For teen athletes, it’s not just about performance; it’s about growing properly. As a coach, this adds an additional challenge, since you may frequently find yourself giving advice about what to eat or even being with your athletes during mealtimes. A brief survey of teen athletes recently conducted by PowerBar
® shows that athletes may be getting the calories they need to maintain weight, but could use a boost in good nutrition.
Athletes in three sports were surveyed: soccer, swimming, and football. They shared common traits: Diet is important to their sport, and they like fast food. The following chart provides quick and easy meal makeovers for teen athletes to help them eat more healthfully, without requiring a lot of preparation time. Improving their diet will not only ensure that they provide the nutrients their body needs to grow properly, but it may give them the performance edge they are looking for. Eating healthily can often result in taking in fewer calories, (due to the reduced fat content), so increasing portion size of the healthier options as needed should be encouraged to help meet your teen athletes’ caloric needs. The following are not intended to be complete menus, just tips on how individual meals can be improved. It can be helpful for teen athletes under 18 years of age to work with registered dietitians that specialize in sports nutrition; they can help your young athletes develop appropriate diet and/or nutrition plans. A list of RDs can be found at
www.scandpg.org.
Football
Football players generally do well in getting the calories they need, but they often do it by eating more of the same. They lack variety. Here are some ideas to help turn your football players’ diets into ample calories with more variety. Again, this is not a daily food plan, just a few ideas for meal makeovers of some items that show up in the typical teen diet. You can build on these ideas to help your young athletes come up with their own daily meal plans to keep them fueled for youth football drills and other training.
| Meal | Instead of this… | Try this! |
| Breakfast | 1 cup Captain Crunch with 1% milk, 1 piece banana bread, 12 oz sports drink | 1 1/2 cup of cereal (aim for low-sugar cereals like corn flakes or oat and rice cereals) topped with 1 cup of 1% milk, 1 banana, 8 oz of 100% fruit juice |
| Lunch | 6 fried chicken fingers, medium fries, 12 oz sports drink, 1 granola bar, 1 pear, 1 oz BBQ chips | 4 grilled chicken tenders, 1 medium baked potato topped with low-fat sour cream, or salsa, 16 oz of water, 1 granola bar, and 1 serving of fruit, 1 cup 1% or skim milk |
| Dinner | Chinese take-out: 1 cup chow mein, 1 cup fried rice, 1 order orange chicken (fried) | Chinese take-out: 1 cup grilled beef or chicken and broccoli, 1 cup brown rice, 1 cup wonton soup or egg drop soup |
| Snack | Chili-cheese fries, 16 oz chocolate milkshake from McDonald’s | 8 oz low-fat chocolate milk, 4-in turkey sub with veggies and low-fat Italian dressing |
|
Swimming
Swimmers often are trying to balance their performance with their desire to maintain weight. Like their football friends, they often lack variety and like fast food, but the swimmer often doesn’t eat enough of the nutrients they need. More meal makeovers:
| Meal | Instead of this… | Try this! |
| Breakfast | 1 bakery iced cinnamon roll | 1 whole-wheat bagel topped with 2% low-fat cheese with 8 oz 100% fruit juice |
| Morning snack | 1 cup cinnamon instant oatmeal | 1 cup plain instant oatmeal made with skim milk and topped with 2 tbsp dried fruit |
| Lunch | 1 cup goldfish crackers, 16 oz soda | 1 cup chicken noodle soup, ½ cup goldfish crackers, 10 baby carrots, 1 small piece of fruit, 16 oz water |
| Dinner | 6-in Quiznos honey mustard chicken sub, 16 oz sweet tea | 1 grilled chicken salad topped with 2 tbsp low-fat honey mustard dressing, 1 cup 1% or skim milk |
|
Soccer
Youth soccer players also may get the calories they need, but could benefit from some variety. Try these healthier meals to supplement your soccer coaching:
| Meal | Instead of this… | Try this! |
| Breakfast | 1 cup Lucky Charms cereal with 2% milk | 1 1/2 cup of low-sugar cereal like corn flakes or oat and rice cereals with 1 cup of 1% or skim milk |
| Morning snack | 1 medium banana | Egg sandwich: 1 whole egg with 1 slice Canadian bacon (no cheese) on an English muffin |
| Lunch | Subway sandwich on white bread, turkey, cheese, mayo and 16 oz lemonade | Subway sandwich on whole-wheat bread with turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, extra veggies, and mustard, 1 cup 1% or skim milk |
| Dinner | Burrito, Chalupa, and a taco from Taco Bell (all beef), 12 oz fruit punch | Bean burrito (skip the cheese and sour cream), 2 soft tacos with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, and extra salsa, and a fresh fruit cup |
| Snack | 1 hotdog with bun, 16 oz sports drink | 1 whole-grain, high-fiber energy bar and 1 small piece of fruit |
|
Tips to tell teens
Talk to your teen athletes about the importance of eating before and after their workouts. I like to tell them like this: You wouldn’t hit the road on an empty tank of gas, and the same goes for workouts — you have to fuel up before you hit the track, the field, or the pool. Even if you’re in a time crunch, you still need to get in some much-needed energy before practice or the big game.
