I want all of you to feel great and be the best athlete you can be! Eating right is very important, so please do not push it to the side. I wish I could be with you all this weekend and watch each of you totally dominate the track!!! I will be cheering you on from here. If you have any questions or concerns about anything, please do not hesitate in the slightest to contact me! If you would like more personalized nutrition plans or more information about fueling your body, we can definitely talk. Don’t be shy. Proper nutrition can help with cramps, muscle resynthesis, leaning out, just feeling better, and overall performance. I’m happy to help you guys in any way I can. If I don’t have the answer, we will find it. I am here for you guys. I want you guys to feel like you’re flying down the track! You guys are going to do great!

Foods to avoid:

These foods cause gastrointestinal discomfort

• Spicy foods
• Heavily seasoned foods (like garlic)
• Thick, white, and creamy foods (sour cream, cream cheese, white salad dressings, alfredo sauce, mayonnaise)

These foods will make you feel sick if consumed in the meal/snack before practice or competition

• Dairy (yogurt, ice cream, milk, cheese)
• High fat foods (peanut butter, butter, fast food, pizza, fried anything)
• Fruit right before physical activity can sometimes have difficulty being digested due to the composition of the fructose sugars inside them

Please also avoid new foods and sea foods as they are often unpredictable in their effects upon individuals, and now is not a great time to be taking chances.

Your new best friends:

• Eggs are the highest absorbed protein and make a great breakfast

-provide protein for rebuilding muscles and keeping you full longer

• Lean meats

-provide protein for rebuilding muscle

• Whole wheat breads (toast, sandwiches, rolls). Go easy on butters and toppings though!

-provide long lasting carbohydrates for prolonged energy

• Oatmeal

-provide complex carbohydrates for energy

• Fruits after physical activity or at least an hour before performance

-aid in rehydration and carbohydrates for energy

• Vegetables

-aid in hydration and provide several vitamins and minerals

• Red meat sauces are better than white sauces

Now, I don’t want any of you to feel burdened by any of this. If you would like to eat a cookie or piece of cake that’s perfectly fine, but have A COOKIE or A PIECE of cake! Don’t eat the whole sleeve of cookies or two-thirds of the cake. In fact, if you want to eat something light and sweet about 15 or 20 minutes before you run like fruit snacks, a piece of whole wheat toast with jelly or honey, a piece of candy, or 8 oz of a sweet drink that’s fine. These are simple sugars and they will help provide most of the energy to your muscles for the first 10-15 seconds of your run. And since your runs don’t last very long, this is meeting a good bit of your energy needs.

Please drink plenty of water and start hydrating now. In adult athletes, a 2% level of dehydration causes a 20% DECREASE in performance! In younger athletes, it only takes a 1% level of dehydration to decrease performance by 20%. Regardless of which category you fall in, dehydration is horrible on performance. Soda doesn’t really help this. Water is the best thing.

Written By: Darian T