Welcome to our blog, A Guide to Healthy Eating for Teenage Athletes! As athletes, we want to do everything we can to be the best at our sport, so we go to practice everyday, do insane intervals, and lift weights. Knowing what exercises to do is the easy part, because we have coaches and trainers telling us what to do. The more difficult aspect about staying healthy is knowing how to eat right. At home, you don't have a tough coach looking over your shoulder at that big slice of pizza you're eating, and no one's there to tell you which foods will give you the most energy before the big game. Many of us swear by energy drinks and power bars to get us through a track meet or basketball game, but did you know that we can get the nutrients we need by eating normally? Teenage athletes shouldn't be consuming anything different than an average teenager. We don't need special sports drinks or supplements; we can sustain ourselves with the kinds of food as any other kid. Athletes just have to consume more calories and nutrients to reach the needs of our demanding bodies. Our diets need to be balanced, with the right amount of macro and micro nutrients. Because of our more active lifestyle, getting enough calories is extremely important because not having enough energy will not allow you to perform at your peak. For example, Michael Phelps is not only famous for his numerous Olympic Swimming medals, but also for the fact that while he trains, he eats a whopping 12,000 calories a day! We also have to avoid the foods that will make us feel slow and sluggish. So how can you find out which foods you should include in your diet? You could surf the internet for info, but there's a lot of confusing, conflicting information out there. We've organized it all right here on our blog, so it's easier for you to decide how to handle your diet. We hope that our blog will inform you about the healthy eating choices you should be making and eventually, make you a better athlete!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Recommended Caloric Intake
The title, "Recommended Caloric Intake" is very general. We cannot give you a number and expect it to be the correct number of calories needed for you. It's not one size fits all; there is no recommended caloric intake for all human beings. If you try to Google, "recommended caloric intake," there will be no link to tell you what the average caloric requirements are. We, as humans, are much too varied. We all require different amounts of calories to grow properly depending on our gender, age, height, weight, activity intensity, activity frequency, and more variables. Even when we narrow it down to an active teen's recommended caloric intake, there is no right answer.
A nutritionist from the United Kingdom's government started to get people to use "EARs," or Estimated Average Requirements. Those numbers are estimated by your gender and age only, so they don't factor many variables such as an individual's height or how active you are. The average height and weight of the children in the UK is used to get an age group's "EAR," and the the activity levels are all estimated, ergo, Estimated Average Requirement. A person's EAR is an in the ballpark number, but a free, online Calorie Calculator can be even more specific. There's a great Calorie Calculator at
Now, let's delve into how the Calorie Calculator works. The biggest factor as to how many calories you should be eating is your age. As a teenager, you would think that we are younger than adults and therefore would need less calories, right? Wrong! Because we're teenagers, we're growing and actually need a larger amount of calories than adults. Adults are finished with puberty and aren't growing, so they don't need as many calories as we do. Up until adolescence, however, the recommended caloric intake will steadily increases with the individual's age. Another huge factor in how many calories an teenager needs is their gender. On average, boys need more calories than girls do. This is because, to state the obvious, boys are generally taller and weigh more than girls do. In order to maintain their larger stature, boys need to take in more calories than girls. There is also a greater percentage of active adolescent boys than girls. Since boys are, on average, competing in sports and such more, they need more calories to sustain themselves through the day.
Speaking of activity levels, how much you exercise is a third significant factor in how many calories one needs. For example, an professional athlete training for the Olympics can eat up to 12,000 calories a day! If you use the Calorie Calculator, it will ask you for both your activity frequency and intensity to factor into how many calories you need. Those who partake in sports need to keep in mind that they need a sustained healthy diet. A teenage athlete needs to meet his or her daily caloric requirements every day. If you only eat your recommended caloric requirement on the day you run, but under ate the previous week, you'll start to feel tired. The body burns energy from carbohydrates first, but once the body runs out of carbohydrates it moves on to burning fat. Fat is a long term energy storage, and if you don't have a good amount of fat in your body from the weeks leading up to the long run, you won't have any back-up energy to run on. How soon you eat before your activity is also a good thing to keep in mind. Any runner fears debilitating side stitches. For long distance runners, it is recommended to wait 2 1/2 hours between eating and running. Sprinters have to fast for even longer, about 3 1/2 hours between food and running.
