Healthy meals and snacks are important for keeping your child nourished and refueled during busy game days. Our partners at the Sports Medicine Center at Children’s Hospital Colorado offer tips for finding and bringing healthy food on the go.
It can be hard to fuel your body adequately while traveling for sporting events. When being on the road disrupts your daily routine of training and eating, it’s important to eat well-balanced meals. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find a variety of whole foods at restaurants and may take some nutrition savvy to find meals that provide a healthy balance of carbohydrates, protein, color and fat.
We caught up with Amanda McCarthy, sports dietitian in our Sports Medicine Center, to get some nutrition tips and tricks for the next time your team is on the road.
Bring your own food
Young athletes should be eating often, and bringing food on the road can help limit fast-food and restaurant stops. Especially breakfast, where foods like low-fat milk, cereal, oatmeal, bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter, fruit juice and muffins are easily packed and prepared on the go. Here are some tips on how and what to pack when traveling:
- Plan ahead and coordinate a group of parents to bring food to share among a group of athletes.
- Nutrition bars are an easy source of carbohydrates and proteins during quick transitions from car to game. Granola-based bars are best pre-game and fruit and nut bars are great post-game with string cheese, milk, dried edamame or jerky for protein.
- A cooler is essential for drinks like chocolate milk for recovery and plenty of water or drinks with electrolytes.
- Pre-made peanut butter and jelly, egg salad, tuna salad or deli meat sandwiches are perfect for quick fueling when you have a cooler.
- There are many options that don’t require refrigeration, like beef jerky, dried fruit, granola bars or trail mix.
- Ensure lodging has a microwave, refrigerator or even serves breakfast that can be modified for young athletes.
Choose restaurants that serve whole foods
It may take a little research to know what fast-food restaurants like Qdoba, Chipotle, Noodles & Company and Subway allow you to build your own meal just the way you like it – and with fresh, whole ingredients.
Think high carbohydrate, moderate protein and low fat
Stopping for fast food on the road is a normal practice for athletes. Choosing restaurants that have a variety of protein, carbs and colorful options will help to fuel a young athlete best during their game, match or tournament.
Carbohydrates and proteins are essential, and while healthy fats are a part of a well-balanced diet, fats can take longer to digest and may cause an upset stomach while competing.
Healthier fast-food options
Often, there’s no way to avoid a quick stop on the road. But luckily, there are options to ensure your growing athlete gets a balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
- Chipotle:
- A vegetarian burrito with cilantro lime rice, black beans, fajita veggies, low-fat chocolate milk and water.
- A burrito bowl with chicken, rice, beans, pico and lettuce to get in even more veggies.
- To note: beans are a very high fiber food and may cause digestive upset in athletes who have sensitive stomachs. Avoid this by choosing double rice or a burrito.
- Noodles & Company:
- Spaghetti with chicken breast
- Chipotle Chicken Cavatappi
- Lemon Garlic Shrimp Scampi
- Pasta Fresca with chicken breast
- Penne Rosa with Impossible chicken
- Japanese Pan Noodles with tofu
- Pesto Cavatappi with marinated steak.
- Subway: turkey breast and cheese, Black Forest ham and cheese, grilled chicken, Roast Beef, Rotisserie Style Chicken, Tuna or Steak and Cheese with whole grain bread and veggies of your choice. Add 1% milk and water instead of soda most of the time.
- In-N-Out: a hamburger or cheeseburger with fries. While fried food takes longer to digest and may cause stomach upset, since choices are limited here, this is the best option to meet total energy and carbohydrate needs. Athletes can also add granola bars and fruit from home on the side of their burgers.
- Starbucks:
- Turkey, Provolone and Pesto on ciabatta
- Grilled Cheese on Sourdough
- PBJ Protein Box
- Ham and Swiss on Baguette.
- Add fruit, water and a decaf latte (to add milk).
- Chick-fil-a:
- Deluxe Sandwich
- Grilled Chicken Club
- 8 count nuggets
- Add a Berry Parfait, Chicken Noodle Soup and/or waffle potato chips on the side to add nutrition and carbs while limiting total fat intake.
- McDonald’s: Cheeseburger, Filet-O-Fish, McChicken, or Nuggets. Add apple slices, a small fry and milk on the side.
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