Healthy eating is one of the most important parts of your life. As a teenage athlete, if you know how to eat healthy, then you will be able to perform at your peak.
Eating healthy is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. You have to avoid all of the empty calories like the Barbecue Lays or the Quarter Pounder from McDonald. These types of foods easily add up the calories and turn into fat. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't take in too much calories. In fact, you need a few thousand calories each day because you are an athlete. But the key to healthy eating is to eat the right foods in the right amount. If you learn how to eat healthy, not only will it benefit you now, but it will also help you later on in life.
Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are probably the most important macronutrients for a teenage athlete to have.
Carbohydrates are a source for energy for a certain period of time. Simple carbohydrates are the ones that can give you a short burst of energy, becoming hyper, such as a lollipop, or other candies. However, most fruits contain simple carbohydrates, just not as much but they are a better choice because they contain more vitamins, fiber, and other important nutrients. Complex carbohydrates are also starches. Starches work well as a source for energy but it can give and sustain energy in your body for a longer period of time. For example, before I have an early tennis match the next morning, I'll eat pasta or spaghetti because it has a lot of carbs and it will give me energy for the next morning. Other starches are bread, crackers, rice, cheese, yogurt, waffles, and granola bars. When you eat carbohydrates, the body breaks them down into simple carbohydrates, where it is used in your bloodstream, creating a hormone called insulin, which is needed to provide energy to the rest of your body. The more carbs you have, the more insulin you have. However, simpler sugars from candy will give way faster and you will notice a significant drop in your energy level after a short period of time, which is why it is better to eat the complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates give you lots of energy for a longer period of time than simple carbohydrates will, but carbohydrates are important for an athlete because he or she will want to have a lot of energy so they will be conditioned well before, during, and after the match.
Spaghetti is a good source of carbohydrates
Proteins
Proteins are as equally important for teenage athletes, as they maintain and control your body. Proteins build up, maintain, and replace the tissues and organs in your body. For example, they take care of your muscles and your immune system. Some parts of the body protein makes up are ligaments, tendons, muscles, hair, nails, skin, teeth, tissue, and the bones. Proteins also produce hemoglobin, a part of red blood cells to be able to carry oxygen to every part of the body. Proteins also help your heart and protect you from viruses or diseases. The best sources for protein are beef, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, and beans. Proteins also provide amino acids, which are necessary to stay healthy, and you can find them in beef, because they contain a lot of amino acids. Your body by itself can produce 14 of 22 amino acids, but the other eight come from protein.
In order to figure out how much protein you should have daily, take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2. For example if you're 100 pounds, you should be eating around 50 grams of proteins a day. According to the American Dietetic Association, athletes who do strength and resistance training need to eat more than twice the amount of average proteins to rebuild and repair their bodies. Children also need a lot of protein so they can keep constantly grow. Proteins help our muscles to grow, and stay healthy all around which is important for athletes who train tirelessly everyday and need to condition their muscles.
Steak is a good source of Protein
Fats
Fat is another important nutrient in food. Fat helps our bodies to grow, fuel our body, and absorb vitamins. They are building blocks for hormones and help our nervous system. Fat is especially important for little kids and babies. They need fat so their brain and nervous system develops correctly. This is why kids drink whole milk, because it has more fat than low fat or skim milk, which is fine for anyone when they're older. Experts say that kids should get about 30% of their daily calories from fat. There are also many different kinds of fats. There are unsaturated fats, saturated fats, and trans fats.
Unsaturated fats are found in plant foods and fish. The best-unsaturated fats are found in olive oil, peanut oil, tuna, and salmon. Saturated fats are found in meat and other animal products, like butter or cheese. Too much of these fats can result in high cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease. Trans fats are mainly found in margarine. They are also found in baked goods and fried foods. Trans fats have the same pros and cons of saturated fats.
What is a daily caloric intake? Well, as the name says, it is the amount of calories a person needs to take in per day.
As an athlete, you have to take in a good amount of calories per day. Calories are what fuel the body. If you move around a lot and get in a lot of exercise, you need to make up for that lost fuel through eating. According to the TeensHealth website, a teenage athlete that exercises on a regular basis needs to get in 2000 to 5000 calories per day. There isn’t really a single universal amount of calories that each person should consume. It all depends on what sport you engage in, what gender you are, and what kind of body type you are. As you get older, these numbers start to change.
Foods to avoid are empty calories such as chips. Foods to eat are carbs, fats, proteins, vegetables, and drink water. It is ideal for an athlete to eat every 2 to 4 hours small snacks rich in calories. Athletes need more calories than regular people because they burn those calories working out. Athletes always need to replenish they're source of energy so that they may perform they're best
Day 1: Breakfast: Skim Milk, eggs, oatmeal, waffles
Snack: Granola Bar
Lunch: Chicken Ceaser Salad
Snack: Apple or other fruits,
Dinner: Whole wheat rice and chicken, orange
Day 3: Breakfast: Yogurt, orange juice, and piece of toast
Snack:
Lunch: Steamed broccoli, rice, piece of meat
Snack: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Dinner: Grilled salmon, rice and basil
