31g), 130 calories, 3g fat, 160mg sodium, 25g carbs, 1g fiber, 2g protein

Mott’s fruit snacks

These bite-sized treats come in convenient little pouches that are easy to stuff into any bike jersey or hydration vest.

Nutrition per serving: 1 pouch (23g), 80 calories, 0g fat, 35mg sodium, 19g carbs, 0g fiber, 0g protein

Nutrigrain bars

Soft baked and a little more squishy than some of the other options. While I wouldn’t recommend using these while exercising in rainy conditions. They do work well for pre-workout fuel option.

Nutrition per serving: 1 bar (37g), 130 calories, 3.5g fat, 125mg sodium, 25g carbs, 1g fiber, 1g protein

Papaya spears

A bit more chewy but so very tasty, especially mixed with other dried fruit including dried cherries or mango.

Nutrition per serving: 1oz (28g), 90 calories, 0g fat, 27mg sodium, 23g carbs, 2g fiber, 0g protein

Pop Tarts

Pop-Tart magic has fueled countless ALN athletes. Our favorite flavors are classic strawberry and brown sugar cinnamon. For some reason, many athletes’ stomachs tolerate these well. They work awesome for a quick pre-workout morning snack.

Nutrition per serving: 1 pastry (52g), 200 calories, 5g fat, 170mg sodium, 38g carbs, 0g fiber, 2g protein

Pure fruit leather

Very compact but can easily be consumed in 2-3 small bites. The only downside with these is you end up with a lot of wrappers in order to get enough carbs to fuel a longer workout.

Nutrition per serving: 1 bar (18g), 60 calories, 0g fat, 0mg sodium, 15g carbs, 1g fiber, 0g protein

That’s It fruit bars

These are a tad higher in fiber so slow the roll on consuming too many! Still quite tasty with very few ingredients.

Nutrition per serving: 1 bar (35g), 100 calories, 0g fat, 30mg sodium, 22g carbs, 4g fiber, 1g protein

Fuel Those Miles

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition recommendations for endurance athletes. When it comes to choosing the best snacks for athletes, every person is truly unique. We all have our own individualized nutrition needs based on a wide variety of factors including taste, convenience, price, and palatability.

For personalized advice and support, check out the ALN 1:1 nutrition coaching program. We’ve worked with 400+ endurance athletes to help them feel and perform their best in their training, racing and everyday life.