Have you seen advertisements for a supplements promising enhanced performance, improved speed, muscle growth, or faster recovery times? It's sooooo easy to buy into the marketing! Trust me I want to believe them too. Most athletes rely on supplements to some degree to help them achieve their performance goals. However, not all supplements are created equal. Some have robust scientific backing supporting their efficacy, while others fall short of their lofty promises. Let's delve into the world of sports supplements and distinguish the effective from the ineffective. Note that I am only reviewing a handful of the thousands of supplements on the market in this article. Remember that there are many that are downright harmful. So buyer beware ...as an athlete YOU are responsible for knowing the safety and (NCAA/ WADA) legality of everything that you put into your body. 

CAFFEINE stands out as one of the most researched and proven ergogenic aids. When timed properly, and consumed...

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH PROTEIN YOU NEED?

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH PROTEIN YOU ARE CURRENTLY EATING?

LET'S DIVE IN....

WHY PROTEIN?

You prioritize training heard every day. You don't skip practice, or lift sessions and you are mentally dialed in. BUT.....do you put as much emphasis on fueling? Performance is rooted in nutrition. Fueling your body with adequate nutrients, at the right time and in the right proportion is a crucial element of training. One we don't always respect quite enough.

Protein needs to be at the top of the priority list! When you are training, day in and day out, you are experiencing muscle tissue breakdown. In order to repair that breakdown and ensure you come back stronger each day, protein intake must be a priority. ProteinPis also responsible for blood sugar regulation, hormone production, optimal immune function and many other crucial biologic functions. Protein needs to be a part of each meal and snack in order to meet your needs.

HOW...

Do you ever feel sluggish, tired, slow or unable to perform at your best during your workouts or competitions? Have you been trying to lose weight or lean out but struggling to make progress? Have you been trying hard in the gym to make some gains it's simply not working? If so, you may be under-fueling your body.

What is Under-fueling?

Under-fueling is when you are not consuming an adequate amount of calories to support your body's needs. Your needs are based on your activity level each day.  Under-fueling can have detrimental effects on your sports performance as an athlete, but it can also have deleterious effects on your overall health. Eating too little is what is making you feel sluggish, slow and tired. It is also what's hindering you from losing weight, building muscle and feeling energetic, strong and powerful! Under-fueling will result in a lack of energy, poor concentration, slower recovery time, increased risk of injury, and decreased performance.

If you...

The average caloric value of Thanksgiving dinner in the United States ranges from 3000-4500 calories according to Consumer Reports. The fat content was measured to range from 155-200 grams of fat. While I do not normally recommend counting calories, I highlight these statistics to make a point. Most of us go way overboard on food intake on Thanksgiving!  

As an athlete who may have a tournament, game,  competition, race or who just needs to keep training through the holiday weekend in the days following Thanksgiving, this can send you off your game and further away from your performance goals . Overeating to this degree can slow down your metabolism, cause dehydration and a feeling of sluggishness, nausea and fatigue.  

Here are 6 steps to take to avoid the bad habit of overeating at Thanksgiving so that you feel better and stay on track with your training and competing:

1. Don't Skip Breakfast on Thanksgiving Day! Eat like you normally would. Fuel yourself well the...

Sports Nutrition is simple. Society, social media, supplements salespeople, coaches, teammates complicate it. The foundation of Sports Nutrition is simple: Fuel your body well and it will do what you want (and need) it to do. I'll simplify is even more by telling you THE ONLY 2 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SPORTS NUTRITION:

1. Making good decisions about what you decide to put in your body will maximize your performance.

2. Making poor decisions about what you decide to pup in your body will hinder your performance. 

As an athlete you know that eating healthy will help you. It's pretty much common sense that by providing your body with the nutrients it needs to perform will benefit your performance. So many of us do not, however make the connection that by eating an inadequate amount of nutrients that our body's require...our performance will suffer. It's commonplace to think "I'm an athlete-so I can eat junk food because I'm just going to burn  it off". Trust me-I...

 Can you believe we have arrived at Tip #10??

I hope these tips have motivated you, educated you and inspired you to make some changes as an athlete. My hope is to give you specific action steps to boost your performance and up your game! 

If you missed any of the "TOP TEN SPORTS NUTRITION TIPS TO LEVEL UP YOUR GAME"  Series....Don't worry! They are all permanently a part of this BLOG. So scroll back and catch up on all of them!  

---

 

Without Further Ado…. Here is Tip #10

 

---

 HYDRATE SOME MORE!

 

It's true - HYDRATION gets TWO spots on the Eat4Sport Top Ten List ...because it's THAT important! 

 

I want you to think of hydration as THE most important aspect of training. A few important tips to know:

 

You need to find a way to hydrate well each and every day. Don't just hydrate on long training days or super hot and humid days. Your body functions best when it’s consistently in a hydrated state.

Learn how to...

Fiber is literally your BFF as and athlete. ‍

This is one of the most important tips I can give you: **include a high fiber food at each meal and snack.

High fiber foods include:

ALL FRUITS AND ALL VEGGIES! Fruits and veggies contain a combination of solute and insoluble fiber. Both have substantial health benefits when it comes to overall health and sports performance.

ALL GRAIN. Every grain you can think of has fiber. Most have a combination of soluble and insoluble fiber such as oats, brown rice, wild rice, farro, barley, quinoa, buckwheat, whole wheat pasta, chick pea pasts, popcorn, bulgar, millet, rye, corn, wheat and many more...

NUTS and SEEDS such as sesame seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, peanuts, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and many more...

BEANS and LENTILS including black beans, pinto beans, green lentils, white lentils, split peas, chick peas, lima beans and many more...

‍Fiber is crucial in order to...

EAT FAT!!! 

Fat is an essential component of an athlete's diet. Consuming the right kind of fat,  in the right quantities, at the right times, is crucial for optimal health and success as an athlete. Healthy fats that support athlete's training include avocados, fatty fish (such as salmon), fish oil supplements, olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia nut oil and other monounsaturated oils, nuts and nut butters, flax seeds, chia seeds and other seeds.

The fear around fat is unsubstantiated. Good fat is GOOD! There are some sources of fat that cause inflammation and are not positive to performance gains. The focus is always on unsaturated sources of fat (primarily monounsaturated fast). Here are some ways to incorporate these foods in your diet as an athlete:

Whole grain bagel with smoked salmon

Berry Smoothie with flax and hemp seed mixture

Almond Butter and honey Sandwich 

Spring greens salad with olive oil based dressing 

Yogurt parfait with fruit and...

 EAT BREAKFAST!!

Is breakfast the most important meal fo the day?

No.

All meals all equally important. BUT...breakfast is the one meal that sets us up for success throughout the day by fueling our bodies and regulating our blood sugar. If you have practice in the afternoon or evening  it's crucial to begin the fueling process right away. If you have practice in the morning it's also crucial to fuel for that practice. Fueling for a morning practice, however, may look a little different in terms of how much you can eat or the types of foods you can eat.  

Don't like eating in the morning? It's likely that is due to the fact that you trained your body not to like it. Guess what? You can train it back! Start with something small or even just a few bites and start the process of training your GI system to take in food. Doing this will re-set your hunger cues!

Below are some examples of healthy balanced fueling breakfasts for athletes! Try the ones that sound good to...