Smart Food Choices During Tournament Play

Smart Food Choices During Tournament Play

Eating on the road can pose a challenge for athletes striving to maintain a

training diet that has adequate energy, carbohydrate, protein and fluids. Here

are some guidelines for choosing high-performance foods and fluids while

traveling.

Food to Pack For the Day/Weekend

• Low fat sports bars, granola bars

• Dried or regular fruit, nuts and trail mix

• Pretzels

• Whole-grain crackers, bagels, breads, rolls, muffins

• Cans/packets of tuna or chicken on whole grain crackers

• Protein/Nutrition shakes

• Peanut butter and fruit (banana, apple, etc.)

• Oranges, Bananas, apples

• Beef jerky

• Canned fruit and string cheese

• Turkey or ham sandwiches, (Shredded Chicken Breast is best if you can

plan ahead)

• Hummus and pita

• Cottage cheese and fruit

• Old Fashion Oatmeal

• Baked potato

• Quinoa pasta

• bottles water

• bottles Gatorade

It’s easy to become dehydrated while traveling, especially on airplanes. To

prevent dehydration:

• Drink at regular intervals throughout the day. (Gallon a day)

• Carry sports drinks and water with you.

• No Caffeine drinks as they are diuretics and promote fluid loss.

Timing Your Snacks/Meals

• EAT BREAKFAST!!! – ex: Old Fashion Oatmeal with protein source

• EAT BANANA AFTER FIRST MATCH AND SOME GATORADE

• EAT ENERGY BAR AND MIXED FRUIT/NUT CUP AFTER 2ND MATCH

• EAT SANDWICHES If you have a longer break like ref/off time, but not

too heavy

• EAT A HIGH CARB/PROTEIN, low fat meal after last match within an

hour if you are playing again the next day. REFEED your body!

Quick tips:

• Athletes should fuel their bodies two to three hours before practices,

events and games with a high-carbohydrate meal or snack.

• Team leaders can organize pre-game meals for the whole team,

including high-energy foods like breads, bagel, pasta or rice.

• Athletes should fill 2/3 of their plates with high-carbohydrate options

for quick energy—and the rest with high-protein, low-fat items such as

grilled chicken, turkey or lean roast beef.

• When eating at a restaurant, athletes should look carefully at the menu

to see how food is prepared. Words such as fried, crispy, creamed

and au gratin all suggest high-fat content. Better choices are steamed,

broiled, stir fried and poached.

• What about low-carbohydrate choices?

Low-carb foods are everywhere – from restaurants to grocery stores

to health clubs. However, these foods are usually not the best choice

for athletes. Significantly cutting carbohydrates hurts performance by

reducing speed, strength and stamina.