Parents Speaking of mealtime...

[notthatmom]

When do your kids eat? Like on regular practice days?

Once DD is on team, she'll have practice 3 days a week from 5 to 8, she gets out of school at 3:45, and I won't be able to pick her up too early every single day (she goes to after care). So I'm just wondering how other families do it...do I just get her used to protein shakes and give her those? Or have her take more for lunch then eat dinner at 8:30 pm??

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Pink is a pasta fiend,

I do pasta with tomato, basil and Chorizo, carbonnara, bolognaise ( I make the meat sauce ahead of time and re-heat). Thai green curry with noodles, prawns and sugar snap peas, couscous.

Also jacket potatoes, toasted sandwiches, soups, wraps.

She normally likes a carb heavy meal before practice and then a snack after, chicken, fish, cake, yoghurt. We do a lot of eating in the car.

 

[CTMOM]

My 8 year old DD practices 5:00-8:00 3 days a week. She will usually eat a sandwich and snack before she goes and then will eat again when she gets home.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Mine isn't really an eater and she's been fine. She's 8 and practices from 4:00-8:00 3 times a week. I pick her up in carpool at 3:45 (we are always 10+ minutes late to practice) and I'll bring her a snack which she may or may not eat. Usually fruit and some kind of crackers, cheese, sunflower seeds, cereal, etc. Then she eats dinner at 8:30 when she gets home. I send snacks with her to practice too, but they only give a few minutes between events to eat and she rarely has more than a bite or two of whatever I send. So there is definitely no meal going on. I know I couldn't exercise for 4 hours with so little food, but she doesn't want to eat anything more before practice and I can't force her.

 

[auswi]

Dd has practise through meal times regularly.Before training she finds the humble peanut butter sandwich her favourite, greenish bananas ( low GI so release energy more slowly), a granola bar or a handful of nuts -always eaten in the car- to be great.
She doesn't like anything too bulky to eat before training. We take food to reheat in the gym kitchen for the journey home.
This system has worked well for her -she sustains her energy throughout practise.

 

[z2akids]

Lately miNE has taken to eating a Luna bar in the car on the way to practice. (Higher in protein than might be recommended right before practice, but it seems to work for her). They have a snack/icing break at about 6 and DD usually eats some fruit snacks or something similar. Then she usually eats a small meal when she gets home. She practices from 4:30-8:30 on 2 school nights a week. Her weekend practices are a little less of an issue with food because she can graze throughout the day. I would say that over the course of a week, her diet is sufficient, but that she definitely eats more on non-practice week days then on practice week days.

 

[MomIdidit!]

Mine eats her dinner before practice since practice ends at 9. She eats dinner by 4 so she has enough time to digest. She has protein (fish or chicken) and a veggie. On our way home she has a snack, fruit, yougert or a protein bar.

There are other girls on dd team that will only eat dinner after practice. I think it depends on the child and which time works best for your family. Try different options to see which works best. Good luck!

 

[meganliz77]

DD is at the gym from 3:15 p.m. until 6:30 nightly, but then we have a 40 minute commute home. I have her essentially make a second lunch to bring with her daily. She eats what she can prior to practice (usually 15 min tops after school) and she eats the rest on the way home. I am constantly concerned she is not getting enough fuel for her body... but she never complains.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My girls are homeschooled, so working around My ODDs 4 hour weekday practices aren't a big deal. My YDDs practices are only two hours, so no issue at all. My ODD practices from 4:30-8:30 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. We leave for gym around 3:15. On those days she eats breakfast, lunch, and then a second "lunch" between 2:30 and 3:00. She packs a snack (fruit or trail mix, or sometimes a couple homemade cookies) and eats another snack on the way home. She then eats dinner once we get home. She usually eats thirds or fourths. Have I mentioned my child can eat! Our problem comes in on weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays she starts at 9:00- during the week she is still asleep at 9:00. She doesn't like to eat that early (she would have to have breakfast at 7:45 or so), so she usually has a half a green smoothie with protein (or some milk) and a piece of toast or half a bagel. She does pack a bigger snack on Saturdays (pretzels, peanut butter, fruit, cracker sandwiches, etc) but she comes out at 2pm STARVING every week. Especially when they don't get their snack break. I'm not one to say that if they aren't hungry, they shouldn't eat. I mean, the body runs on fuel, gym burns fuel, food replenishes fuel. It's simple to me, but then I don't have kids who are hard to feed- at all- so maybe I am just lucky.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

9 year old Dd has 4 practices a week from 4:10-8:30. I pick her up at school at 3:45. I bring her food in a thermos (chicken and rice, pasta, ham and scalloped potatoes,),a chocolate milk and fruit. I also pack her a snack of yogurt, protein bar and a raw veggie for break time. It is all designed to get as many calories into her as possible in a short amount of time. She is very thin, and has major performance issues at practice without enough to eat. She usually eats a treat snack (ice cream or cookies) before she goes to bed

 

[Deleted member 18037]

When my daughter had practice 5:30 to 8 we did a light meal before and after. Lots of stuff in a thermos for on the way home.

Now that she has practice 4-7, she has a snack before, we have dinner as a family at 7:30 on practice days.

When it was light meals, it was leftovers from dinner, mac and cheese, quiche, pierogi, ravioli, sushi, fried rice, potstickers, turkey and cheese, fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt, homemade hamburger helper with noodles, roasted potates with veg and cheese.

 

[gymmutti]

Mine have practice from 5-9 but we head to the gym straight from school at 3:45 to avoid rush hour. They eat a snack on the way to gym (peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a little bit of chicken, some nuts and either cut up apples or apple sauce) and then do homework the rest of the way and before practice. I bring dinner in the car for after practice in either a thermos or an insulated cooler. Dinner usually consists of a chocolate milk, some fruit (apples, peaches, pineapple), and then a veggie and protein. Last night it was rotisserie chicken, roasted asparagus, steamed potatoes, peaches and chocolate milk. Tonight it was spaghetti and of course, chocolate milk.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Now that my girls are both in middle school we have a very short window of time every day between school and leaving for gym/dance (elementary school gets out later, so last year we left straight from YDDs school). I pick them up from school, they change, I have a small meal ready for them and we usually eat that in the car on the way to practice. This can be quesadillas, turkey wraps, chicken nuggets, subs.... A fairly substantial meal but not full on dinner.
If it's a late day for me at work, YDD has to bring her dinner and heat it up at gym (I coach at her gym). If I get off work at the same time she's done, we go home and eat another meal then, around 8pm. ODD is never done at dance before 8:30 or 9pm so I make her something when she gets home or her car pool goes through a drive thru on the way home. This "late meal/dinner" is usually something I can have ready in the crockpot (Mexican chicken and tortillas, pulled pork sandwiches etc), sometimes a nice salad or any dish I have time to prepare in advance that can be set in the oven on timer. Love my oven timer!
This is our routine every day of the week, we unfortunately don't get a chance to sit down and eat as a family until the weekend.

 

[Texasmomof3]

My daughter practices 3:30 to 7:30 every day, with a 30 minute commute home afterwards. She has a snack at 3 (usually a fruit and a protein/fat -- banana plus walnuts; orange plus sliced summer sausage; apple pear slices and a Greek yogurt), after school, on the way to gym. And then I bring her hot dinner to eat in the car on the way home, so she can start her homework as soon as she gets home at 8. Dinner in the car is whatever the family is having, unless we are having soup. In cases of soup, I bring her a snack for the car and she has the soup at home.