Thank you for purchasing Ann’s eating plan for female athletes. Please find below each of the documents you require to fuel your body like an athlete!
Remember, nothing is set in stone. This plan is intended to serve as a guideline in helping you execute healthy choices and, more particularly, to ensure that you are fuelling your performance. Just like a car… your body cannot run on empty, and if you choose to fuel on low-quality meals, neglecting the essential nutrients that you require (which INCLUDES sufficient carbohydrates), your health and performance is likely to be compromised.
A few general rules:
- Try to restrict your red meat intake to once a week. If you’d rather eat a steak than the extra lean beef mince options – you can! Just substitute out the beef mince for chicken mince (or turkey mince in January & February, its delicious!) on the designated day.
- Try to restrict your caffeine intake to just 2 cups per day. That means, just 2 cups of caffeinated tea or coffee. If you can’t go without your java in the morning, make sure you’re having rooibos / herbal teas the rest of the day.
- Try to restrict your alcohol intake to 3-4 units per week. White wine spritzers (or just with lots of ice), red wine, white spirits and whiskey are better than flavoured mixers, beers, ciders and cocktails which contain lots of sugar.
- Most “meat substitutes” and vegan / vegetarian options are high in carbohydrate. If you choose to eat legumes and pulses instead of meat – cut the carbohydrate that you are eating as a meal accompaniment.
- The closer to the “ground” (or the less processed / refined), the better. Always choose the lower GI (and higher fibre) option.
- Healthy fats are essential to hormone production – both estrogen and oestrogen, the production of which helps guard against stress fractures; and the chemicals responsible for healthy brain function. When you try to cut out all the fat, this is going to negatively impact your health and mental performance. Focus on including foods such as olives, avocados, nuts and seeds rather “empty” oils used in fast- and heat-to-eat food production.
- Aim to drink 1.5 litres of water every day. Start your day with a glass of water and keep going – limiting your intake as you get closer to bedtime. A pinch of salt in your water bottle will help your body absorb the water, as opposed to just “flushing through” your system.
- DON’T train fasted – if you train first thing in the morning, have something small (and preferably carbohydrate) before you head out. Eating within 30 minutes of waking is critical to reducing cortisol levels responsible for weight gain.
- Focus on your gut – make sure you invest in a quality probiotic (one that’s live and stored in the fridge) to ensure your gut stays healthy and capable of absorbing all the nutrients you need. Poor gut health is often responsible for weight gain, cravings, poor moods, bloating and diminished performance over time. In periods of increased work/life/training stress, you’ll need to pay even greater attention to your gut health.
- Having 1-2 treats a week is not only permissible, but critical to your mental health! If you want a slice of cake – have it! Just don’t have a slice of cake several times a week. Simply “subtract” a fat and a carbohydrate from the following meal – e.g. have stir fry without brown rice; or steak without baked potato. Seriously, if you cut out everything “nice”, life won’t seem worth living.
Remember: Real athletes don’t diet; they fuel their performance.