Getting An Athlete’s Appetite Right

Ecstasy is playing for your country in front of thousands of spectators; tragedy is getting

run out because you aren’t that fast. Because it may take two to tango on the crease, but it

takes three to thrive: muscles, talent and diet. Muscles to hit it out of the park, talent to

leave a global mark and diet to make your endurance last.

Endurance is an aspect tested by most of the sports, like gully cricket, leg cricket, backyard

cricket – except book cricket. And we’ve also heard of some other sports requiring it…

Futball, something… And Bask-it ball! Although we aren’t sure of the existence of such

sports, let’s be optimistic. So here we have for you the right diet to ensure you don’t run

out of energy when you need it the most.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates not being among the synonyms of energy is what’s wrong with this world.

With brain cells, the cornea of the eye and nervous tissues dependent on it, carbohydrates

are not only important… They are very important! And in case you intend to comment on

our degrading sense of humour, drop it because we already know it.

Whole grains and fats are the best sources of carbohydrates for an athlete.

Proteins

Proteins being among the synonyms of body building is also what’s wrong with this world.

With building immunity and stamina also comprising its advantages, proteins have so

many pros that it will be a blasphemy to call them con-teins. (Just when you thought our

sense of humour couldn’t drop lower!)

Chicken, fish, egg whites are first class proteins. Vegetarian athletes may opt for skimmed

milk, yoghurt and beans.

Fats

There’s a fine line between fats being a liability or an asset. Both have their own

advantages. Fats, the asset, help with absorption and transportation of fat soluble

vitamins (Vitamin D, for instance, which strengthens the bones) while fats, the liability,

help on shake his belly like a bowl full of jelly!

Saturated fats are preferable over trans fats. The best sources include fatty fish, nuts, low-

fat milk, and low-fat dairy products.

Calorie Requirement

Calorie stands for ‘Can an Athlete Leave Or Resist his Inundation of Eating.’ And in case

you intend to argue that we made it up, drop it so we can get together and make fun of

those who fell for it.

On a serious note, the daily calorie requirements for a male is 50 calories per kg of his body

weight, which means more than 3,800 calories for a 77kg male. For females, this

requirement goes down to 40 to 46 calories per kg of body weight.

Dividing among the nutrients, 60-70% of these calories must come from carbohydrates,

20-30% from protein and 12-15% from fats.

If you are a dedicated athlete, you don’t need to be told that what you eat correlates

completely with your performance. Give nothing less than 100% to both your sport and to

your body. Follow the proper diet and begin your journey to be the one whom thousands of

spectators gather to watch.