Athlete nutrition is different from everyday nutrition for the general population. While the mom or desk jockey can possibly live on fewer calories and unplanned meal timing…the athlete can not.

As an athlete you require more calories, dialed in macronutrients and proper timing around training or games.

Here are 5 mistakes that I see you making when it comes to your nutrition.

1). You don’t prioritize protein.

Protein is the king of macronutrients. It fuels the muscles and keeps you satiated while training. Protein is also important for muscle recovery and muscle growth. When you don’t have enough protein your body will dip into its muscle for extra energy. Protein at 1g per pound of body weight per day is imperative to healthy performance.

For example: You weigh 130lbs…eat 130 grams of protein daily.That looks like 5 servings of the palm of your hand of protein per day.

2) You don’t meal plan.

Meal planning is like the prep before the game. You wouldn’t skip the prep work or you would lose every game. If you are skipping meal planning you are losing the nutrition game and will eventually lose your performance. When you don’t plan you don’t get enough nutrients in your day to support the amount of energy you demand from your training.

Meal planning doesn’t have to be strenuous or sexy. It just needs to cover the basics of getting all your macronutrients in daily.

3) You overload on sugary carbs.

Carbohydrates are an athlete’s friend! Am I right? We LOVE our carbs! But….overloading on sugary ones will tank your performance. Once that sugar hits you get a high and then a crash. If you are loading this before your training or game you will have that initial high and in the middle of your training you will crash. Sugary carbs are not sustainable to performance.

What to eat instead: complex carbs like sweet potato, quinoa, brown rice 2 hours before your training and 1/2 a banana, 1/2 an orange or 1/2 an apple 15 min before training.

4) You are trying to perform in a fasted state

What? Why? Fasting is great for weight loss or for spiritual reasons….it is not for performance. Your performance will suffer if you try to work or compete fasted. The body needs proper food for fuel.

If you don’t like a bunch of food on your stomach during a training session or competition then stick to #4 suggestions.

Leave fasting for the weight loss crowd and eat your food.

5) You are trying to eat like your teammates.

You are unique. While you may have similarities to your teammates it’s important to understand that you have unique needs according to your genetics. While your friend can consume folic acid in their pasta you may have an MTHFR variant that makes that pasta toxic to you. It’s important to know what your genetic make up says about you. It’s YOUR BLUEPRINT.

If you are struggling with what to eat, when to eat, why to eat and how to figure that out then you might be interested in my GENETIC ATHLETE BLUEPRINT, where you can find the unique road map to your body.

Join other athletes, like yourself, who are ready to stop the guesswork and perform at their peak.

Have a team of athletes that you’d like me to speak to? Check out my ATHLETE WORKSHOPS.

Perform STRONG – Stay WILD,

Coach Sandy