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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!