BA NUTRITION PLAN

B.A. NUTRITION PLAN

1.  Get into the habit of eating breakfast every morning.  Pick a Protein, Fat and a Carbohydrate from the pictures provided.  If you are going to have a “healthy” bowl of cereal (Cap‘n Crunch doesn‘t count)…make sure you have some protein with it.

2.  Eat three meals a day PLUS three snacks a day.  For example, eat breakfast, then a mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack (after school), dinner and a snack before bedtime.  Don’t go longer than 3 hours without food!

3.  Each meal and snack should include ALL THREE macronutrients, Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat.  Use the pictures for assistance.  Pretty soon you will do this without even thinking about it!

THE AMOUNT OF PROTEIN TAKEN IN THROUGHOUT THE DAY ALSO DIRECTLY EFFECTS HOW WELL AND FAST YOUR BODY REBUILDS!

4.  Include healthy, balanced and nutritious foods.  Save the “Junk It Up” foods for treats!

5.  Avoid sugar, especially “added sugars.”  You can’t totally avoid sugar, and natural sugars are actually good and healthy for you.  But foods with a lot of “added sugars” need to be avoided.  Too much sugar can mess with your blood sugar levels which directly affects your energy level and mood throughout the day.  Anytime we eat artificial sugar, our blood sugar spikes briefly-also known as the sugar high- but when it wears off it causes our blood sugar to plummet, giving us that feeling where we feel terrible and like we need to go to sleep. 

 Something else that has been proven more and more lately is VIRUSES THRIVE ON SUGAR!!!  Viruses infect the cells through sugar, so all the more reason to cut back on these added sugars whenever you can! 

6.  Drink water!  Water is the single most important nutrient for life.  Your body is around 70% water, your brain is around 75% and your blood ranges around 83% water.  Sports drinks are not needed unless exercise exceeds 90 minutes or in cases of extreme heat.  And especially not needed during brief races at swim meets!  Bring a water bottle to practice!

7.  Sleep!  Kids ages 5-10 require 10-11 hours per night and kids ages 11-17 require 8-9 hours per night.  Muscles and organs in the body are in restorative mode at night, and this is when your body rebuilds 80% of the muscles broken down during the day!  

PROTEINS

CARBOHYDRATES

FATS

JUNK FOODS