Nutrition for the Athlete

As a child, you basically eat whatever is put on your plate, but as an athlete, you realize at some point you need to take control of your own nutrition to achieve optimal performance. We were lucky enough at Black Diamond to have Shannon Doleac come to our gym. She was a University of Utah gymnast in college, but is now a nutritionist. As children, most of us learn to eat lots of fruits and veggies, but there is way more to eating healthy.

Eating healthy can improve performance, energy level, recovery from injuries and health. Shannon’s rules to building a healthy plate are:

1. Protein- serving of protein one to two times the size of your palm in thickness and circumference
2. Fill half of your plate with vegetables
3. Add about 1/2 a cup of starchier or mild vegetables (sweet potato, yams, potato, white rice, etc) and/or fruit
4. Add natural fat- for oils and butters, a thumb size or two and for avocado, nuts, olives cheese, etc, a small handful

Image courtesy of Fit Day

Now here comes the geeky, science-y part of food. In building your plate, you must have protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Proteins are important for building, maintaing and repairing tissues and immune health. Carbohydrates are important for fueling muscles for energy. Fat is important as a slow-burning energy source, cell structure and absorption of some vitamins and minerals. We also have to make sure the food has MACROnutrients (vitamins and minerals).

During Shannon’s visit, the first activity we did was differentiate the real, whole foods from the processed foods using pictures. Then we compared the two. What seemed to occur during every comparison was the color of the food. The real foods were much more colorful than the processed foods. THEY LOOKED DELICIOUS, and you know what they say, “eat the rainbow!”

Image courtesy of Life Tastes Good

The four main points Shannon made during her visit were:

• choose a variety of real, whole foods
• choose the naturally colorful foods (eat the rainbow)
• focus on the creating a healthy plate with the right amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat
• hydrate

So if you are an athlete, nutrition is crucial in attaining optimal performance. For good ideas, Shannon has tips and recipes on her website.