I hope you now have enough background knowledge about calories. Now, you should know what influences your caloric requirements and how to calculate your individual, unique caloric requirement. But what good is knowing how many calories you need if you don't know where to get them from? Equally as important as an athlete's caloric requirement is the food he or she eats to obtain them. The rest of the posts are all about the macronutrients, what you should and should not eat to obtain these calories, and an example of what you could eat. Have fun reading on!
Posted by Kylie at 2:58 PM 0 comments
Macro & Micro Nutrients
Everyone knows what nutrients are, carbohydrates, calcium, protein, etc., but did you know that they are separated into different categories?
There are two different categories for nutrients, Macro Nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein, and fat, and Micro Nutrients such as iron, calcium, and potassium.
Carbohydrates:
Out of all the Macro Nutrients, carbohydrates may be the most misunderstood. Many diets advise avoiding carbs to maintain a healthy weight, and label carbs as "bad". On the contrary, for an athlete, certain carbs are good! Carbohydrates are the Macro Nutrient that provide energy for you body first. When you're sprinting in a race or running down the soccer field, the energy you're using comes from the carbohydrates you consumed earlier in the day. The important thing is to make sure you are getting the right type of carbs. Carbs from whole grain wheat, vegetables, fruit, and beans will promote good health by helping to deliver vitamins and fiber throughout your body. Carbs that are easily digested, such as white bread, pastries, sodas, and white rice can promote weight gain and diabetes.
Proteins:
When most people think of athletes, they think of big and muscular people, who spend all of their time in the weight room and only eat protein rich foods. However, it is proven that having a over excessive protein intake does not increase how much muscle you grow or how fast it will grow. Sure protein makes up muscles, but you don't need to eat protein bars or supplements like that, you can get it from just eating normally. The best way to build up muscles is just to practice and train regularly. In fact, too much protein can be detrimental to your health, and can cause dehydration, calcium loss, and sometimes even kidney failure. Some good sources of protein rich food are fish, other lean meats, eggs, soy, dairy, nuts, and peanut butter.
Fats:
Everyone needs a certain amount of fat everyday, especially athletes. When you exercise for an extended period of time, your body burns through energy from carbs quickly, and needs the long term energy that fats provide. However, just like carbs, there are good sources of fat and bad sources of fat. As an athlete, you should try to eat the healthier fats, such as the unsaturated fats found in vegetable oil. When you eat fats is also important. Most fats slow digestion, so you probably should avoid eating fats for a few hours before and after your workout.
Vitamins and Minerals:
While vitamins and minerals do not provide your body with energy, they play an important role. vitamin D and calcium help you to develop strong bones and you need iron for your blood cells to carry oxygen throughout your body. Certain minerals, such as potassium, calcium, and sodium are called electrolytes. Electrolytes are very important when you exercise, because can effect the amount of water in your body during muscular activity. If you eat a well balanced diet, you shouldn't need to take supplements with high doses of minerals, as it is proven that they don't improve your performance, and may actually be bad for you.
How Much:
Now that you know about the macro and micronutrients, you may be asking how much we should get of each. Knowing how many micronutrients is the easy part, as it can be measured by a set amount, no matter how many calories you eat a day. The only variable that affects the amount of micronutrients one needs is his or her age and gender. For example, teenage girls aged fifteen to seventeen need 1,300 mg of calcium every day. It doesn't matter whether they are intense athletes that are eating 4,000 calories a day or sleep-addicts only eating 1,500 calories a day. All teenage girls from fifteen to seventeen need 1,300 mg of calcium. Macronutrients, on the other hand, are a little bit trickier. Dieticians don't give you a set amount for how many macronutrients you should eat a day, rather, a percentage of your caloric intake. After doing a little math, you can figure out about how many carbohydrates, proteins and fats you need to eat a day. First, you need to calculate your recommended caloric intake using a Calorie Calculator (see post, "Recommended Caloric Intake" for link). Then, find out what percentage should be from each macronutrient. The percentages are, 45 – 65% from carbohydrates, 10 – 35% from protein, and 20 - 35% fats. Using these percentages, you can calculate how many of each of the macronutrients you need in your everyday diet.
