NUTRITION
Maintain a ‘normal’ diet during the pandemic The stay-at-home lifestyle of the last five months has gifted many of us with time to cook breakfast, enjoy lunch and have family dinners. Yet, many athletes are feeling confused and/or uneasy about how they are eating. Here are some tips to maintaining a “normal” diet. BY NANCY CLARK, MS, RD
WHAT IS NORMAL EATING? To answer that question, I turn to eating authority Ellyn Satter, author of “Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family”. Here is her definition of “normal eating”:
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Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied. It is being able
to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it—not stopping eating just because you think you should. If you are “feeling hungry all the time,” you likely ARE hungry; your body is requesting more fuel. Trust it. You’ll end up eating more sooner or later, so please honor that hunger and eat more now.
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Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food.
That is, have you put yourself in food jail and banned “fun foods” like cookies, cupcakes and chips, out of fear of over-eating them? Ideally, your meal plan includes 85-90% quality foods, with 10-15% fun foods. Some “fun food” in the midst of a pandemic can be, well, fun!
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Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good. Yes, food is a way we celebrate, mourn and entertain ourselves. Sometimes we even need a hug from food, despite being not hungry. That said, routinely overindulging in ice cream as a means to distract yourself from life’s pain will not solve any problem.
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Normal eating is mostly three meals a day, or four or five, or it can be choosing to munch along the way.
Most athletes require fuel at least every 3 to 4 hours. Those who “graze all day” commonly under-eat at meals. If you stop eating because you think you should, not because you are satiated, you will feel the urge to graze. Solutions: eat the rest of your breakfast calories for a mid-morning snack, eat an earlier lunch, or better yet, give yourself permission to eat enough satiating food at breakfast.
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■■It’s OK for coaches and players to eat a treat like a cookie. Eating an entire plate of cookies is not recommended.
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Normal eating is leaving cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful.
If you are banning fun foods from your house because you can’t eat just one cookie, think again. Denying yourself permission to enjoy a few cookies boosts the urge to eat the whole plateful.
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Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. And it can be undereating at times
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Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.
and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. If you have a hearty brunch, you will be less hungry that evening. Trust me. Rather, trust your body. Hunger is your body’s way of telling you it has burned off what you gave it, and now it is ready for more fuel. You want to honor hunger and eat intuitively, like kids do.
CONCLUSION MANY ATHLETES
very rigidly eat the same foods every single day. A sports nutritionist can help add variety (more nutrients), flexibility, and more joy to eating. Food can and should be one of life’s pleasures, both when training and in the midst of the pandemic.
If you eat until you are satisfied, you will stop incessantly thinking about food.
NANCY CLARK MS, RD, CSSD ■■Nancy Clark, MS, RD counsels both casual and competitive athletes at her office in Newton, MA (617-795-1875). Her best selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook and food guides for marathoners, cyclists and soccer players offer additional inform-ation. They are available at: http://www.NancyClarkRD.com. For her online workshop, visit: http://www.NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com.
