If you want to perform like a pro athlete [and who doesn’t, really?], news flash: It’s not all about the training. You are what you eat, too. “The intensity of women’s training has increased, and with that, the need to refuel correctly is more vital than ever before,” says sports nutritionist Dawn Scott, a fitness coach for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Note: This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Learning from people with experience
So we asked the experts to serve up some of their favorite nutrition advice to help you get stronger, faster, and fitter than ever before, no matter what you’re trying to master.
It is so important to fuel our bodies with the right foods and the right amount of foods.
There is the saying “Too much of anything is not good.” so making sure you have a good balance.
8 Tips From Olympic Nutritionist
A big thanks to Fitness Magazine for putting together this list of 8 diet tips from Olympic Nutritionists and supporting athletes everywhere!
- Don’t Skip Breakfast
- Stay Hydrated 24/7
- Boost your immunity
- Lift some iron
- Don’t diet
- Crank up the carbs
- Finish strong
- Recover right
Full article from FITNESS MAGAZINE
Carbs are great to fuel your body with energy
Depending on your body type, depends on how much carbs you eat. Also depending on how much exercise you do, depends on how many carbs you eat.
Pasta is one of the most popular foods for athletes across the world, to fill their body with carbs. If you eat a ton of carbs and then don’t burn it with exercise it will turn to fat.
So players who are already bigger are the ones who have to be careful with eating too much carbs.
You want to mix your diet with carbs, protein, veggies, fruits and find what works best for your body.
Don’t think you have to copy what a top pro eats.
Swimmer Michael Phelps eats a ton of food. His appetizer was a whole pizza lol. But he trained for over 4-5 hours a day.
Find what works best for you, but make sure you balance it out.
College sports – diet and exercise
In college there’s what is called the “Freshman 15”, which is where you gain 15 lbs in that year. The reason is because of all the unhealthy eating, at the worst times – late night.
Even though you might be eating good foods and exercising, bad foods can erase all that.
There is no harm in eating something unhealthy every now and then. Although, if you are eating bad foods every other day it will hurt your performance.
In conclusion, it’s important to eat healthy, the right amount and at decent times of the day/night. Give yourself 4 hours after you eat before you go to be.
Also after you eat any meal, don’t lay down for at least 30 minutes. Even better, if you can take a short 5 min walk after each big meal that will also help you.
Light foods
It’s helpful to keep your home stocked with healthy snacks!
Make it a habit to eat these foods on the regular.
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Nuts
- Yogurt
- Honey
- Spinach
- Oatmeal
- Cottage cheese
Diet from athletes in different sports
Depending on your sport, there are certain foods that benefit you more than others.
Some sports require more or less carbs, protein & fats.
Diet of Olympic athletes ⬇️
3 examples:
- Triathlete: Train and burn a lot of calories. Therefore they need more carbs and burn the most calories out of these three sports.
- Gymnast: Small athletes with less calorie needs. Portions sizes are smaller with less carbs, but more protein.
- Shot putter: Big and strong athlete with a lot of muscle. They need lots of protein and carbs.
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