Meal Planning & Nutrient Timing Copy
Michael Bewley September 20, 2020
MENU PLANNING & NUTRIENT TIMING
In any performance nutrition program, menu planning and nutrient timing ensure you maintain an energy balance for daily activities and peak performance for when you train and compete.
Menu Planning
For the time-starved athlete, eating patterns can vary significantly due to training schedules, school activities, evening commitments, and travel. As a result, cooking meals and avoiding less healthful meals/snacks can prove a challenge. The solution? Menu planning.
NUTRIENT TIMING GUIDELINES: BREAKFAST
The nutrient timing cycle begins each day with breakfast. It’s the first chance you get to fuel up the body’s energy stores for the day’s activities while helping stabilize blood sugar levels, which in turn helps curb hunger and prevents over-eating.
So, what if you’re a person who just has a hard time stomaching breakfast? Try Critical Reload Protein Shake Recipes to provide you with healthful and reliable energy. These shakes will give you a steady flow of natural energy and healthful claories that lasts for hours. Better yet, add Critical Reload Shake Boosters (fruit, chia seed, ground flaxseed, spinach, and vegetables) to increase vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, and fiber intake to get all the energy and nutrients that were meant for you as an athlete.
Menu Planning Benefits
Menu planning involves meal planning, which means choosing what you are going to eat over a week. It is in stark contrast to deciding what to eat when you are hungry and exhausted. At the end of a long day of training, when your willpower is low, your best intentions can go out the window for the sake of convenience.
NUTRIENT TIMING GUIDELINES: PRE-WORKOUT
Before performing an intense workout (ex, 90-minutes, or longer), it’s good practice to consume a pre-workout snack to boost energy, delay fatigue, and counteract the breakdown of proteins for energy. Download the Critical Reload Pre-Workout Snack Guide with timing practices, as well as the Critical Reload Smoothie Recipes Guide.
Critical Reload Pre-Workout Snacks
Critical Reload Shake Recipes
Meal Planning Benefits
By meal planning, you strategically ensure an energy balance that will:
- Help keep blood sugar levels stable that can assist in keeping your mood and energy levels better.
- Keep you fueled adequately for practices, lifts, film, class, and games.
- Assist your body with continued recovery from workouts – it’s not all about what you have RIGHT after a workout…recovery continues for the next 24-48 hours, so be sure you’re giving your body the nutrients it needs DAILY!
- Nutrient timing = breakfast, well-timed snacks, and quality lunches/dinners.
NUTRIENT TIMING GUIDELINES: POST-WORKOUT
After intense training or competition (90-minutes or longer), you have a 30-minute window of opportunity when your body is primed to digest and utilize critical nutrients to support an efficient recovery. Download the Critical Reload Post-Workout Food Guide to assist with menu planning.
Critical Reload Post-Workout Food Guide
On-The-Go Protein Snacks
Bibliography
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