Dec 15, 2017Good Start
Many athletes’ biggest food-related mistake is eating too small a breakfast or skipping it entirely. Even if they eat a full lunch, those who skip breakfast will consistently underperform in afternoon training sessions and are likely to overeat at night.
Often, the real culprit is simply time. Student-athletes stay up late doing schoolwork or socializing, have an early class or workout, and don’t want to get up any earlier than they have to. Of course, getting enough sleep is critical to athletic performance as well, but the extra minutes gained by hitting the snooze button would be better spent eating an easy-to-prepare breakfast.
The meal ideas in the list below can all be prepared in 10 minutes or less, with nothing more than basic kitchen equipment. Some don’t require heating at all, and those that do can be zapped in a microwave. Simple breakfasts are ideal for before a morning workout–a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread takes two minutes to make, and it goes great with a green-tip banana and a glass of low-fat milk.
Breakfast shouldn’t always be thought of as a single meal. It can be broken into two parts separated by an early class or lifting session–sandwich before, fruit and a bagel with peanut butter afterward. This will improve recovery from morning training, encourage continued fueling for later training sessions, and decrease the likelihood of gorging at night.
Some athletes have told me they don’t have an appetite in the morning. If skipping breakfast is a longstanding habit for them, this is probably true, but like any other bad habit, it can be changed gradually. I recommend starting with liquids like milk or juice, then moving to soft solids like yogurt or oatmeal, then finally to actual solid food. Once the body grows used to morning fuel, athletes will start feeling hungry upon waking up.
To Eat at Home
• 1 cup of quick-cook oatmeal with your choice of peanut butter, raisins, chopped nuts, brown sugar, and/or honey mixed in
• Piece of whole fruit
• Low-fat or skim milk
• French toast (frozen) with 1-2 tbsp. of peanut butter and light maple syrup
• Piece of whole fruit
• Low-fat or skim milk
• Low-fat yogurt
• Low-fat granola with added nuts and raisins*
• Piece of whole fruit
• Low-fat or skim milk
• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread*
• Piece of whole fruit
• Low-fat or skim milk
Easy to Pack
• Yogurt parfait: fruit, granola, and yogurt
• Piece of whole fruit
• Bagel with peanut butter*
• Milk or orange juice
• Fruit smoothie made with yogurt, whole fruit, juice, and a soy or whey protein powder*
• Bag of trail mix*
• Piece of whole fruit
• Milk or orange juice
* = Especially good choice for athletes looking to gain weight
For any meal calling for peanut butter, other nut butters can be substituted as well,
such as cashew or almond butter.