When and what should you choose for a pre-game snack?
- Aim to eat something about 30–60 minutes before hitting the field or gym. This will give your stomach time to digest the food, and you won’t start out feeling weighed down. Select foods that are low in fat and fiber, for easier digestion
- Your car runs on unleaded fuel, even though there are other types of fuel out there. Your body is the same way. During a workout, your muscles crave carbohydrate, even though protein and fat are other sources of fuel. Fuel your body with what it craves by eating high-carbohydrate foods, like breads, cereals, pasta, rice, fruit, or energy bars
Here are some quick and easy ideas that will fuel working muscles without weighing you down:
- 1–2 oz pretzels with 1 tbsp low-fat caramel dip
- 8–16 oz sports drink
- 1 cup low-sugar cereal and ½ cup skim milk
- ½ of a sandwich (aim for a few slices of lean meat or a tablespoon of peanut butter and a tablespoon of jelly)
- 1 PowerBar® Performance Energy bar, or 1 packet of PowerBar® Gel Blasts™ energy chews
- 6 oz of fat-free yogurt with a handful of granola and raisins
- Snack pack of pudding with 4 graham crackers
- A handful of trail mix made up of raisins, salted pretzels, and cereal
- A small bagel with 1 tbsp light cream cheese
- 1 English muffin with a slice of low-fat cheese
- 1 flour tortilla topped with 1 slice of low-fat cheese and salsa
- 8 oz fruit smoothie made with fat-free yogurt and fresh or frozen fruit
After practice
You may be done with your practice or game, but your work isn’t finished. You still need to recover, so you’ll be ready to go the next time you hit the field or gym. It’s important to eat within a short period of time (think 30 minutes) following a practice or a game. By eating shortly afterwards, your muscles can repair.
What should you choose? Your recovery snack can be similar to your pre-game snack with a little extra protein mixed in. If this snack is fairly small, or if you just can’t seem to eat a lot right after your workout, aim for a small snack right after exercising, and follow it with a high-carbohydrate meal (think pasta, potatoes, and whole grains) within 2 hours.
For a small snack, try:
- 2 oz pretzels dipped in 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 piece of fruit with 1–2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 oz lean beef jerky, 1 piece of string cheese, a piece of fruit, and 6 saltine crackers
- 8 oz low fat chocolate milk and 1 medium banana
- 1/2 pita filled with 2% low-fat cheese, hummus, and fresh veggies
Fast food:
- Grilled chicken sandwich on whole-wheat bun (skip the mayo and add mustard instead)
- Whole-wheat sub sandwich with lean turkey and roast beef, topped with extra veggies and mustard
- Vegetarian burrito (skip the extra cheese and the sour cream)
- Bean burrito with extra salsa
- Chicken noodle soup with saltines
- Veggie burger topped with ketchup and mustard
- Fruit and yogurt parfait topped with granola
- Low-fat chili and saltine crackers
- Slice of thick-crust veggie pizza
Topics:
General, Carbs
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