What do you eat?

[Teezi]

Hi,

So I was wondering what a average day of eating would look like to you. I find it really hard to know what to eat so I have the most energy for practise

I usually eat

Breakfast: Smoothie (sometimes with a slice of whole grain bread as a side or a egg )

Lunch: Quinoa salad, salad with chicken or egg, Veggie Sandwich

Snack: Some sort of fruit

Dinner: What ever my mum has made

Of corse it changes depending on when I have gym and how hungry I am in the day.

 

[Gymnastisism]

I normally don't like to discuss eating habits, but I think (and I'm no dietician) that to have a lot of energy for the day it's important to have a big (healthy) breakfast. While I don't know of your training schedule, if you train in the afternoons I think you might need a little something more than a smoothie, you'll need something that will "stick to your ribs" to make it through to lunch, which for me means rather than having a big breakfast, I have something similar to what you have for breakfast and then a follow up small meal about an hour later.
Also don't be afraid of carbs. Complex carbohydrates like beans give you lots of energy and aren't useless like potato chips or the like. Carbs are energy, so if you're looking for more energy definitely up the carb intake.

 

[LucyTRA]

I don't really have a 'diet' at all. I literally vary between eating five times in one day to days like yesterday when I'm so busy that I didn't eat anything at all until 8pm.

I don't think it's really something you should worry about, it sounds like you eat a pretty balanced diet but you could be short of carbs, which might be why you don't feel that you have enough energy at training. It's recommended that your diet is 30% fat, 15% protein and 65% carbs, but that is for an average person (and they assume that the average person is only doing 30 minutes of exercise per day) so you will probably require more protein and carbs than that to get you through several hours of training.

If you're tired at practices you could try eating something high energy beforehand - one of my teammates swears by peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and he's still competing at 64, so it can't be doing him much damage! But you could also eat something with slow release energy like flapjack or granola, brown rice or pasta, some nuts or dried fruit, or a combination of those!

 

[dreamergymnast]

I don't really have a diet, but you shouldn't worry as it sounds like you have a pretty good diet. If I ever need a quick snack before I leave to practice (my practice is later in the day), I grab a granola bar or something like that.

 

[aerialriver]

Typically food

 

[Gymnastics1234]

The first thing that my coach said was DON'T DIET!!! She gave us a little "food map" that tells us what we should eat. I'll upload the pic. And also she said to always drink LOTS of water during the day, not just at practice!

 

[MiriamGymnast02]

Hi,

So I was wondering what a average day of eating would look like to you. I find it really hard to know what to eat so I have the most energy for practise

I usually eat

Breakfast: Smoothie (sometimes with a slice of whole grain bread as a side or a egg )

Lunch: Quinoa salad, salad with chicken or egg, Veggie Sandwich

Snack: Some sort of fruit

Dinner: What ever my mum has made

Of corse it changes depending on when I have gym and how hungry I am in the day.

My Day usually goes like this:

Breakfast: Healthy cereal (cornflakes,wheaties) and one piece of bread.

Lunch: One extra lean ground beef hamburger (96% lean), One low fat ice cream sandwich (Only 1.5 grams of fat), One fruit snack packet, and sometimes another piece of bread.

Mid-Afternoon Snack: One turkey sandwich (with low fat turkey breast)

Before Practice Snack(s): One apple and one protein bar (The protein bar has 21 grams of protein and 4.5 grams of fat)

After Practice Snack(s): One can of green beans. Sometimes I get something from the gym vending machine (pretzels or fruit snacks), and sometimes once a week I treat myself to a McDonald's ice cream cone.

 

[Ponyshine]

I don't really have a 'diet' at all. I literally vary between eating five times in one day to days like yesterday when I'm so busy that I didn't eat anything at all until 8pm.

I don't think it's really something you should worry about, it sounds like you eat a pretty balanced diet but you could be short of carbs, which might be why you don't feel that you have enough energy at training. It's recommended that your diet is 30% fat, 15% protein and 65% carbs, but that is for an average person (and they assume that the average person is only doing 30 minutes of exercise per day) so you will probably require more protein and carbs than that to get you through several hours of training.

If you're tired at practices you could try eating something high energy beforehand - one of my teammates swears by peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and he's still competing at 64, so it can't be doing him much damage! But you could also eat something with slow release energy like flapjack or granola, brown rice or pasta, some nuts or dried fruit, or a combination of those!

Wow! Competing at 64!!!??? Is that trampolining?

 

[Turk]

I eat a lot of turkey sandwiches. No joke! There are these wholemeal sandwich "thins" which are small bread squares that split in half for a filling, and I fill them with turkey slices. I have a lot of trouble with my blood sugar (in the process of finding out what's wrong) and I find that frequent turkey sandwiches with vegetables on the side helps me keep things slightly more on a level.

I make quite a lot of soup, too. My favourites are my own recipe lentil soup and a chicken soup which was originally a chicken noodle recipe I found. Aside from that, I love eggs and tend to stick a couple in the microwave with a side of steamed or boiled vegetables.

I do eat a fair amount of chocolate, but I only like one specific brand really and the GI of that kind is pretty low so it's okay for me.

I'm a monster for anything potato-based, though. I'm the master of working out meals that will lower the GI of the potatoes so I can eat them more often!

 

[Redford]

I'm convinced my body knows it is requiered to perform and thus knows what it needs to be in form.
My body tells me to eat a good breakfirst, lots of vegetables and fruit, carbs for in between when I lack energy. My body tells me that it works better with a full and healthy meal and a rather light dinner. But it also tells me that it needs a certain amount of fat and sugar.
And that a bit of chocolate every now and then makes life so much better...

 

[stxrdusty]

When I eat from a school dining hall I try to get a little bit of every food group. Our dining halls are buffet style. We can eat as much as we want once we enter the dining hall, but once we exit the hall, we've exited for that meal period and can't go in again. We pay for meal plans before our grading periods begin as part of our housing payment. When I don't eat from a dining hall, then I don't eat that meal or I get whatever sounds best from where I am.

 

[LucyTRA]

Wow! Competing at 64!!!??? Is that trampolining?

Yep. He's 65 now actually, with a comp coming up at the end of the month...

 

[Ponyshine]

That's amazing! What sort of level is he at?

 

[Gymnast9272]

On gym days I eat breakfast before school, lunch at school, a snack before practice, then dinner after practice