Young athletes trying to make it to the next level often work very hard to get better in their respective sport.  It amazes me how dedicated to training some 16 year old kids can be.  I was never a great athlete when I was younger, but I was an athlete nonetheless, but at that age I didn’t even know there was something I could do to become a better hockey and basketball player (those were my 2 sports) other than just practicing and playing the game.

Working with kids it amazes me how mature and dedicated some of them are!  These same kids look forward to getting in the weight room and get after it.  They work hard, they’re focused, and they always have their goal in mind.

However for most of them, I notice one big flaw in their quest to developing their full athletic potential.  And this is an issue that comes up with at least 90% of the young athletes I come across.

You might be wondering what it is.  It’ not something that has anything to do with training methods, or exercise selection, etc.

It’s their nutrition!

I see so many young athletes on a daily basis trying to get better and reach the next level.  They sacrifice hours and hours of their week to train, practice, and play the game.  Yet, they skip breakfast, eat sub-par cafeteria food at school, and eat unhealthy snacks before coming to train after school.

We don’t always realize the importance of proper nutrition in the puzzle of our athletic development, but it is crucial.  You can’t get bigger, stronger, or better conditioned if you’re not fueling your body the right way.  Every summer I have hockey players come up to me because they need to gain weight.  Conversation usually goes as follow:

ATHLETE: I need to put on X pounds before the beginning of next season.

ME: Ok. You need to start eating more.

ATHLETE: But Dave, I eat sooo much already!

ME: What did you have for breakfast?

ATHLETE: A bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Is that good?

ME: (Banging my head against the wall)

I might have had a couple concussions in the last couple of years

That’s honestly how most of these conversations go.  It’s crazy how most young athletes don’t make the connection between what they fuel their body with, and the outcome on their ability to perform.

Taking a step back, young athletes need to be educated so they understand the link between food and performance.  Then they need to be taught what is good, and what is not when it comes to food choices.  And last, but not least, they need to have a game plan.

I tell them that they can’t get up in the morning not knowing exactly what they’re gonna eat for the rest of the day.  They need to think about what they’re gonna eat the next morning before going to bed at night.  They also need to know what they’re gonna pack for lunch and for snacks for that next day.  And if there’s nothing ready, they need to prepare something.  That might mean cooking something (I learned how to cook at 16, so don’t tell me kids can’t cook), or just prepare something.  Make sure there’s something ready to take for lunch the next day!

One of the big problem you’ll face trying to convince young athletes to eat well, and eat enough is that they usually associate eating healthy with food that doesn’t taste good.  It couldn’t be any further from the truth.  It’s usually just a matter of finding good combinations, and making good use of the spice rack.

There are 2 great resources out there for great tasting, healthy meal choices and recipes.  They have been very useful for me over the last couple of years!

Metabolic Cooking

Gourmet Nutrition

Make sure you check these 2 resources out for better, healthier eating that will fuel your or your kids’ performance on the field or on the ice!

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I was reading Tony Gentilcore’s blog post last week and I noticed a comment he made: “(…)there are numerous people (and nutritionist for that matter) who, despite knowing better, like to push off things like 100 calorie snack packs as viable “healthy” options.”  That reminded me of a blog post I wrote about a year ago: Let’s Stop Over-Complicating Nutrition. (As a matter of fact, I was just re-reading it as I put the link to the original post, and it’s so good I have a hard time believing I wrote that!)

A lot of nutritionists, people involved in health and fitness, and people in general have been focusing way too much on calories when trying to improve their health.  I have a groundbreaking news for you: IT’S NOT THE ANSWER! As I mentioned in my blog post linked above: “Good nutrition, no matter what your goal is, should be to eat as much natural, unprocessed foods as possible.  Our ancestors never had any weight or cholesterol problem because they were eating too much red meat or too many eggs!  And I’m pretty damn sure they never EVER counted calories either.” (Wait….did I just quote myself here?!? Next thing you’ll know is I’ll be referring to myself at the 3rd person!)

This guy is probably the only one who can refer to himself at the 3rd person, and it will still be acceptable

With that being said, counting calories is not the way to healthy eating habits.  But why?

Focusing on the number of calories you’re eating, believe it or not, can lead you to making poor decisions about your diet.  Here are a couple examples:

- Choosing low fat dairy products.  While it seems like the smart thing to do, as you may already know dietary fat doesn’t necessarily translate into body fat, which is usually a huge misconception among most people.  Also, there are estrogen hormones found in conventional (non-organic) milk that are linked to the growth of many tumors and different types of cancer; and “(…)one of the most biologically active and dangerous estrogen metabolites is found in the highest concentrations in skim milk(…) Whole milk also had the lowest total amount of estrogens”, according to Brian St. Pierre, a reputable nutritionist.

This might be your safest bet in terms of milk…

- Choosing low-fat variations of vinaigrettes and marinades.  While a lot of the condiments available on the shelf of your local supermarket are not great to start with, when choosing the low-fat variety you’re basically substituting a source of fat (usually oil) that contains 9 kcal/gram for sugar, which contains 4 kcal/gram to make up for taste.  Even if you get less calories here, processed white sugar is still one of the worst things you can put in your body.   The best alternative is always to make your own vinaigrettes with olive oil, vinegar and spices.

- Choosing 100 calories snack packs over a natural food snack.  If you’re going to eat a piece of fruit with a handful of nuts you’re already way over a hundred calories, but even if you smash me as hard as you can with a steel chair over the head, I still pick the piece of fruit and nuts over a 100 calories snack.

…and this chair shot also finally proves that wrestling is not fake!

Those 100 calories snack packs are packed with processed ingredients and preservatives which realistically don’t bring you any nutrients nor do they fill you up.  (Don’t tell me you couldn’t eat 5 of these 100 calories snack and still be hungry!)

…100% unhealthy

These are really just a couple examples to show you that counting calories is not the answer.  Focus on eating whole, natural foods; when doing that you get a bunch of fibers, vitamins , minerals and all the good stuff that helps make you feel fuller, longer.  By doing that, it’s very difficult to over eat.  Try and exercise a little bit every day in combination with that, and I guarantee you that you’ll never EVER need to count calories or go on a diet to loose weight.

Too many 100 calories snack packs for Yokozuna…

This might just be one too many wrestling references for a single blog post….so I’m done!

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