All athletes are encouraged to follow the rules of healthy eating to help their performances both in training and in competition. Some important principles of sports nutrition are:

1. Keep yourself in shape with a body fat level that suits your sport - eat the right amount of kilojoules for your body size and training program.
   
   
2. Keep your muscles fuelled up for training and competition by eating plenty of carbohydrate foods. Make room for these foods by reducing the amount of fat that is in the typical Australian diet.
   
   
3. Enjoy a variety of nutritious foods to provide you with all the protein, vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Your need for some of these nutrients will increase because of your heavy exercise program.
   
   
4. Look after fluid needs. Drink before, during and after exercise sessions to prevent yourself from becoming dehydrated.

Athletes come in different sizes and shapes, and follow different types of training programs. While they may all follow these nutrition rules, their meals may look quite different. Athletes who train strenuously for many hours each day will need to eat large amounts of carbohydrate and kilojoules. Big, tall athletes will need to eat more than petite athletes such as gymnasts. Many athletes need to organise their meals to fit around their training or competition schedules. A survey of the typical evening meals eaten by some different athletes is presented as an example:

1. MALE BASKETBALLER
   The male basketballer is playing a game at 9.00 pm and therefore needs a pre-game meal and a post-game recovery meal. Being nearly 6 foot 10 inches tall and weighing nearly 100 kg, he needs to eat plenty of kilojoules to maintain his large size.

   The pre-event meal (5.30-6.00pm) Tops up carbohydrate stores and fluid levels. Is eaten about 3 hours pre-game so that he feels comfortable on court

   • 3-4 cups of noodles with tomato based pasta sauce
   • 2 slices of bread
   • small bowl of fruit salad and a glass of fruit juice

   The post-game meal (10.00pm) Recovers fluid and carbohydrate levels that were depleted by the game. Is eaten as soon as possible after the game to help with rapid recovery and avoids overeating since this may cause discomfort while sleeping.

   • sports drink immediately after game soon after, at home:
   • 2 rounds of toasted ham and tomato wholemeal sandwiches (minimise the margarine)
   • Big Banana smoothie - 500-750 ml (made with skim milk, banana, skim milk powder and 2 tablespoons of low fat ice-cream)
   
   
   
2. FEMALE GYMNAST
   A female gymnast needs to eat small meals. She needs to keep her energy (kilojoule) intake low to maintain a trim shape and low body fat level. Her energy requirements are low because she is small and because her training program is low in intensity. Even though she trains for many hours each day, most of this work is based on skill, strength and flexibility with only short bursts of high intensity work. She chooses her food carefully to achieve maximum nutrients for minimum kilojoules - particularly by eating nutritious foods that are low in fat.
   • small serve of lean meat - grilled, all fat removed
   • medium potato - boiled
   • medium serve of three different vegetables (example, carrots, beans, broccoli)
   • 200 g carton of low fat fruit yoghurt.
   
   
   
3. MALE MARATHON RUNNER
   The male runner eats plenty of carbohydrate foods to support his daily training program, since carbohydrate provides the preferred fuel for his muscles. Although he is light and low in body fat (65 kg) his energy requirements are high because of his heavy energy expenditure in training and competition. He is careful to drink plenty of fluids during his training session - water and/or a sports drink - and to continue to rehydrate at his evening meal.
   • Medium serve of lean meat, grilled, fat removed
   • 3 cups of noodles and 1 large potato - boiled
   • 1 cup each of other vegetables (eg same vegetables as gymnast)
   • 2 slices of wholemeal bread
   • big bowl of fruit salad with 200 g carton of low fat yoghurt
   • 2 glasses fruit juice (plus plenty of water)
   
   
   
4. MALE ROWER
   The male rower has a big frame (85kg) and trains strenuously for 3-4 hours each day. Thus he has very high needs for energy and carbohydrate. To help increase his food intake without making him overeat and feel uncomfortable, he may need to eat two evening meals with a gap of a couple of hours in between. Like the basketballer he may also make himself action-packed fruit/milk smoothies. Drinks like these are full of nutritious kilojoules but are compact and low in bulk - nutrition that doesn't have to be chewed! He is also careful with his fluid intake, knowing that he sweats heavily while he trains.
   • Meal 1 (7.00 pm)Same as evening meal for marathon runner.
   • Meal 2 (9.30 pm) Big bowl of cereal with reduced fat milk and fruit Banana smoothie as for male basketballer

Burke, L. The complete guide to food for sports performance : a guide to peak nutrition for your sport. North Sydney : Allen and Unwin, 1992.

Inge, K. and Roberts, C. Food for sport cookbook : the ultimate nutrition guide for peak performance. Abbotsford, Vic. : Rene Gordon, 1992.

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