While others are looking to slim down, are you looking to bulk up?
For some athletes putting on some weight may help to give them an advantage by making them stronger both on and off the court. When thinking about gaining weight for performance it is very important to stick to the same healthy eating guidelines for athletes.
A few key strategies can be used to add extra “healthy” calories into your weight-gaining plan:
1) Start each day with breakfast. It’s no lie that eating breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Try to include some protein into your breakfast by making eggs part of your breakfast routine.
2) Eat every couple of hours. Eating small meals or large snacks more frequently will help to add in more calories throughout the day. Choose snacks such as a granola bar, an ounce of nuts or cheese or a peanut butter sandwich.
3) Look for ways to “sneak” extra calories into your healthy choices. Are you drinking skim milk, step up to 2% milk. If you’re eating a banana add some peanut butter to it or better yet make it into a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Add nuts or dried fruit to your oatmeal in the morning. Add an extra slice of lunchmeat or cheese to your sandwich.
Remember, whether you are looking to gain, maintain or lose weight it all boils down to the number of calories that you eat and drink vs. the number of calories that you burn during the day.
To figure out how many calories you need to maintain your weight visit mypyramid.gov: http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx . If you’re looking to gain weight then you will need to eat or drink more calories than what you would need to maintain your weight. The exact amount for you may be tricky and will become even more complicated when you throw exercise into the mix. The best indicator of whether or not you’re eating enough is to watch the scale. If you are still not gaining weight looks for ways to add some more “healthy” calories into your day.
Please visit www.regen2recover.com for additional information.
The Nutritional Tip of the Week is brought to you by Amy Preston, PhD, RD. Dr. Amy is the Nutrition Scientist for the REGEN Beverage team. Dr. Preston received her B.S. in Kinesiology at The Pennsylvania State University; her M.Ed. in Exercise Physiology was awarded by The University of Virginia. Dr. Preston earned her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University and subsequently completed her dietetic internship at The Pennsylvania State University.Go to
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