Catch up with Part I HERE

4.      Processed carbohydrates are largely to blame for our countries health woes. Fast food, instant everything, enriched bleached flour, chips, bagels and baked goods are marketed to us incessantly and are convenient choices. The problem with these high-glycemic “foods” is that they spike your blood sugar levels, cause chronic inflammation to
the arteries and leave you hungry for more when your blood sugar rapidly drops back down.  When you make low-glycemic food choices a foundation of your diet you will have sustainable energy throughout your day.

5.   Take a pharmaceutical grade, highly bioavailable multi-vitamin – even if your diet is ideal. There are 1000’s of studies demonstrating the tremendous benefits of optimizing your nutrition with a complete vitamin and mineral supplement. The tangible benefits are maximizing your energy levels, shortening recovery periods, avoiding sickness,
and performing at a peak level. This is a must have to reach your athletic potential and scale your career.

6.      Educate yourself to raise your consciousness about nutrition.  You will find it very empowering to know the benefits of your little bit of extra effort and attention. Some great books on the topic are “The pH Miracle,” “Healthy for Life,” and “The Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.” Incorporating even one of these habits into your daily routine will have a tremendous benefit to you in your athletic endeavors and beyond. Incorporating all of them into your active and athletic lifestyle will put your health above and beyond your peers, enable you to maximize your athletic talents and most importantly, will drastically reduce your chances of developing chronic degenerative
disease. You will find that when your health and energy levels improve, your athletic performance and every other area of your life will improve simultaneously.  Also, the positive influence that you will have for those in your peer group will have an impact greater than you know. So I challenge you, to give yourself the “slight edge” of optimal nutrition and you will reap the benefits immediately and for the rest of your life.

It is very easy to get caught up in training for your sport and day to day activities and not pay much attention to what you are putting into your body. As a steeplechaser for UCLA Track & Field (First Team All-Academic Pac-10), I often went through my day without planning meals or giving nutrition much thought at all. As an athlete, you put in countless hours of training with a lot at stake and it makes sense to maximize your chances of success in all ethical ways. On a larger scale, it’s surprising that the benefits of protecting one’s health is one of the most widely known and also blatantly ignored truths of human existence.

The good news is that it is relatively easy to take your health to the next level and some of the benefits to you will be a stronger immune system, increased energy levels, quicker recover and improved brain function. Here are six  nutritional tips you can utilize to give yourself the “slight edge” over your competition and feel increased strength and vitality along the way.

1. Establish the habit of drinking 10oz purified water first thing in the morning and steadily throughout the day. Ideally you should shoot for half of your body weight in ounces daily (i.e. if you weigh 150lbs – 75 ounces daily is a great standard). Adding fresh lemon or lime to your water is also a great practice and has an alkalizing effect.

2. You’ve heard it your whole life and here it is…the #1 health habit you could ever develop… eat six serving of vegetables daily. Why? They are water based and rich in antioxidants which help to prevent oxidative damage (aging) of your cells. You should also regularly include three low-sugar members from the fruit category; avocado, tomato and bell peppers and AVOID mushrooms and corn.

3. Dark leafy greens, such as spinach, are made of chlorophyll and heal and cleanse your organs while destroying harmful substances. Greens promote bodily homeostasis, give you lots of insoluble fiber that rids your body of toxins, and greens are alkaline which promotes healthy cells. If you are not eating a salad daily, you are likely suffering from nutritional deficiencies which will prevent you from tapping into all of your potential.

Let’s get your game on! How you fuel and train your body should depend on your game, what you play and how you want to play it. In my last article we talked about the three different energy systems used in athletic performance: the phosphagen system, the anaerobic system, and the aerobic system. Today, we’ll talk about the energy systems used for short term energy use and how to optimize your fuel consumption for your energy needs.

A swimmer dives off the starting block; a batter hits the ball; a tennis player serves up the ace. These are all examples of energy expenditures in the phosphagen and anaerobic systems. An athlete’s body can access either of these systems for quick burst, intense activities.

