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 youfrom 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.
