Meal Prep 101 for Busy Athletes

One of the biggest roadblocks athletes report in their journey towards healthier eating is simply not having enough time in the day to cook or prepare meals and snacks.

Many busy athletes and their families have tight schedules, where they might be eating meals at strange hours, on the road and in the bleachers, and sometimes get so busy that they resort to stopping for fast food or relying on convenience bars and shakes for too many meals.

Fast food and convenience snacks are fine once in a while, but what if we all had a strategy for making sure we had healthy snacks and meals prepared ahead of time? What if we could throw together said snacks and meals during the week in a matter of MINUTES? I'm sure all busy families and athletes would be on board.

This is where a food preparation (or meal prep) plan comes in! 

By spending some time ONE day of the week washing, cutting, baking, cooking, and portioning food into containers, athletes and their families will not have healthy food to eat during the busiest timesof the week - they'll also save time by not having to cook so much, and save money by not eating out or buying pre-packaged snacks.

There are many of resources online for "How to Food Prep" - Lindsay from the Lean Green Bean blog writes about food prep every week and is a great source for easy-to-make, healthy recipes.

Having a plan is the hardest part of meal prep. The first time you meal prep, it's important to start out small and let your meal prep game plan change each week in a way that fits your schedule. 

1. Decide which day works best for you! Many people choose to make all their food on one day (like Sunday, before the week starts!), while others might choose two days (maybe by preparing half on Sunday, and a new batch of foods on Wednesday).

It usually takes at least one hour (usually more if you do it all on one day), to prepare your meals, so keep that in mind. 

2. Make sure you have plenty of storage containers. Storage containers with lids are essential for easy storage and transportation of meals.

3. Choose which meals you want to prep. Some people just want to prepare lunches for the week to bring to school or work, while others make breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and a random assortment of throw-together foods. One easy way to start preparing EXTRA food at dinner meals to bring for lunch the next day or the next several days. Many people also start out by preparing some "basics" that you can make throw-together meals throughout the week. Some good examples include:

• Washed and cut fruits and vegetables - You're much more likely to eat these healthy foods if they're all washed and ready-to-eat. Some suggestions are: grapes, salad greens, carrots, diced vegetables for salads/omelets/stir fry.
• Roasted vegetables - These can be easily thrown onto a salad or sandwich for more flavor! Toss some sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, broccoli, or any other vegetables in olive oil, salt, pepper and any other seasonings you like and roast them in the oven until tender. 
• Cooked grains - You can prepare whole grains, such as rice and quinoa ahead of time to throw into salads or for easy grain bowls.

Check out some easy whole grain bowl recipes!

• Protein options - Having some protein options ready can be a huge life-saver for athletes. Keep it simple by making chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs or scrambled egg muffins, lean ground beef, bacon, or have some lunch meat on hand. 

• Breakfast foods - If you're typically a breakfast-skipper, preparing some easy breakfast options can be a huge time saver.

4. Make a list and go shopping - This may be the most dreaded part of meal prep for people who don't go into the grocery store weekly (or more than once per week!), but this part becomes easier each week as you figure out what works for your schedule, and which basics you KNOW you need to get you through the week.

Make a list of ingredients you would need for specific recipes you want to make, and a list of "basics" you want to have at hand (grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, dairy, etc.)

If you're a beginner, don't be overwhelmed! It will get easier, and you can take satisfaction in knowing you will have healthy options to eat throughout the week. Good nutrition can have an immediate impact on sports performance - if you eat well and fuel your body with healthy foods, you will feel better and perform better, so start today!