The body uses the phosphagen system when you need quick power. Think explosive when you think of the fuel stored in our muscles called creatine phosphate. CP helps to create ATP very rapidly and thus burns it very rapidly as well. Foods that contain creatine include meats, poultry, and fish. The occasional protein bar or creatine shake won’t hurt you, but these simply can’t provide the nutritional support, the big bang, that a slab of real grilled salmon provides. When this energy becomes exhausted the anaerobic system then becomes active to provide support for more high intensity, short burst activities.

The term anaerobic refers to processes that do not require oxygen. The anaerobic energy system relies on glucose as it’s major source of ATP. Glucose is simply a form of sugar easily used by the body. Carbohydrates are the major source of glucose and are stored in the form of glycogen within our muscles and liver. This system is called into action when an athlete first begins activity and will continue to provide energy until oxygen is available to help meet the body’s demands for activity over three minutes in duration. When a football player catches the ball in the end zone and runs at lightning speed for the return, the athlete is using up glucose. High quality carbohydrates are crucial for an athlete, male or female of any age or weight. You can’t simply power down a powdered sugar donut for this fuel – the donut is burned up or turned to fat entirely too soon to improve performance. Instead, eat smaller portions of quality carbs more often, like whole grain pasta, brown rice, or whole wheat bread. If an athlete chooses the powdered sugar donut as their fuel of choice, glycogen stores will be low resulting in low production of ATP and lower energy levels which have a negative impact on athletic performance. During elevated levels of activity, the body will start to accumulate lactic acid at a rate that exceeds the liver’s ability to eliminate it if the athlete cuts the carbs too far back.  So, if you get an intense side ache during practice, it is a reminder that powdered sugar donuts are poor fuel for the anaerobic system.

So, what’s your game? Do you need power? Do you need quick, short bursts of intense speed? Do you need to keep going and going and going? Can anybody play? Probably. But, if you want to play better, perform better, then think of food as fuel for your amazing energy systems. In part 4 of Eating to Win, we’ll talk about the role of our aerobic energy system!

Are you really bringing your “A” game every day? How would you know? You see, it isn’t just about getting the workout done, it is about believing in your body and mind, and about knowing you’ve prepared yourself to achieve all you are truly capable of achieving. Athletes, both young and old, often treat nutrition as an afterthought to their workout. Showing up to a practice on an empty stomach or eating junk food prior to a grueling strength training session means you are showing up with a “C” game mentality and you’re sabotaging your body, your mind, your game.

In my previous article, I talked about the importance of eating five small meals a day to maintain proper blood sugar levels and to allow for optimal energy. The amounts and types of food that an athlete puts into their bodies directly influence the body’s ability to digest, absorb, and use nutrients. The energy needed for muscle repair, growth, development, and recovery during the season is not going to come from a one-time bar or protein shake; it can only come from consistent and optimized nutrition during pre-season, early season, in season and game day. You might get away with cheating for a while, but eventually, you will see the results from your lack of discipline in your athletic performance on game day. Likewise, when you give your body the right kinds and amounts of fuel, you are less likely to get injured, heal faster if you do get injured, and have more energy available for both the short burst energy expenditures and longer energy use.

Now for a lesson in nutrition and how the body gets energy from nutrition for exercise, otherwise known as metabolism. Another way to think of metabolism is as the chemical reactions that occur in an athlete’s body everyday at a cellular level where energy is being stored and released to allow muscles to do their work. All cells use ATP (adenosine triphosphate) as their major fuel source and when the bonds of this molecule are broken, the result is the release of large amounts of energy. The human body is such an amazing machine that it is constantly forming, breaking down, and then reforming these bonds as a continuous energy source used in muscle activity, repair, and growth. There are a total of three energy systems in the body that are capable of generating ATP and each of them are used in different types of sports activities: the phosphagen system, the anaerobic system, and the aerobic system. The length of the activity and type of activity the athlete is performing determines which of these systems the body uses.

The next article will expand on the foods that support these energy systems. Till then, eat well, train well, and bring your “A”game!

–To learn  more about athlete nutrition and Optimal Nutrition visit: http://optimalnutritioninc.com/

“Work harder” say the coaches. I say eat better if you want to work harder. My 18 year old niece trains seven days a week to become the best collegiate swimmer possible. Every weight training session, every 6 am practice, she is there with a smile and enthusiasm that screams, “Bring it on!” Yet, as I asked her about her eating habits the other day, I stopped dead in my tracks. It appears that Rubio’s has been the greatest nutritional component of her training as of late.

