Preparing for peak performance - #1 Eating to win

Hello Girls and Parents:

As we continue move-up in our level of play we as a coaching staff want to continue to look for things we can do to move us to peak performance at the games.

This is a great article to provide a guide for what to eat and when.  I can attest that through my experience there were many games I was lacking energy and I had not connected to eating until I learned about it some in college.  I know now that pizza does not make a good performance pre-game meal.

Please take a look at this short article there are many simple guidelines that will help you throughout your sports career.  Of course each person is built differently and may be able to do some things that are listed as don'ts or maybe some people have to be even more strict.

http://www.wcusc.org/docs/Travel/91G2/eating.htm

Key Excerpt:

"What you eat when is important.

If you gobble french fries an hour before a game, you will feel like the soccer ball is in your stomach, not on the field! That's because when you're playing hard your heart sends a lot of blood to your muscles instead of to your digestive system. Whatever you ate just sits in your stomach, undigested, causing cramps and gas.
Here's a good rule for when to eat what:

• Big meal: 3-4 hours before a game
• Light lunch: 2-3 hours before a game
• Snack or "power shake": 1-2 hours before a game

Do the math.

For evening games, eat a good breakfast, fill up at lunch time with a big meal like pasta and salad or chicken and rice, (whatever you would usually eat for dinner) Then have a light "lunch" late in the afternoon.

For tournaments, where you usually have a morning game, you have to eat a good dinner and a bedtime snack the night before. Then have breakfast at least two hours before the game, just a snack if you slept in. Lunch between games should be light, something that will get digested before the next game. Unfortunately, that lets out pizza, which has lots of cheese and pepperoni (high-fat items that stay around in your stomach for three to four hours).

Hearty, Healthy Dinner
(high-carbohydrate, low-fat)

- Pasta
- Tomato Sauce with Meat
- Rice
- Lean Meat, Fish, Poultry
- Potatoes
- Cooked dried peas, beans or lentils
- Salad"

Please consider this in your preparation for the this weekend.

I will try to get a few more things out over the next couple days for preparation.

Let's dominate this weekend,

Coach Eric