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Is Your Snack Holding You Back? Tips for Packing a Snack Made for an Athlete

Athletes love to snack, but when speaking with young athletes about snacking, the first foods that come to mind are pre-packaged salty snacks and sweet treats. Instead of wanting to know which foods are healthy, which foods they should avoid, and what the healthier alternatives to their favorite snacks are, young athletes often get stuck in the habit of reaching for junk foods in-between meals - that's what everyone is doing! Most active people and young athletes know which foods aren't necessarily healthy without being told. When they're asked what snack foods they reach for, they're usually laughing over Poptarts or Cheetos, but even if that's what everyone else is reaching for, those junk foods aren't made to fuel an athlete's body. Putting the right fuel in our bodies helps us push harder and get stronger in our sport, so even though fruit and nuts aren't cool, those foods are going to make you a better athlete, while those junk foods might be holding you back.

Unhealthy snacking isn't uncommon - snacking has become much more popular and widely accepted, and many people (not just athletes) have moved from eating 3 main meals a day to 5-6 mini meals throughout the day or eating several smaller meals and several snacks per day.

An online poll found:

• Snack food sales are increasing globally, not just in the U.S. 
• Many people are snacking at least once per day, and the most popular snacks globally are chocolate and fruit
• The most popular snack in North America is chips and chocolate
• People are snacking to satisfy that between-meal hunger they get from 3 square meals...AND people are also eating more snacks to replace meals - instead of regular meals, they might just be grazing throughout the day.

Many athletes, people training for a certain event or race, and very active people may have higher calorie needs and snacking can help those people meet their calorie and nutrient needs...but they shouldn't be replacing a well-rounded vegetable-protein-starch meal with chips and chocolate candy. If athletes are hungry between meals, snacks should be more than just a package of junk foods - snacks are an opportunity add nutrition. Athletes should ask themselves, "How can I make this snack or meal more nutrient-dense?" because every eating opportunity is an opportunity to fuel your body for practice, competition, or recovery.

One athlete asked, "When does a healthy snack become unhealthy?" (Such as adding caramel to apple slices). 

This snack isn't necessarily unhealthy, but caramel, just like any sweet/candy/sugary treat is a "sometimes food". You could lower the amount of sugar in the snack and add some protein and healthy fats (which would make the snack a healthier option) by swapping out the caramel with a healthier side.

For example, you could make your own cinnamon dip with Greek yogurt, peanut butter and cinnamon. You could dip the apples in almond butter or have some cheese slices or hard-boiled egg on the side.

Snacking tips for athletes:

1. Pairing carbohydrates with protein can increase satiety and keep blood sugar levels even.
2. Eating protein throughout the day (including that post-workout snack) can help promote muscle protein synthesis. Don't forget the carbs, though! Adequate carbohydrate intake allows your body to spare the protein you eat to promote recovery and build muscle. 
3. If there's several hours between the snack and your next meal, choose a larger snack with several different food groups, containing protein and healthy fats to hold you over, plus some carbs to give you energy.  
4. If you just need to be held over for a short time before your next real meal (60-90 minutes), choose a smaller snack (100-200 calories). 
5. For athletes with a weight  gain goal, larger snacks can act as "mini meals" to help them add calories to your day. Add high-calorie foods such as nuts/nut butter and full fat dairy to snacks and meals. 
6. For athletes with a weight loss goal, eating smaller snacks and choosing crunchy vegetables and fruit, which have a high water and fiber content can help keep them full.
•  Crunchy foods usually take a little bit longer to eat, too, so instead of reaching for a 100-calorie bar or packet of snacks, choose vegetables and/or fruit paired with some protein. 

PROTEIN	CARBS
½ - 1 cup Greek yogurt	Apple or banana
1 – 2 Tbsp peanut or almond butter	½ cup oatmeal
2 Tbsp – ¼ cup hummus	1 – 2 slices whole grain toast
10-30 almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc.	½ - 1 bagel
1 piece of string cheese	1 cup raw baby carrots
½ - 1 cup cottage cheese	Wheat crackers (Triscuits, Wheat Thins)
Beef jerky	1 cup berries
¼ - 1 cup edamame	Corn  tortilla
Hardboiled eggs	Sweet potato
Lean deli meat (turkey, chicken, ham, roast beef)	Raisins/Craisins
Milk	Whole grain cereal
Cheese	Graham crackers
	Pretzels

For more ideas, check out these smart snacking ideas from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics!

