Designing a plan for Athlete Nutrition always seems to change. It seems like any time you want to improve your diet, or someone else’s, the standards change.

While this might be frustrating, i’m here to goosfraba your stress away (great film btw.)

In other words, creating a diet plan should not be super complicated, sticking to it becomes the problem. We will go over some basic guidelines which will then, improve your athlete nutrition.

Athlete nutrition 101 – Macros

Macronutrients, or macros for short, are the 3 most important food nutrients that your body needs. They consist of your Fats Carbs and Proteins. Without going into too much detail and boring you to death, just know they all function well together.

Often times, people heavily restrict themselves of one or more macro group and it impacts their day/week/month.

So it’s safe to say we want a balanced diet consisting of a healthy portion of all 3. And when we are referring to athlete nutrition, eating good high quality food makes you a better athlete.

What are carbs fats and proteins

This might seem simply but I didn’t learn this until I was well into my sophomore year of college so don’t worry. Therefore, by understanding this will improve playing experience & make quality of life better.

Good Carbs or Carbohydrates Are

• Pastas
• Bread
• Rice
• Beans
• Fruits
• Vegetables

Good carbs just means healthy sources of fuel for your body so it won’t feel foggy or lazy.

Bad Carbs Are

• Candy
• Cake
• Soda
• Dessert
• Pizza
• Chips

All carbs best relate to your energy sources. If you want a good source of energy, carbs are your best bet.

To be honest, I’ve never understood low carb diets, especially keto diets. Since they are making you feel a constant need to eat. You also won’t be able to perform at a high level since you are not fulfilled with energy.

And if you take an athlete that NEEDS energy, stay far far away from low carb diets. Athlete nutrition needs to have carbs.

Just please please do not overdo it with your eating or else you will have a stomach like Homer here. A great physique allows you to perform really well without feeling sluggish.

Food is fuel, give it some of the good stuff!

Fats

Fats are the brain boosters, heart helpers, and the way to feel full. While often small, they are the most calorie dense so be careful!

great healthy fats

• Avocados
• Cheese
• Dark Chocolate
• Whole Eggs
• Fatty Fish
• Nuts
• Chia Seeds
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

While good fats ARE good for you, too much of anything can be bad. As a result, we recommend using a food scale. You can find them anywhere but we included an affiliate link so we can earn a bit of revenue if this one looks good.

By the way, I wrote a whole article on tracking your food by your macros using a calorie counter app in one of my previous posts.

Fats are, in my opinion, the easiest to overeat from. I remember the first time I started to measure portions. I thought a cup of milk was literally a full cup. It turns out I was getting 3X the number of calories than a normal serving.

Even better, when I started measuring chicken, I Thought one whole raw breast you get from Walmart was 8 OZ, and I wanted to eat 16 OZ a day. Man… I was eating well over 32 OZ of chicken in one sitting or well over 150 grams of protein. Talk about gainzzz!

Some Bad fats Are

• Butter
• Margarine
• Shortening
• Beef or Pork Fat

These are bad fats mainly because they offer no nutritional value whatsoever. But man are they tasty.

There will be some people who see this and get upset with what I classify as bad and good fats, whatever. Just think of food as good or bad quality of nutrients. If I eat this will it make me feel energized and alert, or slow and lazy?

If it makes you feel bad after you eat it, you know it’s not the best to eat compared to a healthier option.

But who am I to stop you from eating what you like? Just please do it in moderation, it’s your life.

To sum up, how you feel and function is a direct correlation to the daily choices we make from food all the way to fitness.

Proteins

I could write a 200 page post on protein alone. It is my favorite nutrient since it helps build and maintain those musclesss. If you want to improve metabolism, performance in your sports, or daily life, eat more protein.

Protein Examples

• Chicken Breast
• Turkey Breast
• Egg Whites
• Dried Fish
• Shrimp
• Tuna
• Halibut
• Tilapia

A common theme here is most proteins are meats. Most higher quality proteins are lean sources of meat that are over 80% protein.

Lower Quality Proteins

• Red Meat
• Dark Meat
• Processed Meats

The reason these are low quality is because they are either high in fat, or not made with natural ingredients. If you have ever seen hot dogs being made, you’ll know what I mean.

As a result, you typically want to match your bodyweight in grams of protein. (if i’m 180 pounds, I need to eat 180 grams of protein daily.)

For example, this could simply be 2 scoops of protein (60 G), 8 Oz of chicken (70 G), 4 whole eggs (24 G) and 2 servings of cottage cheese (25 G) to get you to around 179 Grams of protein.

Simply put, protein makes us stay strong during our performances.

Develop good habits so you can become a machine on the field!

Athlete Nutrition In Conclusion

While we will post many topics about nutrition in the future, we hope that this helps you or someone you know find out how to improve their eating habits.

It may seem harmless to grab that bag of chips, but trust me, your future self will thank you if you substitute it for something in higher quality!

Likewise, click here to see some at home workouts to implement into your daily routine.

Therefore, if you click here, you’ll know how to track your food using calorie counter apps.

Let us know how we did! Is there something in particular you would like to see next? Therefore by leaving a comment, we’ll be sure to get back to you!

Thanks for reading and stay amazing!

• Eric