All-Star What's Your Athletic Diet?

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The best piece of advice I can offer is this: eat real food, not "food" from a box. It takes time to prepare, but you can get the hang of it pretty quickly.
- On a day that you have a bit of free time, cook all of your meals for the week and freeze them in meal-sized portions. Voila, healthy frozen dinners.
- Make friends with your crock pot - add a can of tomatoes, some meat, root veggies, turn it on low in the morning, it will be ready for dinner.
- Keep fresh fruits/veggies on hand and clean them as soon as you bring them home from the store - then you don't have to wash produce every time you're hungry for a snack.
- Create your own snack bars - put equal amounts of nuts (almonds, walnuts and cashews work well) and dried fruits (dates are the best as a base, then add others like dried apricots or cranberries) in a food processor and chop up, then spread on waxed paper or saran wrap and form into bars. Store in an airtight container.
 
Check out
taralynnmcnitt.com -
!

She has lots of yummy, easy, healthy and very well balanced recipes.

I also just posted a bunch of recipes for foods I make in the "Favorite Recipes" thread. I always try to eat high protein, "normal" carbs and low fat. You really want to focus on getting enough protein and carbs when you're working out!

I'm addicted to the My Fitness Pal app...I seriously can't live without it! I use it every single day not only to track calories (which are important to keep your weight in check), but to make sure I'm getting the nutrients I need based on my daily activity, as well.

Speaking of MFP, anyone wanna be friends on there? :)

In regards to restaurants...it's really incredibly difficult to make good, healthy choices when eating out. Lots of dishes are fat and sugar laden, because the chefs don't care about your waistline...they want their food to taste good! The best thing you can do is look up nutritional information on the internet for the restaurant before you go (if the restaurant doesn't have it listed, MFP will come in handy...you can search for a similar dish on there and see what the nutrition looks like). That way you don't accidentally eat a healthy-sounding turkey burger that tops out at 1500 calories or somethin' crazy.
 
Check out
taralynnmcnitt.com - !

She has lots of yummy, easy, healthy and very well balanced recipes.

I also just posted a bunch of recipes for foods I make in the "Favorite Recipes" thread. I always try to eat high protein, "normal" carbs and low fat. You really want to focus on getting enough protein and carbs when you're working out!

I'm addicted to the My Fitness Pal app...I seriously can't live without it! I use it every single day not only to track calories (which are important to keep your weight in check), but to make sure I'm getting the nutrients I need based on my daily activity, as well.

Speaking of MFP, anyone wanna be friends on there? :)

In regards to restaurants...it's really incredibly difficult to make good, healthy choices when eating out. Lots of dishes are fat and sugar laden, because the chefs don't care about your waistline...they want their food to taste good! The best thing you can do is look up nutritional information on the internet for the restaurant before you go (if the restaurant doesn't have it listed, MFP will come in handy...you can search for a similar dish on there and see what the nutrition looks like). That way you don't accidentally eat a healthy-sounding turkey burger that tops out at 1500 calories or somethin' crazy.

We're twins... I love undressed skeleton haha and I use that same app! Friend me, I'm nicolemer13 :)
 
I really try to pick healthier options when grocery shopping especially since if it's not in the house i can't eat it.

I tend to stick towards whole grains and fresh vegetables when possible. My mom buys a magazine called Clean Eating there is a lot of good recipes for people who are trying to eat good healthy foods.

Eating well before practice is key for me nothing is worse than struggling through a full out because i ate KFC (or similar) before practice. I don't always eat perfect cause who doesn't love a McDonald's cheeseburger once and awhile. Cheat when you're not at practice that day and try to avoid the greasy competition food.
 
Oh! One more thing..when you're training, you should eat with intention. Each thing you eat should have a true purpose in fueling your body. Cut most of the stuff that doesn't do your body good and replace it with something that does.


Want Skittles? Have fresh fruit...it's tastier anyway.

Want pasta? Pass on those white noodles and opt for some with whole grains and fiber.

Ice cream? Freeze a banana, then puree it. It makes a similar texture and creamy taste.

Chocolate craving? Get some fat free whipped cream, add some cocoa powder and a packet of Splenda or Truvia (this has no nutritional "purpose"...but you're talking to the biggest choco-holic in the world. I must have chocolate every single day but I always have it healthy!)

Pizza? Spread a little light pizza sauce on a high-fiber pita, sprinkle some part-skim or fat free mozzarella on the top, maybe a few turkey pepperonis for a protein punch, and pop it in the oven.

Replace full fat dairy with reduced fat or fat free and cut your calories and excess fat intake while keeping the protein and calcium you need.

If you want fried food, coat your item (chicken, potatoes, whatever!) in egg whites and toss it in a saute pan with PAM. Makes a nice crusty, crunchy outer layer while cutting fat and adding protein!

Try to cut red meats and increase your poultry/fish intake. You still gets lots of protein with fewer bad fats.

Swap regular yogurt for Greek yogurt (if you add some Splenda or Truvia, it tastes a million times better, I swear!)


There are so many "bad" foods you can still eat with a little cooking and low-fat/low-sugar swaps. Learning to cook a bit can make it easier and exciting to eat healthy!
 
Adding to F13RCE 's Greek yogurt comment, you can also put fresh fruit in your yogurt. It tastes amazing, yum! Plain greek yogurt also works as a great substitute for sour cream. Throw some on your baked potato for fewer calories.
 
Adding to F13RCE 's Greek yogurt comment, you can also put fresh fruit in your yogurt. It tastes amazing, yum! Plain greek yogurt also works as a great substitute for sour cream. Throw some on your baked potato for fewer calories.

Omg yes! I use Greek yogurt for absolutely everything.

Plain can make low cal ranch or blue cheese dressing, tzatziki dip, as a mayo "stretcher" (use low fat mayo, btw! You can cut 85 cals/tbsp!)...any creamy dips or dressings basically.

I use flavored ones to make fruit dips, to go in pancakes (I posted a healthy pancake recipe the other day!), add to oatmeal, milkshakes...they can be used for so much!
 
One last thing! Omg I need to get off this thread...lol

Healthy eating starts with healthy shopping. If there's healthy food in your fridge, you'll eat healthy food. If there is broccoli and chicken in your fridge, you'll eat broccoli and chicken. If there are hot dogs and ice cream in your fridge, you'll eat hot dogs and ice cream.

If you're tempted by the bad foods, just keep them out of the house. Try to convince your family to start eating healthy with you, it helps you stay on track!
 
Adding to F13RCE 's Greek yogurt comment, you can also put fresh fruit in your yogurt. It tastes amazing, yum! Plain greek yogurt also works as a great substitute for sour cream. Throw some on your baked potato for fewer calories.
Makes really good dips too :) use in place of sour cream
 
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