Calcium:
This is not specifically directed towards teenage athletes, but to all teens when I ask, what does osteoperosis mean to you? It's a very crippling disease in which bones become brittle and soft due to a lack of calcium. It is rare for someone to get osteoperosis before age 65, but it doesn't mean that teens should not worry about it. It is critical that teenagers get their calcium now because 1/2 of the body's skeleton is formed in the teen years. Sadly, less that 50% of the teenage population in America is getting enough calcium. Girls are four times more likely to get osteoperosis because only 12% of girls get the recommended amount of calcium. And just incase you're wondering, the recommended amount of micronutrients is almost always the same no matter what your recommended caloric intake is. So, although the micronutrients are called micronutrients, it doesn't mean their unimportant! Sometimes, getting the right amount of micronutrients can make all the difference between whether you're healthy or not.
Posted by Kylie at 2:58 PM 0 comments
Diet Guidelines
Water
One of the most important things you need to do as an athlete is to STAY HYDRATED. Being dehydrated can lead to cramps, headaches, and effects on you performance, both physically and mentally. There is no specific amount of water that you absolutely need to have everyday, but most experts advise that you drink a lot of water before and after you exercise, as well as every 15-20 minutes while you exercise. Don't wait until you're thirsty to drink water, because thirst is an indicator of being dehydrated. You also don't want to force your fluid intake and drink too much water,because it makes exercising difficult if there is a lot of water sloshing around in your stomach. A good idea is to take a reusable water bottle to school, and drink a little bit in your classes. That way you can refill it when you run out, and you won't have to constantly have to bug your teacher about leaving class to get a sip of water.
Limited Foods
This is going to sound very cliche, but that is because it is the truth, foods that you should try to stay away from are ones that contain a lot of sugar, salt, and trans or saturated fats. Too much of these will make you feel very sluggish and slow causing your performance to suffer. They can also cause many, many health problems like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and other illnesses. Foods that are high in sugar include: many sports drinks, canned juice, soda, candy, many desserts, energy bars, doughnuts, muffins etc. High salt include: french fries, packaged meals, processed meats, pizza etc. And finally high in fat: french fries, anything fried, many baked goods, ice cream, etc. I'm not saying that these foods will kill you or that you can NEVER eat them again, but you have to eat them in moderation and be smart about what you decide to eat before times when you need to perform at your highest level. So next time you decide to order the value meal at McDonald's think twice about the nutritional value and how it can affect your day.
The Truth About Supplements
Another thing that you should try to limit as much as possible is protein bars. Unless you have the need for a very, very high caloric diet, most people can get enough protein from eating regularly with whole foods. For most, protein bars just add extra calories that you may not really need if you just eat enough dairy, meat, or beans. In fact, 3oz of grilled chicken breast provides about 26 grams of protein. The recommended intake is about 60-70 grams of protein. Since most of us eat more around 6 oz per serving, we intake about 50-52 grams of protein, that is over half of the recommended intake of protein. Also, protein bars tend to include many "mystery" ingredients. For example, PowerBars include : POWERBAR TRISOURCE PROTEIN BLEND..whatever that is. SOY LECITHIN, (NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR), GLUCOSE SYRUP, CANOLA OIL, FRUCTOSE, WATER, ALKALIZED COCOA, GELATIN (BEEF), NONFAT MILK, L-LEUCINE, NATURAL FLAVORS. What in the world is L-Leucine? Salmon however may only contain a little dash of salt and some bones when bought fresh. It also provides 39 grams of protien for about 6 oz and is rich with vitamins, minerals, and omega-3's. So,occasionally protein bars are good and provide a good source of energy, but it is better to eat whole foods, and usually the results will be the same.
We all have our favorite sports drinks, and after a tough game, it tastes better to drink a fruit punch flavored drink than water. But you should know, that unless you have been exercising for 60-90 minutes in hot weather, a sports drink is no better than drinking regular water, but with sugar and calories. In extreme situations, the extra electrolytes can improve your performance, but otherwise, save yourself the calories and just grab a bottle of water. Caution: Many sports drinks come in bottles with 2.5 or more servings. When you're tired, it's easy to chug the entire drink, not realizing all the extra calories and sugar you are also consuming at the same time.
Posted by Kylie at 2:57 PM 0 comments
3-Day Meal Plan !