Strive for excellence in each meal - if you're putting in the work at practice and competition, put some thought into what goes on your plate throughout the day. 

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Training Talk - 3 Things Runners Need to Know About Carbs

One of the biggest nutrition topics runners ask about is CARBOHYDRATES.

• Why do we need them?
• When should I eat them?
• When should I not eat them?
• Which carbohydrates will make me fat?
• Which carbohydrates are good?
• Should I try a low carb diet? 

This article is going to delve into why runners need carbohydrates, why runners need carbs on the run and which ones are best, and why it might be beneficial to train without food some of the time.

Despite the fact that all athletes' nutritional needs are different, most runners need to follow a diet that is high carbohydrate for the best training and racing results. I work with athletes all the time to help them determine how to fuel their bodies with enough carbohydrates, protein and fat from real food without overdoing it. 

While most athletes can (and should) focus on carbohydrates for the majority of their calories, it is important to stress the fact that as an athlete, you are an experiment of one - you get to decide what diet, training schedule, and recovery methods work for you. For example, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that a high fat/low carb diet may work for some endurance or ultra-endurance athletes, but here I am making the recommendations for a higher carbohydrate diet for runners, based on the fact that your muscles' preferred fuel source is carbohydrates/glucose. This can be a controversial subject in the endurance world, but this article will delve into why we need carbohydrates most of the time, but how going without carbs may help boost performance. 

1. Daily Carbohydrate Needs

There is a huge emphasis for runners to get lots of carbs in their diets to help them run. Honestly, carbohydrate intake is sometimes overemphasized. Carbs before running, during running, after running, all day after a run - runners often neglect protein and healthy fats. That is not to say carbs aren't important! Carbohydrates from food are stored in the body as muscle and liver glycogen, which is used as fuel during exercise. At low intensities, a greater amount of fat is used as energy (though carbohydrates are always being used), but as exercise intensity increases from low to moderate/high intensity, the use of fat as fuel decreases and carbohydrates are used as the primary fuel source. Well-trained muscles can store even more glycogen, which is good news for endurance athletes who need that energy at mile 20 and beyond.

Fueling an endurance athlete through training and racing requires about 2.5-4.5 grams per pound of body weight, or 55-65% total diet from carbohydrate (compared to 2.5-3.0 grams/pound for moderate exercisers and more than 4.5 grams/pound for ultra endurance athletes).

Many athletes like to "bookend" their training with those carbohydrates, which is the time our bodies need the carbs the most.

• eat breakfast sometimes* (granola bar, cereal with milk, oatmeal, a banana with peanut butter, toast)
• fuel with carbohydrates during long runs sometimes* (Gu, gels, chomps, candy, etc.),
• refuel with a mix of carbs and protein post-workout 

Don't neglect those carbohydrates right after a workout - whether it's a post-workout snack or a full meal that contains carbohydrates and protein, this meal is important for recovery so athletes can accomplish their goals at their next workout. 

*Keep reading for "train low" techniques to try on long, slow training runs. 

2. The Science of Mid-Run Carbs

Once a workout goes over 90 minutes, glycogen/stored carbohydrates can get drained, especially for a moderate to hard intensity, prolonged workout. Eating some sort of carbohydrates on a run will help athletes to spare their glycogen stores, keep blood glucose from dropping, and can help replenish glycogen stores before the next training session, therefore helping you perform better on training runs and at races. 

During a training run or competition, aim for 40-60 grams of carbohydrate per hour (120-240 calories/hour) after that first hour of running. Most carbohydrate energy products (Gu's, gels, chomps, etc.) contain different types of sugars, so it is important to practice with many different types of carbohydrate fuels during training to experiment with how your body will respond to the different fuels. 

Some people may bring regular candy on their training runs, like gummy bears, but those pre-made carbohydrate products are usually formulated with electrolytes and also mix different types of sugars, allowing the body to absorb more carbohydrates per hour (more than 60 grams per hour).

