1. How many calories do I need to eat if I want to maintain my current weight? Example for a 200 pound athlete who practices for 3 hours per day:

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1 Nutrition Questions: 1. How many calories do I need to eat if I want to maintain my current weight? Step 1 Calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the minimal number of calories your body needs just for daily survival. A simple method is to multiply your weight (in pounds) by 10. Step 2 Calculate the number of calories you need for basic activities of daily living, excluding exercise by multiplying your results from Step 1 by 20-30%. Step 3- Finally, to add exercise calories, add 100 calories for every 10 minutes of hard exercise or workout time. Example for a 200 pound athlete who practices for 3 hours per day: Step 1 BMR = weight x 10 = 200 x 10 = 2000 calories Step 2 - BMR x 20-30% = 2000 x 0.20 = = x 0.30 = =2600 Step 3 Total caloric needs = Step 2 result x 180 minutes Total caloric needs = = 4200 calories per day 2. Will a low carbohydrate diet hurt my ability to perform at a high level? Carbohydrates provide your body s main source of fuel during exercise. It is needed for high intensity exercise and primes our body s pathways for burning fat for longer exercise. Athletes who consume inadequate amounts of carbohydrates are more frequently injured or ill, they aren t able to train to their potential or recover between workouts, and they feel psychologically tired or even depressed. Additionally, your brain relies on an adequate supply of carbohydrate because it can t store it. An undernourished brain will have difficulty concentrating resulting in decrements in academic performance 3. I have a teammate who is always on a diet. How do I know if she is a restrictive eater or if she has disordered eating? Differentiate between an athlete who is a chronic dieter and one who has an eating disorder is difficult. One important sign is when the athlete is unable to correct the disordered eating behavior in light of a performance decrement. In this case, the eating disorder has become more important than athlete s sport. Other signs may include isolation

2 from teammates and friends, gastrointestinal complaints, not attending team meals, and frequent trips to the bathroom immediately following meals. 4. How can I time my eating across the course of a day to optimize my body s response to training? During exercise, hydration is the most important goal. Water and perhaps a carbohydrate/electrolyte drink containing 4-6% carbohydrate and a basic electrolyte combination. Post exercise - Thirty to 45 minutes post exercise your should consume enough fluid to replace 150% of what you lost, grams of carbohydrate per kilogram* of body weight and grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. After weight workouts you may need to consume more protein. The recommended amount is 0.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Two hours later, you should eat a light meal that is rich in carbohydrates and proteins. Throughout the day Four hours later you should eat another light meal. Over the next 16 hours, you need to eat every few hours. Your meals should focus on a balanced diet of carbohydrates, protein, fruits, and vegetables. *1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds 5. What is nutrient periodization? Nutrition periodization is the concept of varying nutritional intake along with training cycles. For example, during preseason, your training volume and intensity is at its highest. Therefore, your nutritional needs increase. In-season, when you are competing your training volume usually goes down because the goal is to maintain strength and endurance that you built during preseason. More frequent, small meals and healthy snacks with a reduction in overall caloric intake are recommended. Off-season nutrition should correspond to your goals. The goal, whatever the point in your season, is to eat carbohydrates, lean protein, and fruits and vegetables. 6. What can I eat to help my body recover from a practice or game? The goals of recovery nutrition are to replace fluids and electrolytes, replace energy stores, and rebuild muscle. To accomplish these goals, carbohydrates, protein, and fluids/electrolytes become the most important nutritional components.

3 During hard exercise, you will dramatically decrease your carbohydrate stores. Consuming 0.5 to 0.7 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight during the first 30 minutes following exercise is critical to begin replenishing your stores. Foods such as 1 bagel, 3 slices of white bread, 2 pancakes or pieces of French toast, a large muffin, 2 pieces of fruit, 1 cup of cold cereal, 10 ounces of fruit juice, 16 ounces of chocolate or strawberry milk will provide you with approximately 50 grams of carbohydrates. To completely replenish your lost carbohydrate stores you should consume at least an additional 50 grams of carbohydrate within 2 hours. Protein is also important to include in your recovery nutrition. Protein is necessary to begin repairing muscles that have been damaged from exercise. You should consume approximately 10 to 20 grams of protein within the first 30 minutes following exercises. Foods to consider include 1 ounce of meat, poultry, fish, or seafood, 2 eggs or egg whites, 8ounces of milk, 1 cup of yogurt, ½ cup of beans, 1/3 cup of nuts or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. The simplest guide for fluid/electrolyte replacement is the amount of weight lost during exercise. Weigh yourself before and after activity. You should drink ounces of fluid for every pound you lose. Water and/or an electrolyte beverage are recommended. 7. How soon after a workout should I eat to maximize recovery? A light meal consisting of carbohydrates, protein, and fluids should be eaten within 30 minutes after exercise. A full, well-balanced meal should be eaten within 2 hours after exercise. 8. I am never hungry after a workout, practice, or game so I don t eat. Will this hurt my recovery? Exercise can suppress your appetite making you not want to eat. If this is the case, try a recovery beverage such as flavored milk, drinkable yogurts, or fruit smoothies. Other suggestions include cold sports drinks, fruit juice, or low-fat milkshakes. 9. How do I know how much fluid I need to drink after a workout, game, or practice to rehydrate? The simplest guide for fluid/electrolyte replacement is the amount of weight lost during exercise. Weigh yourself before and after activity. You should drink ounces of fluid for every pound you lose. Water and/or an electrolyte beverage are recommended

