Eat regularly

• Because athletes live a busy life and juggle between trainings it is important to eat regularly to maintain a balanced and adequate diet. Eating every 2-4 hours with regular snacks will help maintain blood glucose levels and energy throughout the day. It is important to eat more throughout the day with moderate amounts of protein and avoid eating large quantities of food at night.

Shop for cheap foods

• Frozen vegetables are a awesome to add to nutrients to most types of meals. Cook enough to have left over’s as this gives you another meal for the next day, great for lunches. Oatmeal and homemade cereals are great ways to reduce your costs.

Post Exercise Nutrition

• As an athlete one of the fastest ways to recover from a training session is through nutrition. It is very important to eat as fast as possible following a training session. Exercise reduces glycogen stores within the body and eating carbohydrates stimulates insulin and the production of glycogen. Protein is also essential in the recovery process especially for resistance sports like kayaking. Protein helps rebuild muscle tissue that is damaged during exercise. A ratio of 4:1 carbohydrates to protein is recommended.

Pre Exercise Nutrition

• Having the adequate energy for exercise is very important. However this can differ from the different types of training sessions. A gym session requires sufficient glycogen stores. However some endurance sessions don’t require as much glycogen stores and therefore eating within the hour prior is not always needed.

Hydration

• When exercising athletes sweet significantly more, therefore it’s important to replace water and electrolytes. Sports drinks will help fuel and help replace sodium that was lost through sweet. However try avoiding high sugary drinks.

Swaps

• Change small things to help make you diet more nutritious. Swap white bread for multigrain, yogurt/milk/and other dairy products to low fat. Watch the amount of sauces and mayonnaise, as these items can be high in sugars and fats. Milk and fruit drinks can be great recovery foods however be aware of your portions.

Breakfast Ideas

• Porridge
• Pancakes – Just watch how much toping you put on.
• Baked beans on toast
• Spaghetti on toast
• Boiled or poached egg & toast

Quick Lunch Ideas

• Soup and bread  (not too much bread)
• Left over’s from dinner
• Eggs on toast – Scrambled, poached
• Omelet
• Corn fritters and salad
• Pita bread with tabuli
• Wraps

Pre/Post Training

• Hummus and rice wafers.
• Corn thins
• Protein Shake, made with water or skim milk
• 200mls of Flavoured Milk
• Fruit
• Fruit muffin
• Fruit smoothies
• Toast
• Jacket potato with cottage cheese, tuna, baked beans, sweetcorn etc.
  • Toast with tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce
  • Fruit salad and frozen yoghurt
  • Reduced fat yoghurts