What Pro Athletes Eat For Breakfast vs. What YOU Should Eat

The Winter Olympic Games they’re here, and as we watch superhumans (also known as professional athletes) perform impressive physical feats, you might be wondering what exactly they eat to be able to do these incredible things. To get answers, we talked to two experts who have spent years working with professional athletes to discover the best foods to fuel their grueling workouts and perform at their best on game day.

The short answer: it depends. brittany dunnA performance dietitian and chef for the Philadelphia Eagles, he found that what professional athletes eat varies greatly between athletes and the sports they play.

“I’ve worked with an athlete who prefers two boiled eggs with peanut butter toast and a coffee, an athlete who prefers an acai bowl and sauteed vegetables, and an athlete who orders two breakfast sandwiches and fries,” he told the HuffPost.

When it comes to macronutrients and micronutrients, Dunn points out that all of these breakfasts provide nutritional benefits to every athlete. “The contrasting characteristics of athletes’ breakfasts are strongly influenced by personal preferences and diets, the amount of time between eating and the next training session, body composition and sport,” she said.

Come game day, race day or competition day, athletes don’t take chances with their breakfast. Consistency is the name of the game, and the last thing a professional athlete needs is an upset stomach. “What I’ve found is that a lot of athletes have an eating plan in place for game day,” Dunn said. In his experience, most athletes eat the same breakfast before each competition. “Game day is not the day to try new foods,” he said. Additionally, having a consistent breakfast routine can help professional athletes feel more mentally prepared for the day ahead.

As for general caloric needs, professional athletes need to consume more than the average person given the amount of energy they use in their respective sports and to help with recovery. Dunn said that while he hasn’t worked directly with an athlete on a diet as amazing as Michael Phelps’s (who is rumored to have consumed 12,000 calories a day when training), has worked with an athlete who needed a 1,000-calorie post-workout recovery shake, plus three or four additional meals throughout the day. “The goal here was for the athlete to maintain body composition and provide fuel to support training and energy needs,” she said.

Given the increased caloric needs of professional athletes, it’s not uncommon for them to eat five, six, or even eight meals a day, with a mix of full meals, shakes, and snacks. Because they need to consume so many calories (particularly carbohydrates), professional athletes skip a bit when it comes to simple sugars, as they’re easier to digest.

“We really need to put a lot of fuel into athletes, so we could give them things like juice or even candy to make them feel hungrier.” Dr Marc Bubbshigh-performance nutritionist with a portfolio of professional and Olympic athletes and author of “Peak 40”, said HuffPost. “For the general population, we don’t want them to eat these foods that make them hungry more often or that are very energy dense.”

Bubbs explained that the more intense your exercise, the greater your reliance on carbohydrates, so professional athletes simply need more carbohydrates in their system. “It’s a bit like a fire: If you have a very hot fire, you can put all kinds of logs in there and the fire will still burn very well and stay warm, kind of like metabolism and exercise and sports activity,” he said. he. But put too many logs on the fire and the fire will go out, similar to when the average person consumes more calories than they need, which eventually leads to weight gain, high blood sugar and inflammation. The male athletes he has worked with need around 4,000 calories a day, while the general recommendation for the average person is around 2,000 calories a day.

“Total calories depend on the energy demands of the sport.Bubbs said. “A cyclist or swimmer may need 6,000 to 8,000 calories per day (due to the high volume of training), while athletes in team sports like basketball and soccer will land between 3,500 and 5,000 calories (which will vary depending on the demands of the sport). day) .” He added that since women are generally smaller and lighter, they will most likely (but not always) require fewer calories.

While the average person might make a breakfast smoothie with water, protein powder, and berries, a professional athlete might substitute fruit juice for the water and add mangoes, pineapples, and bananas to boost the carb content. Another example Bubbs gave was a bowl of plain yogurt with berries and nuts, which makes for a solid breakfast for the average person (not too many carbs or fat, and plenty of protein). To increase the carbohydrate content, a professional athlete might add sliced ​​bananas, muesli and maple syrup. The key concept here, Bubbs explained, is carbohydrate periodization: fueling the demands of an athlete each day, whether it’s competition, practice, or even rest.

When creating meal plans for his clients, Dunn’s primary goal is to ensure adequate calories and proper nutrients are provided specific to the athlete’s needs and sport. In doing this, she takes into consideration which foods fit into the dietary restrictions and preferences that athletes have. It’s important for athletes to really like what they’re eating so they can finish their meals and get the fuel they need to perform.

Professional athletes’ breakfasts are, by necessity, more consistent than the average person’s in terms of consumption, timing, and nutritional content. Skipping breakfast is a pretty inconsequential choice for the average person heading to their desk job, but for an athlete heading into an intense workout lasting several hours, skipping breakfast can lead to disastrous results. “One of the biggest differences is that my work with professional athletes can be much more meticulous, as I am typically more involved with them on a daily basis, with access to frequent labs and body composition analysis, to make any necessary adjustments throughout the course of the day. way,” Dunn said.

For the active person who is not a professional athlete, there are some general guidelines to follow to help fuel your workouts and help you reach your health and fitness goals. Dunn recommends making sure his breakfast includes healthy fats, protein, and fiber-filled complex carbohydrates. “These nutrients not only support muscles, fight inflammation, and aid in the absorption of vitamins and minerals, but they also help maintain a feeling of fullness until the next meal.”

Some specific breakfast options she recommends are yogurt with granola and berries, whole grain cereal with fruit toppings and milk or a protein-packed milk substitute, oatmeal with fruit and nut butter, cottage cheese and whole grain toast, a vegetable omelet with toast, and a waffle with nut butter and milk.

Bubbs recommends starting with protein when preparing your meal, with at least 20 grams of protein for active people. “Breakfast is the meal of the day where people typically get the least amount of protein, so it should be the main focus,” he said. She said that 30 to 40 grams of protein per meal for men and 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal for women are ideal amounts to aim for. This number will vary for people based on their activity level and body weight. For reference, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day for active people.

The next step is carbs, which Bubbs recommends cutting back for people looking to lose weight or improve their blood sugar. “Eat more berries instead of bananas, and eat one slice of bread instead of three or four,” he said. The last thing is fat. Again, if you’re trying to lose weight, this is one area you can be conservative with: a drizzle of olive oil or a quarter or half of an avocado.

If you’re the kind of person who works out in the morning, Bubbs’ recommendation differs depending on the type of exercise you’re doing. For an aerobic workout, he recommends fasting or eating a low-carb breakfast, but for an intense training session, he recommends eating a full breakfast beforehand with enough carbohydrates. “If you’re training hard, make sure you have enough fuel on board,” she said.