4 10. What is the best way to stay hydrated during practices and competitions? Calculating your sweat rate will enable you to gage your hydration practices during practices and competitions. Follow this procedure to calculate your sweat rate: 1. Weigh yourself in minimal clothing and without shoes before your workout. 2. Record the amount of fluid that you drink during your workout. 3. Weigh yourself in minimal clothing and without shoes after your workout. 4. Subtract your post-workout weight from your pre-workout weight. If the difference is less than 2%, you are drinking enough fluids during your workout. If it is greater than 2%, you need to add 16 ounces of fluid for every pound of weight lost to your hydration plan. 11. Is there a difference between sports drinks, flavored waters, nutritionally enhanced beverages, and energy drinks? Yes, there is a difference. Sports drinks contain carbohydrates, electrolytes, and sometimes other added nutrients. They are good for hydration because they stimulate thirst, replace electrolytes, and promote fluid retention. Flavored waters usually contain very few calories and sometimes include artificial flavoring, vitamins, minerals, and/or herbs. They can be used as a substitute for water in general hydration but lack carbohydrates so are not good during long or intense exercise. Nutritionally enhanced beverages such as Vitamin Water and Special K Protein Water contain carbohydrates, artificial flavoring, protein, vitamins, minerals, and/or herbs. They are most appropriately used as recovery drinks but are not good for hydration during exercise. Energy drinks usually include caffeine and/or other stimulants, carbohydrates, artificial flavoring, and sometimes amino acids, vitamins, minerals, or herbs. Because caffeine and other stimulants increase the frequency of urination, they may actually lead to dehydration. Energy drinks are not an appropriate hydration or rehydration tool. 12. Are pregame meals really important to performance? Pregame meals are important. The goal of the meal should be to top off energy and fluid stores. You should neither feel hungry or extremely full after the meal. However, it is important to keep in mind that most of your energy and fluid stores should be built up

5 throughout the week. You should not depend on your pregame meal to replace the stores that you used earlier in practices leading up to the game. 13. What types of foods should I eat before a competition? Unfortunately, there is not a perfect pregame meal. Factors to take into consideration when planning a meal include type of sport, time of competition, and your food preferences. However, there are some guidelines upon which most nutritionists agree. First, carbohydrates should make up most of your meal. A rule of thumb is one-half to two-thirds of your plate be carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are important because they add glucose to your bloodstream quickly, giving you a readily available source of energy for the game. Bread, cereals, pastas, fruits, vegetables, and crackers are some examples of good carbohydrates to include in a pregame meal. Lean sources of protein, like chicken or lean sirloin or strip steak, are also important. Fluid intake should be a big focus of pregame. Water is best. Foods to avoid are those high in fat. Fried, breaded, or those foods with lots of sauce are difficult to digest. These foods will cause blood to be drawn to the stomach and away from active muscles and the brain resulting in sluggishness. 14. I would like to lose weight but not lose muscle mass. How can I accomplish my goal? Basic guidelines for losing weight include: 1. The goal is to lose one pound per week. Reducing caloric intake by 500 calories per day will allow you to accomplish this goal. 2. Eat numerous smaller meals. Six meals a day is not uncommon. It allows you to spread your caloric intake over that day and minimizes unused calories. 3. Time your meals so that they provide you have enough energy for the workout. For example eat breakfast, have a mid-morning snack, eat lunch, have a pre-workout snack and a post-workout snack, and then eat a nutritionally balanced dinner. 4. As you restrict calories, make sure that you are getting a full spectrum of nutrients. Adequate vitamin and mineral intake is very important. Eating a balanced diet that includes carbohydrates, lean meats, fruits, and vegetables will help. 15. I would like to try a vegetarian diet. Will this affect my performance?

6 No. However, like all people, you need to eat a healthy, balanced diet to ensure that you are getting ample amounts of vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, and protein to fuel yourself for performance. One concern with a vegetarian diet is the quality of protein in your diet. The American Dietetic Association advises that vegetarians eat approximately 10% more than meat-eaters because many non-meat proteins are not as easily broken down as meat proteins. As a result, less protein is available to the body for building and repair and other vital functions. For a vegetarian athlete, a recommended quantity of protein to include in your diet is 1.3 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. A good website for you to access is