Many carbohydrate products on the market contain maltodextrin (a very quickly and easily-digested carbohydrate) AND a different type of sugar (simple sugars like glucose and fructose). Anything above what the body can absorb and use may cause gastrointestinal distress, so it's important to practice fueling during training runs. I recommend practicing with many different types of carbohydrate fuels (solid, liquid, gels, different brands) to see how your body responds to them. 

Check the label for this GU energy gel, containing maltodextrin and fructose for sugars + electrolytes at about 100 calories , 23 grams of carbohydrates. 

Salted Watermelon Gu

INGREDIENTS: Maltodextrin, Water, Fructose, Leucine, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Potassium Citrate, Sodium Citrate, Calcium Carbonate, Valine, Green Tea (Leaf) Extract (Contains Caffeine), Gellan Gum, Isoleucine, Sunflower Oil, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Potassium Sorbate (Preservative).

3. Try Training Low, Some of the Time

As mentioned above, carbohydrates stored in the muscles and liver, in addition to any carbohydrates eaten on the run help runners keep their energy levels high, prevent blood sugar from dropping, and help replenish glycogen levels for speedier recovery. This is especially true as intensity increases - when runners are pushing the pace or climbing a hill (anything at a higher intensity), they're burning carbohydrates. Having full glycogen stores and eating carbohydrates on runs over 90 minutes helps to delay fatigue and "hitting the wall" by sparing the glycogen stores from getting depleted. Once glycogen stores are depleted, fat becomes the primary source of fuel for exercise.

Endurance training increases the body's ability to oxidize fat, which in theory can help runners prolong endurance exercise without depleting their glycogen stores. It is more difficult for our bodies to use fat for energy, and if given the choice, muscles prefer carbohydrates to use for energy, but many athletes want to be able to burn more fat, to run longer in training and races without taking fuel with them or without "hitting the wall." Being able to burn more fat means being able to tap into the nearly limitless fat reservers (50,000 to 60,000 calories of triglycerides stored in your body, compared to only ~2,000 calories of total body glycogen stored). In fact, some recent studies have looked into "training low," or restricting carbohydrates for workouts. The research right now isn't strong enough to say that eating a high fat diet benefits performance, and in fact, repeatedly performing with low glycogen stores have been shown to decrease endurance, especially at high intensities.

So, train low or no? It's not so black and white!

Regardless, of research, athletes can use the "train low" strategies to train their bodies to use fat more efficiently on runs.

They can to include some fasted workouts into their training schedule (not more than 50% of runs!) to promote training adaptations and work their fat metabolism versus training each and every time with carbohydrates. According to Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, runners can try training with lower glycogen levels when they have a lower-intensity workout and keep themselves fueled for any high-intensity workouts.

Athletes can try eating a normal (higher carb) dinner the night before a long, slow training run, and wake up and run before breakfast, just taking water with them on a their runs. Most runners have enough energy to run at least 90 minutes, but may have to build up to running without fuel if they are used to usually running after eating. Athletes can also try training more than once a day, with that second training session being a low glycogen workout. Make sure to refuel right away after a workout to promote muscle recovery and glycogen storage.

Remember: Everyone is different!

These strategies may not work for everyone, and likely will not work for every run. If someone is a very speedy marathon runner, a low carb run or diet may not fit into their training. For best results, working with a Registered Dietitian with experience working with athletes can help you decide the best strategies to help you fuel YOUR workouts. Call the Sanford Sports Science Institute to make an appointment with the Registered Dietitian at 605-312-7878!

Read more:

Training Peaks (Asker Jeukendrup) || Food Fight: High Carb or High Fat Diet For Endurance Athletes

Running On Veggies || Nutritious Recipes for Athletes

Outside Magazine || The New Science Behind Low Carb Training

The Guardian || High Carb or High Fat? The Running Diet Debate

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