NUTRITION ON THE GO

Maintaining healthy nutrition habits on the road for your sport or competition can be challenging. Here are a few ideas to help you along the way.

What foods are you comfortable with? The goal is to eat as close to normal as you do on a daily basis. Eating similar foods and keeping it as close to a normal routine will ensure a good energy level and no surprises with how you feel prior to competition.

You still want to eat several times per day (hopefully 3 meals and a couple of snacks). Eating every couple of hours ensures a more balanced energy level – no lows in the middle of the day.

Along with this, we want you to balance your food selection: carbs, protein, and fats. All are beneficial for our young athletes with the greatest amount of foods coming in the form of carbohydrates. Remember when we talk about carbohydrates, we are not talking about refined sugars or processed foods (packaged foods). We are referring to complex carbs like fruits, vegetables, grains, bread, and cereals.

Look at your game schedule so you are able to plan and prepare. For example, if you know that you play early in the day, the team may have to go to bed earlier or run to the store the night prior to pick up some easy foods that are ready to go. You’ll avoid the stress of finding quality foods or resorting to fast food right before the game. Or if you know you will be playing back-to-back games, you may need to bring a small snack between games to ensure good energy.

Most of the areas that we play in have plenty of healthy food options. So as soon as you arrive, locate a grocery store so that you can purchase some easy snacks just in case there is a change in schedule. Again, this will ensure that you always have some good fuel that you like in your bag.