Summary

Are you looking to make your athlete's school day the best possible experience ever? 

I bet you didn't even think about this, but it absolutely starts with nutrition and feeding them the right things, so let's make sure they are eating what their body needs for success!

It's definitely going to take some time to get your athlete on track, and it might mean you have to make slow changes over time, but you can do it!

Give Them The Good Stuff

At the Sports Performance Academy, we always look at making sure we have the best macronutrients that we can afford. Here's what each macronutrient does, and how it best fuels your athlete's body:

1. Carbohydrates- they fuel the brain! If your athlete isn't eating really great carbohydrates, their brain isn't going to have the energy that it needs to be able to learn. This goes for their sport too, they need carbs to be able to think through complex processes and perform well.
2. Fats- up to 70% of the brain is made up of fat! Fat surrounds the neurons and makes their connections and transmissions faster and permanent, cementing their learning in place. Without great fats, the body can't lay down high-quality myelin (the sheath that surrounds nerves that makes them so amazing).
3. Proteins-help repair cells! Proteins also make the transmission between the neurons happen (neurotransmitters are made up of proteins as well)

Follow the Map to Get Them Where They Need To Go

If you were going on a trip, to Success, CA, USA and you've never been there before, would just wing it, or would you type that address right into maps so you can have directions to get there?

You're going to use the map every time!

So that's why we developed The Road Map To Success for your athlete! The Road Map lets you know when and what to eat each and every day. It's the cheat sheet for success! 

Here are the important points:

Eat approximately every 2 hours, including proteins, carbs, and fats in each meal!

Breakfast

• Steel-cut oats with blueberries and nuts (either chopped or ground)
• Eggs and potatoes/sweet potatoes

Mid-Morning Snack

• Pita Chips with hummus and a side of grapes
• Apples dipped in almond butter

Lunch-

• Sandwich with great quality bread (Dave's Killer Bread "Good Seed" is my favorite) with some quality meat, cheese if they want it, and lots of good veggies-lettuce, tomato, avocado, etc…and make sure to include a dessert that helps! Homemade cookies are great because you can choose the ingredients- whole wheat flour, oats, coconut oil (or even avocado!), coconut sugar, nuts, get creative! Don't be afraid to try something new.

Pre-Workout Snack

• ½ Peanut butter/banana sandwich on Dave's Killer Bread
• Apples dipped in almond butter

Mid-Workout Snack

• Fruit

Dinner- try to include some of these superfoods:

• Salmon
• Avocados
• Quinoa
• Lentils/beans

Giving your athlete great nutrition throughout the day will maximize their brain's ability to use carbohydrates. With the healthy fats, their cells can really be amazing and fire off the transmissions that need to take place to help make processes permanent.

#1 Takeaway: EAT BREAKFAST!

If your athlete is starting out the day skipping breakfast, they're running on empty! Studies have also shown that students that don't eat breakfast do worse on test than their peers that do eat breakfast!

Start with breakfast and make it a priority every day for the next two weeks.

If your athlete has been eating breakfast, but not super quality (lacking protein, carbs, or fats), change it up and find something that works for you with ALL of the great nutrients that will fuel them for the day. 

It's so important that our athletes are able to concentrate and do their very best at school. This whole nutrition journey may seem hard at first, but with practice, it will become second nature…YOU GOT THIS!

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment, let us know what you're going to try, what your thoughts are, or any questions you have about this…let's walk this road together!