October 30, 2008
Stay Healthy Strategies
By Cynthia Sass
Congratulations to Showcase U co-founder Chad Durbin and his Philly teammates, 2008 World Series Champions!!!
As any pro knows, major league baseball is a very long season with a grueling schedule. The risk of injuries rises with each game and can be season ending (or even career ending) for some players. Immediately after the World Series, Chad’s teammate and fellow pitcher Jamie Moyer told the press the Phils stayed healthy this season. As a professional sports nutritionist, I’m a firm believer that what you put in your mouth is a big piece of the stay healthy puzzle.
I’ve worked with players (in baseball and other sports) who progressively lose pounds of precious muscle over the course of a season and others who get so run down they catch every cold and flu that comes along. But I’ve also seen some pretty amazing turnarounds when players start paying attention to what’s on their plate (I’m talking total 180s, like players who go from being too exhausted to eat dinner to taking up for after dinner yoga classes to improve their flexibility).
Here are my top 3 stay strong, sustain-your-stamina eating rules:
1. Try not to let over 4-5 hours go by without eating (or at least drinking something with calories) while you’re awake. Long stretches between meals means you literally eat away at your own muscle mass.
2. Include at least 1 cup (1 baseball) of produce at every meal (grab a banana at breakfast, load your sub with veggies at lunch, have a side of cooked broccoli at dinner…). The antioxidants in produce help fend off the damage caused by the stress of training and performing.
3. Eat right when it counts most. The first hour post-training or performing is called the “recovery window.” It’s your opportunity to load up on the key nutrients you need to heal, so make this meal count. The worst things you can do are either not eat during the window or eat something that causes more damage (like soda or sugary drinks, alcohol and fatty, fried stuff). An ideal meal contains lean protein, healthy carbs, produce and a healthy fat like chicken soft tacos loaded up with salsa or other veggies and guacamole, grapes and plenty of water.
To read more about how the Phillies eat and my 80/20 rule, check out this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer.