What to eat as a volleyball player

[GIJane]

Since everyone was so helpful, he's another question:

I've lost ten pounds in the couple of months that I started playing volleyball, I haven't changed what I eat at all. My eating habits are pretty bad - I love fried food and basically anything tasty. A teammate of mine eats really healthily - egg white and vegetable scrambles or oatmeal for breakfasts, lots of fish and chicken and vegetables and lunch and dinner - just generally really healthy. It got me wondering: what should I really be eating on a day to day basis in order to train and compete efficiently?

[coachmanzi]

Originally Posted by GIJane

Since everyone was so helpful, he's another question:

I've lost ten pounds in the couple of months that I started playing volleyball, I haven't changed what I eat at all. My eating habits are pretty bad - I love fried food and basically anything tasty. A teammate of mine eats really healthily - egg white and vegetable scrambles or oatmeal for breakfasts, lots of fish and chicken and vegetables and lunch and dinner - just generally really healthy. It got me wondering: what should I really be eating on a day to day basis in order to train and compete efficiently?

umm, since you're from cali..I knock out a 4x4 at in n out at least once a day.
that's a pretty good source of protein, I'd say.

[NewEnglandRT]

YEah, you don't want to eat that. A good book on what to eat while training is Susan Kleiner's "power eating" even though it's geared towards body buiders and serious athletic trainers there's alot of basic nutrition information there.

[EGOLDEN]

Babies...they're the other, other white meat.

[Outta Town]

Good one Golden!

Jane,
Since I can run circles around Manzi and he is less than half my age, let me give you a few recommendations.

Always eat breakfast soon after getting up each day. It starts your metabolism and gets you fired up for the day.

Snack a few hours later, even if it is just a granola bar, or even a snickers. It keeps the metabolism going and stops the just- before- lunch run downs.

Lunch- be it large or small, will keep you going the rest of the day. Skip the two beers at lunch, or the huge turkey sandwich with gravy. Even the regular hamburger is good, but skip the fries.

Later snack - again, even just a granola bar keeps the energy up

Dinner - just make sure you eat BEFORE 8PM each night. Never go to bed on the full stomache. It just sets there and turns to fat.

The idea is to stoke the fires in your internal furnace, which gives you energy and burns calories/fat. You'll find you have more energy throughout the day, accomplish more, lose weight, feel better.
Stay with meat proteins, chicken fish or beef. Just limit the extra condiments that are calorie laden, like the sour cream and butter on the baked potato(the potato alone is good), the grease on the fries, the doughnuts and cakes. Protein and long lasting good carbs is what you want. Your body gets fuel and does not have to work hard on trying to burn off the bad carbs.

A beer after the game will not hurt you either. A case after the game will give you the beer gut you work hard to get rid of.
Your daily work ritual will dictate how much food intake you need to use this efficiently. I work a very physical job and climb ladders all day, lifting any carrying. Then I play ball 3 nights a week and on weekends, and hike on weekends also. I eat a lot, but burn it off quickly.
Your portions should be smaller if you have a sit down office job, are much smaller in build and play ball fewer times each week. A good balance of exercise and fuel intake will give you the lift, energy and weight loss you want.
Try it for a month and let us know how it works.

PS. You can still eat a few holiday cookies, but limit the portions of that Christmas turkey with stuffing, gravy and all, which is about 3500 calories for that one meal.

[strazzere]

At a tournament good snack can be fruit, banana for potassium...

Even better are pickles and pickle juice... The potassium gets in the blood stream faster.