You wonder how top professional athletes eat to win? Practice, like anything! It takes practice and discipline to choose the right training program, know how to recover, what gear to select, but what to eat?  People often ask me, what should I eat?

Discover the benefits of  knowing what to eat so you can to be your best,  finish your first windsurfing slalom event, SUP race,  or complete your first marathon. Eating for sports performance requires planning, testing and seeing what digests easily.  The last thing you want to worry about is running out of steam and crashing early, or worse losing everything on the course you just ate!  There’s no one perfect formula that suits all, so be patient and find out what you like and plan ahead.

In this article I’m going to keep it short and delicious and tell you what I eat to do my best for all the sports I enjoy! My breakfast, everyday consists of healthy, satisfying protein and complex carbs. I need fuel to get me through training 4-5 clients back to back or a training session on the water. I’ll blend a cup of low-fat yogurt ( prefer the Greek higher protein content ), a cup of high quality granola blended with a cup of fresh berries!

Developing and balancing your training routine is for some, much easier than creating healthy eating habits for your sport(s) of choice. I recommend to keep it as simple as possible and to include a combo of fueling carbs with some protein. The two components will be satiating and energy sustaining.

We’ve heard way too long that carbs are bad. Sure, if you’re sedentary and sitting on the couch eating a whole bag of potato chips, a loaf of white bread washed down with a soda, and the only surfing you do is channel surfing! 

Think of carbs and associate the word “healthy or whole grains” instead or think of the phrase “complex carbs”; fuel for the brain and your muscles. Most Americans eat “refined” grains with high contents of sugar and little to no fiber.  Whole grains or healthy grains contain necessary nutrients like magnesium (  plays an important role in bone health and blood pressure regulation ) Vitamin E ( functions as an antioxidant ) and zinc (  for the metabolism of the foods you eat ).

Carbs are GOOD if you choose the right ones and use it as fuel.   Some examples of good carbs are: oatmeal, quinoa or granola. On race day, my first choice is a cup of oatmeal with a pinch of raw sugar for taste with fresh berries on top and a half a cup of coffee and lots of water mixed with a little electrolytes .  This is easy for me to digest and can keep me fueled for at least 2+ hours of high intensity!

Next, let’s talk about protein which is necessary to keep your muscles in tip top shape as  you break them down. The best way to consume healthy amounts of protein for athletic performance is to eat nutritious, low fat foods such as lean red meat, nuts,egg whites, fish, beans, rice, and low fat dairy products. I also enjoy mid morning during my heavy client loads, a protein shake with about 27+ grams of protein and low in sugar. I’ll use VitaCoco  coconut water as my base and add a cup of fresh berries.

How much protein to consume will vary for each person. But for most athletes and in my book all of you are atheltes if your reading : divide your current weight by 2.2, multiply that number by 1.4, the number you come up with is the number of grams of protein you should consume. Another method to try is consuming 10 to 15 percent of your daily calories from protein sources.

The right amount of healthy grains and protein will be different for each athlete ( you ).  Eating the two combined all throughout the day is really key. So before performance, during if possible and after to assure proper recovery and repair of the muscles and tissue you broke down. There is a proper balance that one should try to achieve and I recommend taking it slow as you introduce new foods. Be sure you can tolerate certain foods and “practice” combining the two. Don’t wait until the morning of a special event. That can be disastrous.  Also, remember to hydrate well before and after.

Make each stroke count, paddle hard, or rig a big sail and enjoy the benefits of eating well.

Aloha and see you on the water and at the finish line!

Suzie Cooney, CPT   of Suzie Trains Maui

To train with Suzie while visiting Maui or to hire her for your next SUP Fitness Event/Clinic you can contact her at info@suzietrainsmaui.com

You can also go to her website at http://www.suzietrainsmaui.com   

Follow Suzie on Face Book : http://www.facebook.com/suzietrainsmaui.com

8 Common Nutrition Mistakes…and How to Fix Them

No time is No Excuse!

By Nancy Clark, MS RD CSSD
For Active.com

Nutrition may be your missing link in training. Here are eight common nutrition mistakes many athletes make with tips and recipes for how to solve them.

No. 1: Beneficial Protein Intake

Some athletes eat too little protein; others eat too much. For example, a 150 lb (68 kg) athlete may need 0.5 to 0.75 g pro/lb (1-1.5 g pro/kg); this translates into about 75 to 105 g pro/day. This athlete can easily consume too much protein if the foundation of the menu is:

This amount of protein is excessive, to the point some of the protein could be wisely traded for more carbs to better fuel the workouts.

In contrast, a vegetarian athlete on a reducing diet could easily under consume protein if foundation of the menu is:

Too little protein contributes to poor recovery, muscle wasting, and sub optimal results from hard training.

Solution: By meeting with a sports dietitian, you can learn your protein requirement and how to translate that into food.

No. 2: Iron to Prevent Fatigue From Anemia

Iron-deficiency anemia is common, particularly in females. Anemia causes needless fatigue and reduced performance. A survey of collegiate athletes indicates 20 percent of the female volleyball and basketball players were anemic, as were 50 percent of the soccer team. (1)

Anemia is particularly common among women who have heavy menstrual blood losses, but eat neither red meat nor iron-enriched breakfast cereal.

Solution: If you feel needlessly tired, get your blood tested by your doctor and be sure to get your serum ferritin measured. To help prevent anemia, strive to eat an iron-rich diet of:

red meat, or iron-rich alternatives (dark-meat chicken or turkey, salmon, tuna) iron-fortified cereals (Wheaties, Raisin Bran, Total)

To enhance iron absorption, include with each meal a source of vitamin C, such as orange juice, berries, broccoli, tomato or other fruits and vegetables.

No. 3: Post-exercise Food

At the end of a hard workout, you haven’t finished your training until you have refueled. Don’t rush off to work or school, with “no time to eat” as the excuse.

Solution: Plan ahead, so you have recovery foods readily available. Even in a time-crunch, you should be able refuel your muscles properly. “No time” is no excuse.

No. 4: Recovering With Both Carbs + Protein

Recovery foods should offer a foundation of carbs with protein as the accompaniment. A reasonable target is about 240 calories of carbs (60 g carb) and about 80 calories (20 g) of protein. Some popular choices include Greek yogurt with honey, chocolate milk, cereal with milk, and pasta with meat sauce. You need not buy engineered recovery foods; standard fare works fine.

Note that recovery foods can be eaten pre-exercise. That is, a pre-exercise yogurt gets digested into amino acids and glucose; those food components will be ready and waiting to be put into use when you stop exercising. In a 10-week study with recreational body builders, those who consumed a protein-carb supplement both immediately before and right after the mid-afternoon strength training session gained 2.3 pounds more muscle and 7 pounds more in strength (as measured by bench press), compared to the group without the pre- and post-exercise fuel. (2)

Athletes who do two workouts a day really need to rapidly refuel with a proper recovery diet. A six-week study with swimmers reports those who did two workouts (morning and afternoon) sprinted slower than those who swam only in the afternoon (3). If nutrition is your missing link, don’t even think about double workouts.

Solution: You may not feel hungry for solid foods after a hard bout of exercise, but you are likely thirsty. A fruit smoothie (made with yogurt) is excellent for recovery, as is a chug of chocolate milk. Both contain carbs to refuel, and protein to build and repair muscles and reduce muscle soreness.