For athletes, food is fuel and so much more.

It's easy for student athletes to find a variety of healthy options when it comes to meal planning.

Don't say that it's hard. It's not.

Finding them isn't the hard part... the hard part is learning about what those options are- and specifically, how to distinguish between excellent, good, satisfactory, poor, and terrible choices.

We don't just group nutrition choices into good and bad categories anymore. And athletes that are truly interested in reaching the next level when it comes to performance should recognize this. It's not enough to simply avoid junky food and crappy calories. You need to do more.

If you're getting mixed messages because of what you're seeing around you- allow me to apologize on behalf of the people that thought it would be okay to fill our vending machines with the items you see here... rest-assured, these are all in the poor and terrible categories when it comes to student athlete nutrition. Do better.

This week, our SSF and LTAD classes are integrating smart nutrition with their approach to being a student athlete. This involves meal planning, pre-, intra-, and post-exercise nutrition strategies, and for some of our athletes, sport supplementation.

Understanding that food is so much more than just fuel for athletes is the first step in recognizing its full importance. What we eat doesn't just affect our short-term physical performance, but also influences our rate of recovery, mental alertness, reactive ability, and more.

If you're interested in learning more about smart nutrition for athletes, talk to your P.E. or fitness class teacher about scheduling a Smarter Athletes presentation in your class!

Later this week, our "Nutrition for Athletes - Part One" presentation will also be available on www.StrongerBCSS.ca for download.

Happy training, and happy nourishing everyone.

D