Setting Nutrition Goals
Nutrition is essential to providing the fuel for the machine that is the human body. High-level training and competition places huge demands upon the various systems of the body. Nourishing the body is essential to replace the supplies used up in the demands of each day. A carefully selected and timed diet can make the difference between feeling "good" and feeling "great".
An athlete needs a well-balanced diet, consisting of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Water is a critically important nutrient that must be consumed at regular intervals. The other important nutrients include vitamins and minerals, which should be found in the normal, daily consumption of foods in a well-rounded diet. It is helpful to look at nutrition in two ways: The first is to view food as fuel; Your body needs fuel for sustenance. The second is to look at the food as a regulator of your body's chemistry. When you eat, hormones are affected, blood glucose rises, and so on.In other words, food can either help or hinder your performance on and off court. The key point is that you don't have to become a "health nut" but you do have to understand how your nutrition choices, as well as the timing of your meals and snacks, affect your physical, emotional and mental performance. Just consider how you are "fueling" your body to perform at the highest level possible. The best word picture is to observe how a person reacts when he or she does not eat well. If you go more than four hours without food, blood sugar drops and you become impatient, irritable and lose focus. Conversely, if you overeat, you become sluggish and fatigued. However, when you eat strategically, you have more energy, your metabolism gets a boost and you can achieve a state of high positive energy. Eating a small strategic snack about three hours after breakfast will stabilize the blood sugar and it will not drop into a depressed state. The choice of the snack is important because you need to be aware of the glycemic index of food. The higher the glycemic index, the faster the spike in blood glucose levels. The faster the rise in blood glucose, the faster that insulin is released from the pancreas to stabilize blood sugar and the quicker a person enters a state of hunger. The more appropriate choice of snack would be a low glycemic food - one that has protein, fat or fiber. The rise in blood sugar is much slower and a longer glucose level will be maintained. Eating low glycemic foods such as nuts or raw fruits and vegetables makes the release in blood sugar optimal. Following the principles of proper nutrition not only enhances the level of playing by my students, but also elevates quality-of-life issues for them. Time for a change? Retrospection, and introspection, are all about pausing and taking inventory of ourselves. I encourage you to take my 10 questions survey on your personal health and fitness inventory. It may alert you to factors in your life that are postively or negatively affecting your health. Simply click yes or no for each question, then study what your answers mean or even better contact me and I'll show you how to work towards optimal health.Click here to take survey Another vital nutritional component in achieving optimal health is water which is a critical nutrient that must be consumed at regular intervals. Eating right with proper hydration is only the beginning. There are other important components to be included in your training table. Especially vital to athletes are iron, calcium and other minerals and vitamins that serve specialized roles. I personally recommend USANA nutritionals products. For, I invite you to check the customized supplements for tennis players with which I am having great successClick here to read the PDF in your browser, or right click to download it
To order the supplements that are the official health supplement supplier of the SONY ERICSSON WTA Tour, click on the link belowwww.nataliediroma.usana.com DrKarenWolfe is an Australian physician who was on the Australian Olympic swim training team. She has a special interest in nutrition for athletes.
Good nutrition isn't just about the high-level athlete, it is for everybody. If your body has the right fuel at the right times and has the necessary rest to recover, your quality of life becomes better. Click here to find out more about hydration and how to achieve optimal balance for your body.
The New Glucose Revolution Shopper's Guide to GI Values 2010: The Authoritative Source of Glycemic Index Values for More Than 1,300 Foods - New York Times Best-Selling Series
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