This time of year is particularly busy for swimmers. It’s more important than ever to stay healthy and keep your nutrition in check. Let’s take a look at three alternatives you can incorporate into your diet to help you stay committed to proper nutrition.
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Fruit + Nut Butters
If you’re in need of a late night snack, try opting for an apple or banana with a spoonful of peanut or almond butter. This snack provides a combination of carbohydrates and healthy fats (and a small amount of protein). Using fruit as dessert can satisfy your sweet craving if you make it interesting. If fruit with nut butter isn’t your thing, try a small bowl of mixed berries for your post-dinner treat.
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Greek Yogurt
Not all yogurts are created equal, so read your labels for sugar content. Greek yogurt is a great alternative to suppress ice cream cravings. It comes in a vast array of flavors or you can add your own honey to plain Greek yogurt. The high protein content will satiate your appetite; a typical serving provides up to 25% of your daily protein need while minimizing the saturated fat and simple sugars found in ice cream. It’s important to note here that frozen yogurt is not necessarily a good alternative to ice cream if you are trying to minimize your dessert intake. While it has reduced fat content, frozen yogurt contains a lot of simple sugar that can spike your insulin levels and throw your metabolism off before bedtime.
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Dark Chocolate
Yes, I said chocolate. In small doses, as in a 1-inch square, a piece of dark chocolate can curb your dessert cravings by providing a small sample of that richness you’ve been missing. Instead of indulging in baked goods or creamy desserts, try a piece of chocolate and a glass of milk. Low-fat milk has a decent balance of protein, carbs, and fat. Dark chocolate is richer in flavor than milk chocolate, but with fewer added sugars. Shoot for dark chocolate that is 60% cacao or higher.
For more strategies on how to stay healthy, happy, and fit during competition season, check out our recent posts at blog.bridgeathletic.com.
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BridgeAthletic works with elite professional, collegiate, and club swimming programs to provide a turnkey solution for dryland training. Led by Nick Folker, the top swimming strength and conditioning coach in the world, our team builds stroke-specific, custom-optimized dryland programs for each of our clients. The individualized workouts are delivered directly to athletes via our state of the art technology platform and mobile applications.
ABOUT NICK FOLKER
Nick Folker is the Co-Founder and Director of Elite Performance at BridgeAthletic. Nick’s roster of athletes includes 35 Olympians winning 22 Olympic Medals, 7 team NCAA Championships and over 170 individual and relay NCAA championships. Megan Fischer-Colbrie works as the Sports Science Editor at BridgeAthletic. Megan was a four-year varsity swimmer at Stanford, where she recently graduated with a degree in Human Biology. The Championship Series by BridgeAthletic is designed to empower athletes with tips from the pros that will help them reach peak performance come race day. We will be covering competition-focused topics such as nutrition, recovery, stretching, and mental preparation.
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Watermelon
Flavored Greek yogurt can have obnoxious amounts of sugar in it. I would check labels before you start downing that. People see yogurt and think “healthy” when many times that isn’t the case. Plain Greek yogurt is healthy, but it also tastes awful.
Damn, does that mean no Oreos?
Low fat milk, not so much. You know they put sugar into milk? They put sugar into almost everything.
Whole fat milk is something we have switched to for better nutrition.
Reddi-Wip. Add more Reddi-Whip, right out of the can. Add it to something healthy. And put some cherries into that bowl of berries too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddi-wip
Your miles may vary
This is wrong. I personally believe that the more sugar, the better. I have my conference championships next week and I had 6 cookies last night and I feel great. #taper #taperblues #cookies
Thank you for this! Extremely helpful!
I know, this article is great!!! If I had never read this I probably would have been eating fried oreos every day!!!
Stealing my name???