Eating can pose a challenge for athletes striving to maintain a training diet that has adequate energy, carbohydrate, protein and fluids. Making wise food selections is important for athletes because doing so can positively impact training and competitive performance. Here are some guidelines for choosing high-performance foods and fluids. We hope you find this information about eating wisely (at home and on the road) useful.

Quick tips:

• Athletes should fuel their bodies two to three hours before practices, events and games with a high-carbohydrate meal or snack.
• Team leaders can organize pre-game meals for the whole team, including high-energy foods like breads, bagel, pasta or rice.
• Athletes should fill 2/3 of their plates with high-carbohydrate options for quick energy and the rest with high-protein, low-fat items such as grilled chicken, turkey or lean roast beef.
• When eating at a restaurant, athletes should look carefully at the menu to see how food is prepared. Words such as fried, crispy, creamed and au gratin all suggest high-fat content. Better choices are steamed, broiled, stir fried and poached.

Pack It: Take nutrient-dense foods along for a trip. This is especially important for long trips. Some ideas are:

• Sports bars, granola bars
• Dried or regular fruit, nuts and trail mix
• Pretzels or baked chips
• Whole-grain crackers, bagels, breads, rolls, muffins
• Peanut butter and jelly
• Cans/packets of tuna or chicken
• Nutrition shakes

Fluids: It's easy to become dehydrated, especially while traveling. To prevent dehydration:

• Drink at regular intervals throughout the day.
• Carry sports drinks and water with you.
• Limit caffeinated and alcoholic beverages as they are diuretics and promote fluid loss.

Food Choices:

Breakfast
Look for:

• Pancakes, french toast, waffles
• English muffins, bagels, toast with jam, low-fat cream cheese or peanut butter
• Scrambled eggs, soft-boiled egg, breakfast burrito
• Cereal (hot or cold)
• Lean meats such as Canadian bacon, ham, turkey or veggie sausage
• Low-fat yogurt, cream cheese and cottage cheese
• Low-fat muffins, fruit/oatmeal bar
• Skim or 1% milk
• Fresh fruit, fruit juice, smoothie

Limit/Avoid:

• High-fat meats such as sausage, bacon, corned beef hash
• Hash browns
• Gravy
• Donuts, biscuits or croissants

Lunch and Dinner

Deli/Sub
Look for:

• Sandwiches with turkey, ham, roast beef, chicken
• Wraps with chicken, shrimp, fish, veggies, tofu
• Salads/salad bars - include veggies and fruit for carbohydrate. For protein include cheese, nuts, seeds, eggs, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, cottage cheese or plain tuna
• Light/fat-free mayo, light/fat-free salad dressings

Limit/Avoid:

• Sandwiches made with high-fat meats such as salami or bologna or with tuna salad
• Regular "mayo," "special sauces," regular salad dressings
• Mayonnaise-based potato or pasta salads, macaroni and cheese
• Fried chicken wings, nuggets

Asian
Look for:

• Chicken chow mein, chop suey, rice noodles
• Steamed vegetables and rice
• Stir-fry vegetables with shrimp/chicken/pork/beef, tofu
• Hot-and-sour soup, Wonton soup
• Fresh spring rolls

Limit/Avoid:

• Deep-fried items such as egg rolls, wontons, sweet-and-sour pork or shrimp
• High-fat meats such as spare ribs
• Fried chow mein noodles, fried rice
• High-fat sauces such as peanut, coconut, lobster sauce

Italian
Look for:

• Vegetarian antipasto
• Low-fat sauces such as marinara, marsala, tomato or red clam sauce
• Grilled vegetables
• Pizza with veggies, chicken, Canadian bacon
• Salads (chicken, shrimp, mixed greens, spinach)
• Spinach, mushroom tortellini
• Minestrone soup and bread sticks

Limit/Avoid:

• High-fat meats such as pepperoni or sausage
• High-fat sauces such as alfredo, gorgonzola and pesto
• Garlic or cheese bread

Mexican
Look for:

• Chicken, shrimp, beef, pork, bean burritos, soft tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, tostados or quesadillas
• Salsa, baked tortilla chips
• Gazpacho soup, tortilla soup
• Spanish rice
• Vegetarian refried beans, black/red beans

Limit/Avoid:

• Taquitos (deep fried)
• Nachos
• Cream-based sauces (pollo a la crema)
• Guacamole, sour cream
• Refried beans with lard