A typical day for a college athlete looks like this: wake up for practice. Go straight from practice (sweaty and all) to class. Go straight from class (now smelly and hungry) to lifting. Uh-oh, lifting went longer than anticipated, better sprint to class (even more sweaty and more hungry). Hmmm…coach called, I need to meet with him in his office. Crap, but that paper I was supposed to finish…guess I will just take the ‘L’ there. Maybe I should eat lunch, but it is already 4pm. I’ll just starve and wait for dinner…..Shout out to coffee.
Why This is Wrong
Food=Fuel. Nutrition is major key. There are no two ways around it. No matter your level of activity, your brain, muscles, hair, and skin need to be properly fueled to get you through your long and stressful days and science has nothing but facts to prove it.
Game Plan
So, to fit the busy college athlete schedule, there are plenty of healthy on-the-go snacks and ways to hold you over until you can hit up Chipotle or the dining hall. I rallied up 5 snacks that athletes love that can be whipped up in less than ten minutes, and are full of nutrition.
Green Power Smoothie
– handful of spinach/kale (chill out, you cant even taste it)
– 1/2 banana
– half a cup of mango
– skim milk or yogurt
– teaspoon of chia seeds
– spoonful of any nut butter
– vanilla protein (optional)
Greek Yogurt Parfait
– greek yogurt
– spoonful of chia seeds
– add in choice of granola, pb, fruit, etc…
Banana and Pb/Almond Butter Snack
– a banana
– a generous amount of peanut/almond butter
Choco Milk
– because chocolate milk is always a YES for a healthy snack
Overnight Power Oats
– half a cup of oatmeal
– milk of choice
– put all ingredients in a mason jar and let sit over night (mason jar gives you the trendy snack points)
Biggest take away? It can be easy to be healthy and snack right! It doesn’t have to an Instagram bowl of superfoods. Simplicity has value, people! Another take away? Peanut butter and almond butter go amazing with just about anything. In fact, just eat it alone as a snack… #gains