As an athlete, you rely on the proper balance of macronutrients to fuel training and competition. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, the average athlete will consume two to three times more calories than non-athletes. Always combine healthy foods that include proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.
Considerations
Since everyone's bodies and metabolisms are different, you'll have to figure out how many calories you burn per day. The average caloric expenditure for a healthy individual is about 2,000 to 2,500 per day. The easiest way to determine your caloric expenditure is to monitor your weight and body fat for one week, recording everything you eat. If you haven't gained or lost any weight in this time, calculate the average daily calories you consumed to get a rough estimate of your daily requirement. Once you figure out your daily requirement, a few other factors will determine your needs as an athlete.
Type of Sports
The amount of calories your body needs partly depends on the type of sport you play and how long your training lasts. If you play a sport that requires strong muscles and strength--wrestling, weight lifting or football--you're going to need most of your calories from protein to build strong muscles. Healthy fats will help produce hormones that aid in muscle growth and repair. If you play a sport that requires endurance--such as running or cross country--your diet will be heavy in carbohydrates for sustained energy distribution. Certain sports require you to be lean and trim while others promote bulky and muscular frames.
Body Type
If you are a very lean individual, you will benefit from eating more overall calories. If you are heavier, you will want to cut more carbohydrates and fats to lose some body fat during training. You must also consider what type of body would be ideal for your particular sport. If you are a long-distance runner or cyclist, you probably won't want to have a muscular body type as this may slow you down. Conversely, if you are a football player, you might not benefit from being too lean and thin. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, to gain weight you'll want to eat 500 more calories than you burn per day. If you want to lose weight, subtract 500 calories from your daily total expenditure.
Foods
The type of sports you play and the kind of body type that best fits that sport will determine what foods you should eat for your calories. If you need to gain weight, you'll want to stick to high-calorie foods such as olive oils, peanut butter, extra carbohydrates--both simple and complex--and plenty of protein. If you need to lose weight or trim down, you'll be exercising and want to consume most of your calories in proteins and keep the simple carbohydrates low. Avoid sugar and other junk foods when possible.
References
- "ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2010
- "American Council on Exercise Personal Trainers Manual"; Cedric X. Bryant; 2003
- "Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant Manual"; American Council on Exercise; 2008
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