Proper nutrition for athletes is crucial and is a vital in the fight to pull ahead of your competition. Here is some simple advice to athletes about their eating habits. Starting out your day right means eating breakfast. The nutrients consumed with breakfast are the first nutrients your body receives after it's fasted sleep cycle and they set you up for a more balanced and efficient diet throughout your day. (1)
Breakfast Can:
Improve your mental and physical health
Keep you alert until lunch time
Help you emotionally
You will feel less depressed; less distressed, and have lower levels of perceived stress
Enhance mental performance - Memory is better with word list recall and memory while counting backwards
Help manage your weight - People who eat breakfast consume less calories at lunch
Enhance the quality of your diet - You will consume less overall fat and cholesterol; and consume more overall vitamins and healthy nutrients Snacking is NOT bad! You should eat every 2-3 hours, totaling 6-8 times a day. (2) Frequently eating helps maintain an athlete's metabolic rate, good energy balance, lower body fat, lower weight and lower serum lipids. (3)
Every meal is important to your body, and depriving it of its nutrients will only end badly. (4)
Effects of Skipping Meals:
Decreased energy expenditure
Decreased metabolic rate
Weight gain
Increased preference of fat in diet
Decreased strength
Increased injury rates
Decreased bone density
Decreased body temperature
Decreased performance
Decreased resistance to disease
Renal regulation and electrolyte imbalance
Impaired thermal regulation
Decreased testosterone level
Mood swings
Menstrual dysfunction
Eat before you exercise! It is extremely important that you fuel your body before exercise so that it has the proper energy to complete the workout. You should eat a large meal that is high in carbohydrate and low in fat for fast easy digestion 4 hours before competition; a smaller meal 2-3 hours before competition and a blended meal of high carbohydrate drink or snack 1 hour before competition. Remember that fasting is detrimental to performance and is strongly discouraged before exercise or performance.(5)
Eating Before Exercise Will:
Prevent low blood sugar during exercise
Provide fuel by topping off muscle glycogen stores
Settle your stomach, absorb gastric juices, and prevent hunger
Instill confidence in your abilities
Eating immediately after exercise is crucial in the body's ability to recover from the workout. A recovery drink with a ratio of 4:1 carbohydrate to protein should be consumed within a 45 minute window after working out. A large meal should be consumed 1-3 hours after exercise. (2) Hydration is important! On average you should consume half your body weight in ounces of water each day. That does not include water consumed during exercise. If you log your body weight pre and post exercise you can figure out how much water you lost exercising. For every pound lost during exercise drink 2 cups of fluid. You can monitor your hydration status through urine clarity. (2)
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