As a student-athlete, your goal is to perform at your best. To help ensure that you have that competitive edge, you need to EAT RIGHT!
A busy class schedule coupled with practice and conditioning can make it difficult to fuel properly. Without proper intake of energy and nutrients from healthy foods, you cannot perform at your best and may even place yourself at a higher risk for injury! To help you keep your diet on the right track, we have developed the #KnightsEatRight Nutrition Challenge focusing on “The Athlete’s Plate” which is a tool to help you adjust your eating to the physical demands of your sport.
WHAT IT IS?
#KnightsEatRight is an 4-week nutrition challenge to help get you on the road to making better food choices, keeping you healthy and getting you one step ahead of the competition.
WHEN?
The program will run from March 7, 2016 until April 1, 2016
HOW IT WORKS:
- Follow us @fdusportsnutrition on Instagram for great nutrition tips and information.
- When you have a meal, snap a photo of your plate based on “The Athlete’s Plate” (breakfast, lunch, or dinner – or all 3) and post it on Instagram with the hashtag #knightseatright [If the exact hashtag is not in the post, we can’t see it!]
Please Note: *If you do not have an Instagram account and are not interested in creating one, you can still participate by taking a photo of your meals and submitting them to: sfisher@fdu.edu
- A dietitian will evaluate your plate. If it meets the guidelines and represents a suitable meal for an athlete, you will be awarded 1 point. Student-athletes that earn at least 3 points per week for all four weeks of the challenge will receive recognition and a special prize!
- The team that earns the most points will also receive special recognition!
A well-trained athlete, male or female, can lose 2 liters of sweat or more per hour of workout or competition. A sweat loss as small as 2% of body weight can impair physical performance (that’s equal to 3 lbs. of sweat for a 150 lb. athlete). To avoid dehydration and the possibility of heat-related issues like muscle cramps, heat exhaustion, or heat stroke, use the following guidelines to ensure proper hydration.
Pre-workout/competition
Consume 16-20 ounces (2-2 ½ cups) of fluid in the 2 hours prior to physical activity or more if your urine is dark. In the 5-10 minutes prior to physical activity, consume an additional 6-8 ounces of fluid.
During workout/competition
Taking fluid in during physical activity is especially important if the activity is 60 minute or more in duration or if the temperature is warm but may also provide performance benefit in activities much shorter in duration. Strive to consume 6-10 ounces of fluid every 15-20 minutes. While this may not replace all that is lost in sweat, it represents your body’s maximum capacity to absorb fluid during physical activity.
Post-workout/competition
Drinking to quench thirst after workouts or games may only replace one-half to two-thirds of what you lost. Consciously drink beyond thirst until your urine is once again pale or clear…you have to drink approximately 150% of fluid lost as sweat to fully rehydrate. You can enhance rehydration following physical activity by consuming fluids or foods containing sodium like sports drinks and salted pretzels.
Which fluid is best?
While water is typically a good choice, sports drinks like Gatorade or PowerAde may be even better because they are absorbed by the body more efficiently than plain water. Sports drinks not only provide fluid, but also electrolytes like sodium and potassium that you lose in sweat. Sports drinks also provide a source of carbohydrate for much needed energy during long-duration physical activity and since they’re typically sweet, athletes tend to drink more.
©Scott Fisher, MS, RD, CSCS 2012
| Athlete Plate (Team USA Guidelines) |
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Athlete Plate
Other Guidelines
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| CPSDA Fact Sheets & Guidelines (Collegiate & Professional Sports Dietitians Association) |
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General Information
Student-Athlete Sport Specific Information
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| Additional Nutrition Infomation |
