Nutrition

After Saturdays practice and observing you guys in the cafeteria it has come to my attention that you need information on the proper diet for an athlete. Now when you hear the word diet what do you think that means? Most people associate the word diet with losing weight. This association isnt necessarily true. The diet for a young athlete contains higher levels of calorie intake. Since you are young your body needs nutrients for it to grow. Being athletes we are breaking down these nutrients when we compete, which means we need to be taking in even more nutrients than kids not participating in sports. You may often hear your parents talk about cutting fat out of their diet but this doesnt apply to the young athlete. YOU NEED FAT IN YOUR DIET! This may sound crazy but its true, because active muscles quickly burn through carbs and need fats for long-lasting energy. Like carbs, not all fats are created equal. Now this is not an invitation to run home and buy a bag of Doritos and chow the whole thing down!!! I repeat, This is not an invitation to run home and buy a bag of Doritos and chow the whole thing down !!! (haha) This article talks about all the nutrients your body needs and how much. It tells you what types of fats you should consume and it also talks about what we should eat on a game day. I would really like us all to read this article and take it seriously. We have an issue as a whole team of improper diet. Some of us may not eat enough some of us may be just eating the wrong things at the wrong times. We will discuss this article. Read through all the pages please.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/eatnrun.html?tracking=T_RelatedArticle#

Remember teen athletes should consume 2,000-5,000 calories a day. I would encourage for this team 3,000-4,500 depending on the individual.