As a sports nutritionist, I focus on guiding professional and amateur athletes in various sports from MMA fighters and major league baseball players to pleasure surfers, and I have neglected my own flesh and blood. Let me explain myself before continuing because I feel there are many parents and athletes who might relate and learn a few things. As a young teenager my niece wisely stopped drinking sodas and decided to never eat fast food. Movies like Fast Food Nation had an impact on her, so I decided she was a rather healthy individual. But does my niece eat anywhere near the quality of nutrition she should as a hardcore athlete? Not even close! Thus, the inspiration to write this article was born and I hope it can help those who seek to achieve optimum athletic conditioning and are showing up at 6 am while their peers are sleeping in. I will be writing this article in several parts with this being part one, so stay tuned and take notes. We will start with the foundation today.

Eating 5 Small Meals a Day

As a nutritionist, I see people (myself included!) struggle to eat 5 small meals a day. It is even more challenging for busy teenage athletes going 100 miles an hour to eat well and more often. In typical teenage invincible-mode, they often believe they can skip meals without negative consequences. Worse yet, young female athletes sometimes intentionally skip meals thinking this will help them control their weight. Why is it so important to eat smaller amounts of food more frequently throughout the day?

Eating more often keeps you feeling great and full of energy. This practice helps to keep your blood-sugar level stable and avoids the highs and lows associated with other eating habits. Eating smaller, well balanced meals containing lean proteins, complex carbs, and healthy fats will result in a healthy body ready for challenge. It also provides fuel needed for muscle repair and growth, development, and recovery.  We will explore each of these areas in the next article.

–To learn  more about athlete nutrition and Optimal Nutrition visit: http://optimalnutritioninc.com/

As a student athlete ready to take the next step in competing at the college level, you want to give yourself every advantage you can.  An often overlooked aspect in gaining that competitive edge is nutrition.  All the hard work put in on the field and in the training room can be wasted if you don’t have the same discipline with your nutritional habits.  Also, with good habits you can ensure that, come game time, your body will be running at its peak performance level.

So Where Do You Start?

The best way to think about the right way to eat is to think of food as fuel for your body.  If you eat a lot of junk, that is what your body will be running on.   The better quality gas you put into your car the better it runs.  The same thing is true for the food you put into your body.   If your diet consists of foods that are high in processed sugar, bad fats (trans and saturated) and fast food then your body going to run poorly.

Breakfast is Key!

Breakfast is the foundation for starting your day with good eating habits.   After going with no food for 7-9 hours because you have been sleeping your body is craving nutrients.  Getting food into your body within the first 30-45 min of waking up will provide a base for your energy levels throughout the day.  It gets your “motor” running and prepares your body for whatever activity it will be doing for the day.  It should consist of protein and high quality carbohydrates.  It doesn’t have to be a huge breakfast.  It can simply be peanut butter and banana or some whole wheat toast and eggs.  Another quick option is grabbing a nutritional bar and piece of fruit. A bowl of high sugar processed cereal may taste good but provides little nutrition value for your body and zero protein.

Eating Throughout the Day

Eating throughout the day is also a staple in any successful athlete’s nutrition plan.  Instead of the standard three meals a day, you should be eating 5-6 times throughout the day.  You can still have standard breakfast, lunch and dinner times.  But you should fill the gaps between those meals with some snacks.  Everyone loves snack time.  By snacks I am not talking about chips or a candy bar.  Good snack choices include nuts (almonds, peanuts, pistachios) fruit (apples, orange, and bananas) and certain nutritional bars (balance bars, zone bars, tigers milk and others that provide a balance between carbs, protein and fat).  Snacking also makes it easier not to overeat or make bad food choice because you are “starving” when meal time comes around.

Plan Ahead with a Good Nutritional Game Plan

A lot of times the key to good nutrition is having a good game plan.  If your day is filled with classes, practice and a workout it might be hard to be able to find the right food choices when you need it.  If you plan ahead and carry the right foods with you, you’ll be less tempted to make bad food choices when your body is in need of nutrition.

Stay tuned as we will explore more nutritional topics and give you the best advice on eating for optimal performance.