Day 1
Breakfast:
Whole Grain Toast
2 Eggs
1 Apple Banana
Glass of Orange Juice
Lunch:
Turkey Sandwich (whole grain bread, couple slices turkey, lettuce, tomato, mustard)
Small Salad
1/2 apple
Glass of Water
Dinner:
Pasta
Salad
Grilled Chicken
Asparagus
Glass of Milk
Day 2
Breakfast:
2 cups of Cherios
1 cup of skim milk with Cherios
1 snack bag of Ritz crackers
1 8 oz. glass of apple juice
Lunch:
1 PB&J sandwich
1 cup of Yolplait yogurt
1 bag of Baked Lay's chips
1 apple or a banana
8 oz. glass of water
Dinner:
Salad with tomatoes and onions
1 cup of broccoli
2 servings of lasagna
8 oz. glass of passion orange juice
Day 3
Breakfast:
Oatmeal (130 Calories)
- 1 packet of instant oatmeal
- a cup of hot water, not milk
Fresh fruit (105 Calories)
- 1 cup of straw/blue/razz/blackberries or 1 banana
- I recommend eating it with your oatmeal
Skim Milk (80 Calories)
- 8 oz. glass of milk
Hazelnuts (180)
- 1/4 cup of raw hazelnuts
- great snack to eat in the car
Total: 495 Calories
Lunch:
Turkey sandwich (270 Calories)
- 2 slices of rye bread
- 2 slices of turkey
- 1 slice of Kraft cheese
- 2 leaves of lettuce
- dollop of light mayo, mustard
Nectarine (80 Calories)
- 1 medium sized nectarine
Cranberry Juice (140 Calories)
- 8 oz. glass of juice
- Ocean Spray brand
Total: 490 Calories
Snack:
Popchips (120 Calories)
- 1 bag of Popchips
- my favorite is Sea Salt & Vinegar (:
Water (0 Calories)
- 8 oz. glass of water
- stay hydrated!
Total: 120 Calories
Dinner:
Salad (100 Calories)
- 1/4 a head of lettuce
- 1/4 of a tomato
- light garnishing as you like
Grilled Lime-Honey Glazed Chicken (450 Calories)
- 2 servings according to this recipe
- http://kashi.com/recipes/245
Brown Rice (220 Calories)
- 1 cup of brown rice
Carrot Juice (140 Calories)
- 1 bottle of Odwalla
Total: 910 Calories
Dessert:
Ice Cream (65 Calories)
- 1/4 cup of Breyers vanilla
- yes, it's okay to eat ice cream in moderation
Strawberries (105 Calories)
- 1 cup of fresh strawberries
Water (0 Calories)
- 8 oz. glass of water
- stay hydrated!
Total: 170 Calories
Daily Caloric Intake: 2,185 Calories
- enough to maintain a healthy weight during track season
Posted by Kylie at 2:57 PM 0 comments
Conclusion
With all this information that you've been given about nutrition, I hope you make more conscious, educated decisions about what goes in your mouth. And unless you are under the supervision of a doctor or dietitian, never take matters into your own hands when it comes to dieting. Even if you feel sure that you're overweight, the chances are that you're a healthy weight and it's all in your head. After all, you are your worst critic. Please don't think that it's healthy to loose weight, especially if you are an active athlete. Teenagers who try to diet and lose weight succeed in losing weight, but not in the way the they expect. Dieting results in loosing muscle, either because they end up not meeting their requirements for calories from protein to supply amino acids to the body, or a lack of calories results in a lack of energy. Without energy, you can't work out and build muscle or keep the muscle you worked so hard to attain.
Another problem that results in dieting is stunted growth. Stunted growth is when a child or teenager stops growing or declines in growth and does not reach the full potential of their height. The number one cause of stunted growth throughout the world is malnourishment, or lacking the proper macronutrients to survive. Your body has a type of priority system, and since height isn't necessary for one's immediate survival, your body cuts off supplies to the bones. By supplies, I mean calories, which, by the way, are units of energy. The body needs to use the energy for more essential things such as keeping your heart beating and running your body internally. There is a fine line between dieting and malnourishment, so please don't even venture anywhere near there. You might end up in very dangerous territory. Follow our guidelines and do some research of your own. Talk to a doctor if you ever feel that you are at risk of being overweight, but remember that dieting yourself is dangerous.
We have just given you a lot of information about your diet and nutrition. What should, should not, and how much you should eat should be clear. We've also given you some facts about what exactly is going on in your body when you eat a particular macronutrients, and what happens when you exceed or fail to meet your requirements. Lastly, there is an example of how you can eat in order to live up to your coaches expectations of excellence. You are what you eat, so always remember to eat right!
Here are some helpful links for further information:
http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/sports/eatnrun.html
http://youngwomenshealth.org/nutrition-sports.html
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/carbohydrates/
Posted by Kylie at 2:55 PM 0 comments
