Food for Sport – Eat Well to Play Well!

Perhaps nothing determines your ability to perform like nutrition, and few people give it any thought. This week, guest author, Amy Scott-MacLean, MS, RDN, has some simple secrets that can make all of the difference. Let’s get right to it.
As athletes, you know all about what it takes to succeed at your sport – the importance of training, technique, practice, and determination. But do you know your Food for Sport and how important it is to your success??

Coach Alex asked me to write a blog post about eating properly for sports. More specifically, eating for when you are going to really need the boost, like when you’re working on your pitching for an hour of training or when you’re playing a game for a couple of hours in the hot sun.
There’s lots to say about Food for Sport but I’m going to keep this simple and talk about the nutrients you need and the foods you can eat that are packed with those nutrients.
The first nutrient you need is carbohydrate and you find it in foods like bread, pasta, cereal, fruits and vegetables. Yes, you need to eat bread! The second nutrient you need is protein and you find it in foods like meat, chicken, fish, beef and pork. You can also find protein in dairy — milk and milk products like yogurt, Greek or regular. You can also find protein in nuts and seed like almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. These two food groups – carbohydrates and protein — are the two most important food groups when it comes to eating for sports.
Carbohydrates are key because they give you energy and protein is important because it keeps you from getting hungry quickly. Think of carbs as that quick hit single when you need to sprint to first base, and think of protein as that out of the park home run when you can slowly jog around the bases. You need to have both in a balanced diet that can sustain you throughout the day.
It’s important to eat foods with carbohydrates and protein, but it’s most important to EAT THROUGHOUT THE DAY! You have heard it before, I am sure, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You need to eat to replenish your nutrient stores after sleeping, and you need to give your body food to make energy that will last for the next three to four hours. Then you need to do this throughout the day – eat, make energy for your body, use up that energy. Repeat. Again, and again and again.
Ok, so you know you need carbohydrates protein, and you know what kinds of foods to eat. Now let’s talk about some ideas for what to eat during your day. For breakfast you should eat food from both food groups. Eat a small bagel with peanut butter, a small container of yogurt (about six ounces), and a small glass of juice (about four ounces) or a piece of fruit. For lunch you want to eat a good carb base on days that you practice or have games. Eat some pasta and add some vegetables. The perfect lunch would be a plate of one cup of cooked spaghetti with a good size scoop about one-third cup of sauce with meat, a big garden salad with salad dressing, and a slice of bread with teaspoon of butter. If you pack your lunch, make yourself a meat sandwich with lettuce and tomato, add in a piece of hand fruit, and six or so baby carrots or celery sticks. Chips are an okay option. Avoid the high sugar treats like cream filled cupcakes and candy. If you want some sweet taste that many of us, add chocolate milk to your meal.
Now I know that most of you are eating school lunch and when it comes to school lunch, you get what you get. So just think about keeping the balance. If the only choice on a practice day or game day is pizza, make sure you take the salad, the fruit and the milk to make sure you have a good balance.
Snacks are also important in the food for sport mix. The key here is eating a snack that has both carb and protein in the snack. Easy ideas for great snacks are peanut butter crackers, trail mix with nuts, dried fruit and chocolate chunks, and bars that have oats, crisped rice and nuts in them. Ideally, you should have a snack at least an hour before you start practice or a game so there is a bit of time for digestion. All these snacks can be packed and kept with you in your sports bag or locker or even in the car.
Sometimes you might be rushing from school to practice or games and the easiest thing to do is grab a fast food meal. This is never a good choice because fast food meal is full of fat and salt. With a fast food meal in your stomach, there is not time for digestion because fat and meat take twice as long to digest and it will just sit in your stomach until you are finished exercising. You quite possibly could feel sick and you will not be preforming at your best.
Water…do you need to drink it? Yes, you do. Drink two to three cups a few hours before practice or game and a cup and a half about 15 minutes before your practice or game. Have a water bottle at school and make sure you fill up for the car ride to practice.
Lastly, make sure you eat again after practice or a game. You need to replenish all your stored energy in your muscles so that you can start all over again tomorrow.
Be strong…Eat well!
Special thanks for guest author, Amy Scott-MacLean, MS, RDN, for contributing this article, and to Certified Instructor, Alex MacLean for handling logistics.