Teaching Student-Athletes Confidence in Nutrition
Hey Coach…have you ever asked your student-athletes about nutrition? Their responses most likely are that they may have had someone talk to them about nutrition…and they remember bits and pieces about how they ‘should’ be eating but really they do not know for sure! Many can’t tell you in their own words about what it means to ‘eat healthy’ or have a ‘balanced diet’.
They haven’t been given the opportunity to take what they learned about nutrition and actually put it to use in their personal life, in relation to their overall health, daily training or sports performance in order to reflect about their experiences. And… in the midst of a time of big body changes, huge learning curves, busy schedules, social pressures (and as many parents might argue, some teen-aged selfishness), increasing anxiety and depression due to the lengthy time-out during Covid-19… if nutrition is not important, it’s not likely going to be reinforced.
So ‘eating healthy’ doesn’t just means eating vegetables and cutting out junk food, sugar, and coke…
And ‘having a balanced diet’ means eating some ‘good’ things and some ‘bad’ things.
The opportunity to develop an understanding of nutrition, as it relates to them as a unique and individual person and athlete, is essential. So, how do we help our student-athletes go gain such knowledge?
It has been said that... “You Are What You Eat”! So, EAT to WIN!
If you don’t have a large budget or a lot of extra time to spend on lectures and experts, what is the solution? Before talking to student-athletes about changes they can make in their nutritional habits, we want them to know what their habits look like to begin with. One of the best ways is to have them keep a food journal or daily log that is monitored and discussed as a group. Reflecting about what they observed through this exercise and asking questions about what they notice, it opens the door to change their habits with food in a way that actually means something to them, and it needs to be related to their ‘state of mind’, performance in training, competitions or games.
This means assessing their state of fatigue, emotional, physical, and mental well-being. It needs to be a ‘game changer!’ And lets-get this straight! Being skinny does not necessarily mean ‘healthy’ as eating disorders have increased not only among female but also male athletes. This is an emotional psychological disorder that provides the feeling that “I lost control BUT I can control my food intake!” Coming to a personal understanding of what ‘healthy’ means doesn’t happen in one 60 minute setting. Athletes need to ‘figure it out’ with guidance … not all at once… but they have to buy into the system for forever. This is something they need to develop and explore for the rest of their lives and it will be different for each one of them.
In the sporting world, where the team concept is always emphasized above the individual and selfishness is discouraged, this can be a challenging concept. When it comes to nutrition, however, their own nutritional needs absolutely will be different from others they are competing with and against. The sooner they know this, and learn what their needs are, the better.
For coaches, this might seem like a challenging task, especially if not trained in nutrition. But talking to the student-athletes about nutrition doesn’t have to be difficult. There is a great variety of resources and free expertise available.
Student-athletes need to develop:
Understanding of personal nutrition needs
Develop further tools and strategies they already possess and learn to make eating simpler in daily life
Increase the ever-evolving knowledge base about foods
Create a ‘mindset’ about their experiences with food
Release the concept about ‘punishing themselves’ because they didn’t get nutrition ‘just perfect’
Allow themselves to enjoy food
Student-athletes who learn to work with nutrition develop an understanding over time to move with confidence around food. They realize they can enjoy delicious foods and maintain healthy habits that nourish themselves at the same time. It does not have to be one or the other.
There is no Perfection… Only Progress!
References:
The article is modified by Schloder. The original “Nutrition for student-athletes can’t be just about the macros… How we are making it about people is written by Diane Johnson, March 29, 2023. LinkedIn.