Sports Nutrition for Amateur and Junior Sports

Sports Nutrition for Amateur and Junior Sports 2
Our regular Health & Wellness Guest Bloggers are back.

Ashleigh and Katrina from Body Fusion have just come home from a week in Canberra at the Australian Institute of Sport completing a course in Sports Nutrition. The girls now have all the most up to date research on their side and are ready to share/apply it with all their sports clients. In this blog they share the important value of having a Dietitian assist in nutrition and hydration for amateur and junior sports.

Ash and Kat at the conference
Your Saturday sport alarm goes off, ringing annoyingly in your ear and you lazily roll over, failing to swipe it off. With the sun peaking sneakily through your blinds you realise its time to get up and wake your deep sleeping kids. What happens next is a flurry of activity as you try and get out the door on time with some kind of breakfast. The kids are fighting over the Milo cereal again. I thought I told them they weren’t allowed that?

If you grew up anything like myself I was played a range of different sports from a young age: Rep netball, surf life saving, physical culture, cricket and progressively more and more swimming – and I loved it! When I wasn’t doing that I went cross-country running with my dad, kicked around a soccer ball, went bike riding around the dusty roads of outback Terry Hills or attempted ta-kwon do on my brother.

Ash Netball 2

Sound like your kids?

One thing I reflect on now was the fact that I never had any guidance in relation to my food and nutrition intake. Mum was a fantastic cook, but I was obsessed with butter on white toast as my favourite snack and quite impartial to after dinner ice cream every night. I mean, who isn’t.

Around age twelve-fourteen I started attending more and more rep netball and swimming carnivals. I was surrounded by jelly lollies, creamy chicken pasta, sports drinks, carrot sticks, cheese and crackers, cherry tomatoes and oranges. And very confused.  

I was really just eating because I knew I had to but how much, what type of food and when was quite the guessing game.

By around age fourteen I made my first away trip with at team to the national swimming championships. The mum’s in the team did a stellar job of cooking up a feast and providing a delicious variety of daily snacks. This was a novelty for me and I ate, ALOT. Our squad included 18-year-old boys and they were eating whatever they wanted and I did too. By the time I got to my race, which was near the end of the program I felt heavy, uncomfortable in my body and realised I had over tapered. I didn’t perform well and felt very disappointed.

If only some one had helped me with an individualised eating program, which met my sporting needs!

As a young female going through many hormonal changes and with a stealthy appetite I also experienced many fluctuations in weight. Wearing swimmers made me feel uncomfortable and body conscious. I would try to reduce my weight in silly ways at times through restriction but nothing really worked.

If only I had had someone to assist me with the right food choices and help me evaluate what body size was right for my sport and me.

Are you a tired and busy parent with a swimmer or rower where 4.30am get ups are the norm?

A Dietitian can help plan quick & easy family meals that encompass your child’s athletic needs.

ash swimming

Do you have a young teenager who is eating a great deal of junk food, wanting to test protein powders and put on muscle mass?

A Dietitian can professionally explain the science behind what is needed for them to achieve their goals and devise a realistic meal plan set to individual energy, protein and nutrient needs.

Do you have a young ballet dancer or gymnast who you are worried about in relation to their ideas and choices around food?

A Dietitian can assist with healthy food choices relevant to your sport and support in achieving balance.

Do you have a child involved in team sports like rugby or cricket and always wonder if they should be drinking sports drinks and what they should be eating before and after their games?

A Dietitian can evaluate the needs of each specific sport and provide practical tips and advice. We even work with whole teams and write competition plans if you travel.

Amateur and junior sports are where many young athletes begin their competitive journey and the truth is, nutrition plays a huge part. I know, I have lived it – maybe you have too. Help your child and yourself out by checking in with us. We’d be more than happy to help!

Ash Netball

 

Ashleigh and Katrina from Body Fusion

Kat and Ash
Body Fusion
Address: 221 Longueville Rd Lane Cove, New South Wales, Australia
Phone: 0410 533 213
Web: Body Fusion

Email: [email protected]
Facebook: Body Fusion
Twitter: @Body_Fusion_
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bodyfusion/

 

Do you have a local issue you would like help with? ITC is here to help just email us at [email protected]

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