Eating for Performance
Diane King, MS, RD, CSSD, ATC
Athletes often have questions about their eating plan. The following information is designed to help introduce eating for performance. Some of these suggestions may not be what you need to change, so don’t feel like you need to do everything…especially all at one time.
- Set a goal and be consistent. If your goal is to be lean and mean, you have to eat that way consistently, not every third meal. It doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing. You have to change your attitude about eating. You have to find the right motivation, too. Are you doing this for yourself so you can be a better athlete? Or, are you doing it to try and make someone else happy? The same plan won’t work the same way for everyone. Decide in advance how to fuel your body – that is…what you’re going to eat and what to pass up (younger athletes should work with their parents).
- Don’t skip meals. Even when you don’t feel hungry – in the morning for example - your body still needs fuel to get it started. Most studies show if you skimp early in the day, it’s more difficult to control snacking and overeating later in the evening. If you are one of the athletes who have a goal to gain weight, you really can’t afford to miss a chance to fuel up.
- Pay attention to choosing a variety of foods. It takes a mix of food choices, especially the meals or snacks right after a training session. This really impacts how quickly your body can restore its energy balance. The body uses glycogen, the stored form of carbohydrate, for fuel during intense exercise. The general rule is to try and get 1.5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram body weight during the first 30 minutes after exercise and then again within two hours. If your body weight is 120 lbs, the range for carbohydrates is 65-80 grams. That would be one cup of grape juice (45 grams) and small bagel with two tablespoons of peanut butter. For someone who weighs 170 lbs, the carbohydrates needs are about 93-115 grams. That’s a small Frosty® from Wendy’s and a small hamburger.
- Know how much you are eating if you eat out frequently. While eating out is sometimes a necessity, the more often you eat fast food, the more careful you need to be. Again, it goes back to your goals. If you are interested in gaining weight, you may be able to do it more often. If you need to gain lean weight, your choices still need to be made carefully. If you are trying to maintain or even lose weight, you CAN NOT eat what other people may be consuming. Most fast food restaurants post their nutrition information on the web.
A BK Broiler® with BBQ sauce (no mayo), a carton of orange juice and a carton of 2% milk have about 500 calories and around 15-17 grams of fat.
If you eat a Jr. Whopper with cheese, medium fries and a medium vanilla shake, that’s 1150 calories and 62 grams of fat. That’s just too much at one time for the body to process effectively.
Good Luck!