By: Heidi Smith – RD Sport Dietitian
When the hockey season overlaps with the holiday season dinners can sometimes become more of a ‘grab and go’ than a sit down meal. Drive thru dinners can work on occasion, but if they become the norm, you may start missing out on essential nutrients from fresh vegetables, fibre, iron and calcium. It’s also challenging to find whole grain, lower fat, lower sodium options to fuel young hockey players before ice times. Every hockey family can benefit from making a list of quick, portable, nutrient packed meals to eat in the car or in the stands for parents! Check out the list we have started and begin adding your own favourites.
Building a meal to go – is as easy as 1,2,3. Be sure to include these 3 important nutrients:
1. Complex Carbohydrates – 1-2 cups per meal.
Carbohydrates need to be continually replenished in the athletes diet. Complex carbohydrates come from less refined whole grains such as brown rice, whole grain pasta/breads, corn, quinoa, potato, yams and whole fruit. The challenge with eating whole grains before exercise is that higher fibre foods are slower to digest. Experiment during the season and see how close to exercise you can handle these higher fibre options. If white bread and pasta feel better in the 1-2 hours before exercise, just be sure to fill up on whole grains during your other meals and snacks. Parents looking to trim down may choose to reduce dinner carbohydrates to ½ cup if they are not exercising regularly and bump up the veggie portions.
2. Lean Protein – 10-20g protein per meal.
Protein is important for muscle maintenance, bone health, and to feel full after a meal. You may prefer to keep protein portion smaller in the 1-2 hours before exercise to speed digestion. Quick sources of protein for a ‘dinner-to-go’ include: Leftover cooked meats (chicken, steak, ham, turkey), Fish (Salmon, tuna, sardines), Beans (Chickpeas, Black beans, hummus, soy beans), Cheese (shredded, feta, goat), hardboiled eggs, Nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds), Seeds (sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds).
3. Colourful Vegetables – 1+ cups per meal.
Include a variety of different colours to get a variety of essential nutrients: Dark leafy greens (spinach, kale, romaine), Dark/Red and Orange (Peppers, carrots, squash, yams) and Vibrant greens (cucumbers, broccoli, snap peas, green beans). Every colour offers important phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and fibre. The athletes diet should include at least 2 cups of vegetables per day.