Nutrition plays a huge role in enhancing your performance.
Your body needs a constant supply of high-quality fuel to perform at its best.
The first step toward building a good sports-nutrition plan is to
understand the basic components of a healthy diet and to know how much
of those components your body needs. Use the tips below to begin
creating your personal sports-nutrition plan.
- Calculate your calorie needs. In order to fuel
your body properly, you have to know how many calories your body needs
each day. Without this information, you may be setting yourself up for
underperformance. Too few calories, and you won’t have enough energy;
too many calories, and you’ll be packing on unwanted pounds.
Your daily calorie needs are based on a variety of factors,
including your age, height, gender and level of physical activity. If
you don’t know how many calories you need, you can get a good estimate
using an online calculator.
Be sure to make an eating plan. Divide your calories evenly
throughout the day, and plan to eat every couple of hours. The goal is
to avoid going too long without food and then feeling starved—that’s
when you’re most likely to reach for whatever’s available, which is
usually junk.
- Find your balance. Once you’ve determined how
many calories you need, figure out where those calories should come
from. There are three major sources of calories that should comprise an
athlete’s diet: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. A balanced mix of
these three things will supply the best fuel for your body.
- Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy. 55-70% of an athlete’s diet should be comprised of carbohydrates.
- Focus on: rice, cereals, breads, beans, fruits and vegetables. Choose whole grains whenever possible.
- Limit your intake of: croissants, biscuits, cakes, desserts,
fried vegetables, canned fruit in syrup and high-sugar fruit juices.
- Protein is essential for optimal physical performance.
It’s responsible for developing and maintaining muscle tissue and for
boosting the health of the immune system. 10-18% of an athlete’s diet
should be comprised of protein.
- Focus on: low-fat dairy (yogurt, milk, cheese), lean meats
and fish, nuts, nut butters (peanut butter), seeds, beans and soy. Meats
should be baked, roasted, poached, grilled or broiled.
- Limit your intake of: dark, processed, breaded or fried
meats (for example, dark chicken meat, bacon, sausage, fried fish) or
whole-fat dairy.
- Fat is an important part of a sports nutrition diet. It
supplies several essential nutrients and is an important source of
energy for endurance athletes. 20-30% of an athlete’s diet should be
comprised of fat.
- Focus on: fish, olives, olive oil, avocados and nuts.
- Limit your intake of: butter, margarine, cream, fried foods,
fatty meats. Avoid anything that contains partially hydrogenated
oil—it’s just another name for unhealthy trans fats.
The "focus on" foods listed above will give you a lot of nutrition
per calorie without a lot of extra junk (i.e. nutrient dense foods).
Choose foods that are high in vitamins and minerals and low in extras
like sugar and artificial colors or flavors. The higher the quality of
your food, the better your body will perform.
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