As a student athlete, one of the most overlooked but important aspects is your nutrition. Think of it in the most simple way: food is your source of energy. As a person in your position, energy is what you need in order to make sure your efforts to excel on the playing field and in the classroom are not for nothing. Eating low-quality foods, will not only hurt you from a physical standpoint but eventually may also harm your mental side for a variety of reasons that differ from person to person. Here we’re gonna talk about the basics of student athlete nutrition.

Food as Fuel

When you’re having your meals, the objective is not to just stuff yourself as much as possible, or on the opposite end, to just eat a tiny amount to pass the time. Eating is vital to your performance, and you should treat it as such. Therefore, when the time does come for you to eat, you have to be as mindful as possible not only about the quantity of food you consume and when but about the types of food as well.

Firstly, when and how much you eat are just as important as what you eat. For instance, one thing to always avoid as you're going through a long day of training and classes is to starve yourself until dinner time and then eat as much as you can in one sitting. Not only are you going to feel fatigued throughout the day and unable to focus or perform on your most important tasks. Also, after eating so much, in such a short period of time, there’s absolutely no way you’ll feel good… trust us.

A golden rule that one can strive for is to limit the consumption of processed foods as much as possible. Think of processed foods as anything that’s packaged in a wrapper, can, or bag. Obviously, it's impossible to completely avoid these types of foods, but the overarching goal is to limit the amount of them that you eat. Next is to completely cut out the junk food - yes this means the pringles and skittles - that stuff does absolutely nothing to help your athletic performance and as a matter of fact, will only make your physical condition worse as you eat more of them. Also, it goes without question that drinks like soda and high sugar juices are not the best options...

Now that you know how and what NOT TO eat, how and what TO eat comes next. Your meals should be spaced out throughout the day, and you should feel your hunger is satisfied, but not too much so. This may seem outlandish, but the goal is to eat at least 4-5 times throughout the day - if you think you’re going to gain weight in a week, don’t worry, that has to do with how much you eat and not how many times. The goal of eating several times a day is to make sure you’re not feeling hungry all the time so that you can focus your energy and attention on the other things you have to do.

Caloric Breakdown

There are three main food groups that you as an athlete need to know about. Those are Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins. As for what foods in each group you can and should be eating, here’s a pretty comprehensive list:

Carbohydrates:

Fruit

Low glycemic index before activity (apples, pears, cherries)
High glycemic index after activity (oranges, bananas, grapes)

Vegetables

Starchy (white potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash)
Non-Starchy (broccoli, carrots, leafy greens)

Grains & Oats

Oatmeal
Whole grain bread

Other

Quinoa
Couscous
Brown Rice

Fats:

Avocados
Peanut Butter
Nuts & Seeds
Olive Oil
Hummus

Proteins:

Dairy

Eggs
Milk
Cheese
Greek yogurt

Lean Red Meat

Beef
Pork
Lamb

Poultry

Chicken
Turkey
Duck
Quail

Fish

Salmon
Tuna
Trout

Sample Day

Now that you know what type of stuff you can and can’t eat, when to eat it, and how much of it you can eat, here’s a sample day of meals that you can base your nutrition on.

Breakfast:

2-3 Whole Eggs

2 Cups Oatmeal

1 Large Banana

Morning Snack:

1 Large Apple

1 Tbsp Peanut Butter

Lunch:

6-8 oz. tuna

1 Stalk Celery chopped

¼ Red Onion chopped

1 Tbsp mayonnaise

2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread

1 Large Orange

Afternoon Snack:

1 Cup Granola

1 Cup Cottage Cheese

Dinner:

8-10 oz. Steak

1 Baked Sweet potato

2-3 cups Mixed Green Salad

2-3 Tbsp salad dressing

10 oz. Grapes

Evening Snack:

2 Cups Greek Yogurt

1 oz. Honey

This can be used as a general framework for your daily nutrition, and you can intermix the order of each meal according to your daily schedule. For instance, if you’re an extremely early riser, then you could have your morning snack before breakfast instead of after. The more versatility you allow for yourself, the better off you’ll be.

On top of the meals, another vital aspect is hydration. One of the best rules is to aim for at least a gallon of water a day, but for some people, this may be too little. Also, it’s important to recognize when this hydration should occur. Generally, it’s good to drink 16 oz of water (or a standard water bottle) right after you wake up and then another before your athletic activity. During the activity, you should be drinking at least 16-32 oz. (1-2 bottles of water) and 16 oz. (1 bottle) afterward for recovery.

How to Fuel Your Body