Chef Marie

ARTICLES

Athletes’ Nutrition

The Summer Olympics are one of my favorite events to watch. Some of my readers know that I love sports and used to compete at the International level. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to compete at the Olympics, as Table Tennis was not an Olympic Sports in my younger days. I definitively will not miss watching that competition, as it is still close to my heart…. 

I have to make some comments regarding athletes’ nutrition, as too many people think; they must have a real healthy diet to be fit like they are. Well the real truth is that most athletes don’t have a healthy diet. Here is a good example with a phenomenal athlete such as Michael Phelps. His breakfast apparently includes two eggs-and-cheese sandwiches, a bowl of grits, a large omelet, and a tall stack of chocolate chip pancakes. This menu is not unusual for some athletes and considering the amount of exercise they do in a day, you may say, very understandable. But is it? 

“Why worry about it?” you may also say. He exercises enough and will easily burn those calories throughout his daily exercise sessions.  Most athletes also think that way. They don’t really think about what they eat; all they worry is having enough energy and consequently meeting their appetite and physical needs. The real problem is that it sets them up to serious health problems later on in life or even sooner. When those athletes workout, their body produces a higher amount of “free radicals.” As we learned in the Saint-Tropez Diet, those radicals can be very harmful to the body and need to be neutralized with a wide range of antioxidants and nutraceuticals. And where do you find those antioxidants and nutraceuticals; in a lot of vegetables and fruits. Didn’t see much of that in Michael Phelps breakfast, did we? 

Once those athletes retire or reduce their training even by just half, they starts to put on weight and often don’t understand why. The answer is easy, their body is no longer burning all the calories they used to burn, and they did not change their eating habits to match their new lifestyle. They also had very bad eating habits in the first place. Consequently some of them find themselves with serious health problems such as high cholesterol, heart disease, or diabetes Type II, which they did not necessarily have during their athletic years. Many top athletes also struggle to maintain a healthy weight once they no longer compete. 

Yes, I do work with top athletes who have retired and need to change their diet drastically. I often face amazing athletes and individuals who had lots of discipline in order to become the best, but have little discipline when it comes to eating habits. I approach such problem the same way I coach an athlete.  You need to be aware of your habits, your needs, your possibilities, and your options. Next, you need to put a plan together with attainable goals. You don’t build a Champion overnight, so don’t expect to change your eating habits overnight either. Once you meet your first goal, move on to the next one, and so on. Before you know it, you have a chance to a medal! 

Another important point I bring out is the importance of a good foundation. I don’t think Michael Phelps would have become the best in the world, if he did not have good basic techniques built into him. It is the same in a good healthy eating plan. You need to build first a good foundation that becomes a natural reflex and then build on it. Once you become more comfortable with specific healthy food ingredients, you will be able to be more adventurous and build your very own new flavorful recipes. You will be able to make better choices when eating out as well. At the end, your new healthy eating habits will become a piece of cake!  

Want to start to build such good foundation, check out my programs... 

Et Vive the Olympic Games!