Off-Season Fueling

Offseason is great time for athletes to work on certain goals such as maintaining, gaining, or losing weight. Nutrient intake plays a huge role in those processes. Here are some tips regarding maintaining, gaining, or losing weight as a college athlete.


Maintaining Weight

  • Cut back on portion sizes at meals, but still eat often throughout the day.
  • Reach for unsweetened beverages and water for hydration.
  • Avoid eating extra high calorie foods such as desserts, salad dressing, and creamy sauces.
  • Match carbohydrate intake with your activity level. So, on off-days reduce carbohydrate intake compared to high-intensity

Losing Weight

  • Have your biggest meal at the beginning of day then reduce your meal size as the day goes on.
  • Eat every 3 to 4 hours to prevent you from becoming too hungry and overeating. 
  • For carbohydrate requirements eat more whole-grain foods, fruits and low-fat dairy products.
  • Avoid sugary beverages like energy drinks and soft drinks. 
  • Include lean protein at every meal and snack like Greek yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, nuts, and lean meat.

Gaining Weight

  • Have a meal or snack every two or three hours to ensure you're getting enough calories throughout the day.
  • Add calorie dense foods like olive oil, avocado, nuts, granola, and nut butters because they can help increase calories with little increase in food volume.
  • Includes beverages like 100 percent juice or low-fat milk with all meals. 
  • Use olive oil when preparing foods to add some additional calories from healthy fats.

Learn More about Off-Season Fueling (PDF)