Keepin Full of Energy: The Athlete's Diet

Hey athletes!

So when you are training and getting prepared for games, practices, and work outs, how do you "fil-up" the belly?

It's a tricky answer, because it is different for everyone, but it can be key to having a high level of performance.

What sport are you playing? How tall are you? When was the last time you ate? What did you eat? Are you hydrated? How long is this practice going to last? Will you have food available after finishing practice? These are all questions to ask yourself when getting prepared food-wise.

You need to have energy to be able to compete. You would be surprised how much energy you burn in one hour of activity. Obviously the best way to prepare for this is to eat a nice meal before hand, loaded with carbs and a bit of protein and fat to stay your energy level over the alotted time period. But what if practice starts super early and you don't have time to cook, eat, digest, and be ready? This takes some thinking ahead. The best way to combat this kind of problem is to adopt an "athlete's diet."

You've probably heard me or anyone else say to eat smaller meals more frequently through out the day. Eating 6 meals a day, but keeping Calorie levels relatively constant, has shown to keep energy levels high and performance even higher. This is because your body never gets too depleted to the point of fatigue, exhaustion, and other unwanted things. Your body also does not get crammed to the max leading to sleepiness (the food coma) and stomach troubles.

The best way to make this diet work is to have travel-able foods at all time with you. This can be tuna salad in the can to put on crackers, fresh fruits, trail mixes, sandwiches, granola bars, almonds, and sometimes your leftovers. The constant muncher will sustain energy much better than the "wait for an empty stomach" eater.

The other key point to make here is that sometimes people play well on a full stomach. Sometimes people need to have an empty stomach or close to empty stomach to play well. Both is fine! What isn't fine is to not have energy at all when getting to performance time. If you are starved but then eat a huge meal right before practice, you are going to be hurting. And the other athletes who eat much further before hand but eat nothing for 4-5 hours then practice for 2-3 hours will also hurt! For this reason, carry around small (but smart) snacks that can be consumed on a minute's time.

Take a few tips with you to make this type of eating style work.

• Drink water. All the time. Staying hydrated keeps energy and performance high.
• Eat a bedtime snack. Making it higher in unsaturated fats can help get stores of energy in the night.
• Spend money at the grocery store. Don't be tempted by low cost, unhealthy fast food.
• Invest in a nice lunch bag/box that won't crush your foods but keep them ready to eat.
• Don't forget what foods make your stomach hurt...or feel good! There is a time for all foods.

This is my favorite diet. You may get a little teased for eating ALL THE TIME, but in the end you will be the one with a healthy energy flow. Give me your ideas on great snacks to pack or little meals to make!