Nourishing Your Body as a High School Athlete

Nourishing Your Body as a High School Athlete

Balancing school, family, friends, and sports can make it challenging to fuel your body like it needs. Here are four sports nutrition tips you can do to help you perform your best:

Fueling for your sport as a high school athlete

Sports nutrition tip #1 Eat every 2-3 hours

In order to have the energy you need when it comes to practice or game time, you have to nourish your body at regular intervals. Eating just once or twice a day makes it hard to ensure you get all the nutrients you need and may make you feel uncomfortable and unable to practice. By eating every few hours, your body will have a steady stream of energy to help you perform.

Sports Nutrition Tip #2 Hydrate

Just like with food, your body needs more fluids than what you drink during and after practice. Drink fluids consistently throughout the day to make sure you are hydrated when practice begins and continue drinking during and after to replenish what you lost via sweat. Electrolytes (minerals that balance the body’s fluid supply) are also an essential part of hydration that your body loses when you sweat. Try drinking a sports drink, adding an electrolyte packet to your water, or having a salty snack while you practice to replace lost electrolytes.

Sports Nutrition Tip #3 Eat carbohydrates at every meal and snack

Your body and brain perform best on carbohydrates – this is their preferred source of energy to power you through your sport. Without enough carbohydrates, the body will start breaking down muscle for energy so you won’t perform at your best. Try to have a source of carbohydrate at every meal and snack to give your body the fuel it needs.

Sports nutrition tip #4 Keep snacks in your gym bag.

Hectic schedules, long practices, and tournaments among other things can make it difficult to have the time you need to eat. Keep shelf-stable snacks in your gym bag to ensure you have something available when you’re on-the-go.

In need of more support? Partner with one of our register dietitians to learn how to adequately fuel for your sport. Click the link below to schedule with one of dietitians.

McKayla Mazziotti MS, RD, LD is a sports dietitian who has supported all gender sports at the high school and collegian level.

Dallas Nutritional Counseling - Sports Nutrition Experts, Balancing school, family, friends, and sports can make it challenging to fuel your body like it needs. Here are four nutrition tips you can do to help you perform your best.