With the 2010 games just past, we’ve got a sneak peak to nutrition planning. As the sport dietitian for the Canadian Snowboard team, there was an abundance of work that went on behind the scenes to make sure our Olympians were optimally fueled to compete at their highest level of performance. This blog is a snapshot of what went on in the front lines with athletes and staff as we prepared for the competition of a lifetime!
Athletes: Fine Tuning their Food
Athletes have been in a “fine-tuning” phase over this last year. They have been developing their personal strategies for pre, during and post competition/training nutrition and hydration. Athletes are basically in their best physical shape and have been on a tough travel schedule since August attending other world cup competitions and races. The focus is on keeping everyone healthy and injury free. From a nutrition standpoint, this means immune boosting diets (see blog on immune boosting nutrition) and aggressive recovery nutrition (see blog on recovery) post training and competition.
Nutrition Staff: Setting up for Success
My energies have been focused on food and meal logistics within the athlete dining hall and competition venue. Analyzing the dining hall menus for nutrition content and picking out best choices for our athletes is an important aspect for competition fueling. With the hundreds of choices available, helping athletes navigate the cafeteria helps to keep distraction down and their body optimally fueled. In addition, setting up nutrition at the venue is vitally important to ensure athletes can implement the on snow and recovery plans we have been working on all year.
Competition Nutrition: Avoiding Pitfalls
Athletes tried to avoid any nutrition errors that would impact and interfere with performance on race day. Generally, here are the guidelines that they will be following.
| Foods to Avoid Before or During Competition | Why to Avoid |
|---|---|
| Energy drinks like Red Bull |
Uneven energy levels, potential for energy crash, over-stimulation on snow |
| Excess alcohol consumption | Impaired thinking/cognition, recovery |
| Higher fat, heavier foods & snacks – cream sauce on pasta, cream soup, extra cheesy dishes, chips, cake, pie, big muffins, french fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza | High fat = slowed digestion, stomach issues on snow |
| Large quantities of meat (eg. large steak) | High protein = slowed digestion, stomach issues on snow |
| High fiber foods, or foods known to cause gas (eg. onions, beans, garlic) | High fiber = slowed digestion, stomach issues on snow |
| Excessive high sugar foods like candy, soda, chocolate | High sugar = Uneven energy levels, potential for energy crash, |
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