High-Performance Nutrition for Athletes – Part Three

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

My approach to an athlete’s nutrition is simple – feed and nurture yourself! My goal is to help and educate you on how to provide your body with the right fuel to maximize the effects of your training and contribute to faster recovery. I aim to help you develop healthy, consistent eating habits that are quick and easy to implement. Nutrition should be a top priority for you as an athlete if you aim for good results on the sports field.

Athletes, like everyone else, occasionally struggle with excess body fat. Here are strategies and tips for those athletes who want to reduce body fat and improve body composition. These practical strategies can be easily implemented, and you will see results very quickly. Fat loss can be quite simple and can happen relatively quickly if you are disciplined and stick to these guidelines.

Stop eating when you feel 80% full. Take your time eating. This is simple but very effective. The signal of fullness from the brain comes with a delay. If you stop eating before you “feel” full, you will avoid overeating. Any food or excess caloric intake (even healthy, nutrient-dense food) is recognized by your body as unnecessary for immediate use and stored as body fat. To reduce body fat, apply this rule and avoid overeating.

Five workouts a week. To lose body fat, you need to be in a caloric deficit, meaning that the energy expended must be greater than the energy taken in through food.

Sleep 8 hours every night. Without adequate sleep, our body’s catabolic hormones (cortisol) and anabolic hormones (testosterone, even in women) become imbalanced, with too much cortisol present. This changes how our body stores fat and can cause excess abdominal fat. Sleep is important for the recovery of all systems, including the muscular, digestive, and nervous systems. If these systems are fatigued, it will slow down your body’s ability to burn fat and prevent weight loss.

Fruit/grains only in the morning or 1 hour after training. Controlling sugar intake is extremely important for fat loss. ANY food source that leads to a rapid increase in blood glucose (fruit or carbohydrates) will be recognized by the body as excess and stored in your fat cells. When you want to lose body fat, you want to avoid this at all costs. For this reason, eat these types of carbohydrates when your body needs them, such as after training. This will ensure that these carbohydrates are used by your body for recovery and growth instead of increasing body fat. One of the reasons why fruit is best eaten in the morning is that carbohydrates stored in the liver (liver glycogen) are depleted overnight to maintain blood sugar levels. The liver’s glycogen prefers the sugar found in fruit. Therefore, when you eat fruit in the morning, you are simply replenishing liver glycogen, not storing fat. For the fastest results, eat fruit in the morning and starchy carbohydrates only after training. All other meals should contain protein, healthy fats, and plenty of vegetables.

Increase intake of healthy fats (nuts, seeds, flax, peanut or almond butter) while reducing carbohydrate intake. Try to get at least 2 tablespoons of healthy fats with each meal. This may include adding some nuts, nut butter, or avocado.

Take 6 grams of Omega-3 fish oil every day. This is another great way to increase the intake of healthy fats in your diet. Fish oil will help stimulate fat metabolism and help your body use its fat stores for energy throughout the day. The more fat you burn for energy, the leaner your body will become. This is extremely effective for reducing body fat and building muscle tissue.

Avoid ALL high-sugar drinks (soda, sports drinks, juices). Period. These drinks will not help you recover after training and contain very few nutrients. Make a habit of drinking green tea. If you find water boring, try adding a slice of lemon.

Eat vegetables with every meal to increase your intake of fibrous carbohydrates. Not only are vegetables highly nutritious, but they are also rich in fiber that helps control blood sugar levels.

Drink 3 liters of water every day. Water will help your body function at a high level. When dehydrated, your bodily functions slow down, as does your metabolism and fat-burning mechanisms. To make your body a fat-burning machine, start each day with 2 glasses of water and make sure to stay hydrated throughout the day.

Take 3 fish oil/Omega-3 tablets before training. Avoid bread/sugars/fruit. If you want to burn more fat for energy during training, avoid sugary foods (such as Gatorade, fruit, cereals) before exercising. This will force your body to use more fat as an energy substrate instead of the sugar in the bloodstream that is available from the food you just consumed. This is a very effective strategy!

Be smart and pay attention; remember that the key to good nutrition is being honest with yourself. If you are serious about reducing body fat, stay disciplined and make good choices. If you make bad choices, your body will soon show every slip-up.

Stay focused and reward yourself on a specific day and time. If you want to break the rules, plan it! Preferably after training. It is impossible to be perfect all the time, but make sure that when you decide to bend the rules, it is planned and doesn’t happen too often. Choose one day a week as a “cheat day,” where you allow yourself to enjoy certain foods that you otherwise avoid. For example, you can use Friday as a day where you treat yourself to dessert. Just make sure to work out that day and don’t let it extend into Saturday and Sunday. Choose one day; use it as a reward for yourself and as motivation to eat disciplined for the rest of the week. Follow this rule, and you will see great results.

Be consistent in your choices. Remember, the body doesn’t lie. The more consistent you are, the better your body composition and performance results will be.