Healthy Diet

[Gym_Dog]

I'm training for 7/8 right now, and I don't think what i really eat now is keeping me fueled efficiently or healthy. Are there any good diets that will help me feel good and get all nessesary nutrition? Thank you!

 

[MVJ]

I can't give you a specific diet and no one over the internet can give you one perfect for you.

Perhaps a visit to a nutritionist would be a good idea at this point, since if you're training for level 7/8, the hours will be getting longer and all that exercise with no proper nutrition can throw things out of whack.

Remember all that stuff about proper eating from elementary school? Remember to eat your FRESH fruits and vegetables often. Carbohydrates, protein, and fiber!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

gymnasts don't diet!

 

[Kittykatti]

gymnasts don't diet!

Good point, but eating healthy definitely effects my performance..

 

[BlairBob]

A visit to the nutritionist is best. No idea how tall you are or your age.

Without one, I'd calculate BasicMetabolicRate given your LeanBodyMass and then calculate CaloricExpenditure for GymnasticsPractice and tack on a few more calories for stuff like walking to school, PE, etc.

From there you can guesstimate how many calories by writing out what you eat in a typical day and looking it up online.

I'm gonna guess you are in your teens so probably teenage sized? I'm guessing that as we usually never hear 12 year olds or younger ask these questions. Generally someone in that 7th grade and older age bracket in my experiences.

Diet and nutrition are highly debated topics, just like religion and for many nutrition is very much the same. I know some coaches prefer their gymnasts to be vegetarian to virtually vegan while most generally just shrug their shoulders and say stuff like eat healthy and enough. Blanket statement.

Don't go by the USDA standard recommendations. These are a blanket recommendation for EverydayJoeandJaneSchmoe and not athletes.

Make sure to get enough Iron. Very important for those girls once they hit their tweens and teens. Anemia is a pain in the butt to a coach (having spoken from experience dealing with such athletes).

I remember one of our L7's at the age 10 used to tack in around 2800 and she was one of our leanest and strongest. She was also nearly 5', something like 4'10 probably 90lbs. Her mom used to watch her calories in awe because she would eat to the point of grabbing the cereal box and eating straight out of it.

The human body needs about 110g of carbs just to keep the brain fed (this is in adults, probably an adult male roughly 165lbs so more than yourself).

BMR for a female at 5' 110 is 1345 which means the body needs that many calories to just survive and do nothing else. Sleep, sit, watch TV, light walking around, etc.

As a L7/8 probably training a minimum of 14 to 18 hours, that is a lot of exercise. Ample protein is important for recovery. Ideally shoot for 3/4 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight as a bare minimum. Some sources state more. USDA is like 1/3rd of a gram of protein per lbs of BW. It doesn't necessarily have to be animal products so vegetarian sources are fine (beans and rice, quinoa, etc).

Carbohydrates, protein, and fiber

Bingo, basically try to stay away from most if not all sugary stuff and don't go on a diet that is devoid of fat aka Zero or super low fat.

 

[Faith]

gymnasts don't diet!

Yes, they do. They don't follow a weight loss diet, no. But they should be following a diet that is well balanced and takes into account the need for extra calories and nutrients that a gymnast needs.

A sports nutritionist is probably your best bet if you can find one that deals with proper athletes and not gym bunnies (i.e those that exercise for body shape and appearance, rather than function in sport). If not maybe try an app like daily plate or myfitnesspal- plug in your weight, age, activities, and weight maintenance, and it'll give you a rough calorie guide. If you use it to keep a food diary for a few weeks you should get an idea of how balanced your diet is- it can break everything down and give you nice pie charts. Which should at least give you a starting point as to where you need to improve. Then you can tweak to your own personal gymnast needs.

 

[aerialriver]

People don't equate dieting or on a diet with normal healthy eating. They equate it with weight loss just tell someone "I'm on a diet" and ask what that tells them Yes gymnasts and everyone for that matter should follow a healthy "diet" I think Dunno simply meant gymnasts don't diet for weight loss reasons. Everyone is different indeed and you may need more of something and less of something else. It is tricky for kids/teens as you are growing, hook up with a good nutritionist and see what they have to say. In general healthy would be lean meats, fish, nuts, fruits, veggies and whole grains.