nutritional expertise needed (females a plus)

[10nispro]

As my screen name reveals, I'm a professional athlete and have been around this site for some time but need some nutritional expertise regarding my daughter. She listens to me for the most part but her needs as an athlete are different than mine.

A little background about her will help so I'll do my best to keep it short but informative. She's turned 15 a month ago. She's 5' 8" tall. 140lbs. Short waisted and long legs. Not sure of body fat but you can see her upper abs slightly but she has a small pooch on lower which is her concern and why she asked me about why she doesn't have a six pack? Ok here's where the fun begins. She is a year round swimmer. She swims 6 days a week. Each session is 2 1/2 hrs long and distance swam on average is slightly over 3 miles. She's a 50m and 100m specialist so lots of sprint work done also.

My theory is she needs to eat better but more and she says eat less. Also she wants to know a great pre-workout meal before swimming? She eats lunch around 11:30 and then after school she has about an hour before hitting the pool. She does not likes very few veggies, can't get her off simple white pasta, but she loves any type of red meats, chicken, fish, eggs, oatmeal, dairy, Greek yogurt, loves fruit, stays away from soft drinks, drinks 1gallon of milk every two days, lots of water. She will eat baby spinach salad, red beans and lentils. She gave me a days eats and it was lots of carbs, pretty clean but it only totaled 2000 calories. I think she's burning so many calories but not taking in enough and her body is slowing down her metabolism. Any truth to this theory?

Main questions are there any diet suggestions for her being a swimmer? Does her body type play a role in the pooch? What's a good pre-workout meal based on yalls history or expertise and food described above?

Thanks for answers and support,
Todd

[stpete]

I bet she can down the carbs as that's a lot of swimming. I'm no expert on the subject but if i swam that much it's hard to tell how many carbs i'd need to survive. I'm sure Slimmerme might have more to say on the subject.

[10nispro]

Thanks stpete. I figure she could slam lots of carbs as well. Their schedule is about to change to 2 a day swims.

[10nispro]

bumping for slimmerme or gbrice

[SlimmerMe]

As my screen name reveals, I'm a professional athlete and have been around this site for some time but need some nutritional expertise regarding my daughter. She listens to me for the most part but her needs as an athlete are different than mine.

A little background about her will help so I'll do my best to keep it short but informative. She's turned 15 a month ago. She's 5' 8" tall. 140lbs. Short waisted and long legs. Not sure of body fat but you can see her upper abs slightly but she has a small pooch on lower which is her concern and why she asked me about why she doesn't have a six pack? Ok here's where the fun begins. She is a year round swimmer. She swims 6 days a week. Each session is 2 1/2 hrs long and distance swam on average is slightly over 3 miles. She's a 50m and 100m specialist so lots of sprint work done also. WOW! Good for her!

My theory is she needs to eat better but more and she says eat less. Also she wants to know a great pre-workout meal before swimming? She eats lunch around 11:30 and then after school she has about an hour before hitting the pool. She does not likes very few veggies, can't get her off simple white pasta, but she loves any type of red meats, chicken, fish, eggs, oatmeal, dairy, Greek yogurt, loves fruit, stays away from soft drinks, drinks 1gallon of milk every two days, That sure is a lot of milk lots of water. She will eat baby spinach salad, red beans and lentils. She gave me a days eats and it was lots of carbs, pretty clean what isn't clean for example ? could be part of the issue but it only totaled 2000 calories. I think she's burning so many calories any idea how much? but not taking in enough and her body is slowing down her metabolism. Any truth to this theory? could be but 2,000 is quite a bit

Main questions are there any diet suggestions for her being a swimmer? Does her body type play a role in the pooch? Probably as we all have our shapes we have to overcome and the best part about this is usually once she eats even better this will go away What's a good pre-workout meal based on yalls history or expertise and food described above?

Thanks for answers and support,
Todd

Howdy...

She sounds like a great swimmer! I love to swim too but not on her level by any stretch of the imagination. During the summer I swim every single day and i can say that it does help me tone but does not fight the BF like a fast walk or run or even a bike ride. I need to ride my bike high intensity to keep the BF off. The swimming just doesn't do it for me but again, she is a pro. Her sprints are great for what she is after. Isn't there a theory about swimmers keeping a layer of BF to help stay warm? something like that...

Since she is so young this is a tricky thing. Last thing you want is rebellion. And the other is her self image which is crucial to her now comparing herself to every perfect model in magazines. And her hormones are peaking which could backfire if this is not handled correctly.

As far as a pre-work out meal. I can say I love oat pancakes. Full of oats, egg whites and cottage cheese. This meal carries me over for hours and I swear by them. Is she drinking any protein shakes right after her workout to feed her muscles? She might like it for taste too and something to keep her blood sugar from dropping if she is hungry after her workout plus keeps her away from fast tempting alternatives.

I would cut out all that milk for starters. Could she wean this with 2% then 1% then skim and then less of it?

Good luck to her and you are a good daddy trying to get her on the right track so early in life.

[Dr. R.]

Ahh the memories....

Anywho back to reality. Having been a competitive swimmer for 9+ years I can speak on this subject, but keep in mind since I am not a woman this info will vary.

First off at 2.5hr of swimming a day and soon to be 2-a-days, 2000 cal is most likely not enough. I can recall my most productive year when we would average about 5-7k yards every practice(I was a distance guy so this might be different for a sprint specialist), and when we did the 2-a-days for 3 months in the summer I took in 4-6k cal on training days(M-F), and still lost about 12lbs. So IMO she needs to eat more in order to have the energy to last for those grueling practices, and make it through the rest of the day. I also agree with slimmer on the milk, that is an awful lot of milk. Make sure your daughter also understands that because we swimmers spend so much time in those cold pools our bodies naturally adapt with a small layer of fat to help keep warm. Most swimmers will always have a soft look to their physique, well at least for distance swimmers, I can't speak for sprinters as I was not and am not one.

If your daughter is conscious about what other think/feel about her(again being a man i have no problem with this and just saying it because I can't read women's minds) she can always eat the food at home, because you WILL get comments like: "Good god man," or "Save some for the rest of us if it doesn't trouble you." Once my dad even told me I would have to start footing the grocery bill, (I never did lol).

For the PWO meal my favorite was always homemade whole-wheat bread or Ezekiel bread with 2 serv. of all-natural peanut butter, topped with a medium banana; eaten about 30-45 min. before practice. On the harder days I would also eat the things called Clif Shot Blocks, which are little chewy squares made by the Clif Bar company, about half way through practice for the little energy boost. Electrolytes are also good during heavy training especially when it is hot outside.

Take a look at www.usaswimming.org there is a nutrition section on this site geared solely towards swimmers. It has tons of articles for you to read.

Hope that helps, even just a little bit.

[10nispro]

Howdy...

She sounds like a great swimmer! I love to swim too but not on her level by any stretch of the imagination. During the summer I swim every single day and i can say that it does help me tone but does not fight the BF like a fast walk or run or even a bike ride. I need to ride my bike high intensity to keep the BF off. The swimming just doesn't do it for me but again, she is a pro. Her sprints are great for what she is after. Isn't there a theory about swimmers keeping a layer of BF to help stay warm? something like that...

Since she is so young this is a tricky thing. Last thing you want is rebellion. And the other is her self image which is crucial to her now comparing herself to every perfect model in magazines. And her hormones are peaking which could backfire if this is not handled correctly.

As far as a pre-work out meal. I can say I love oat pancakes. Full of oats, egg whites and cottage cheese. This meal carries me over for hours and I swear by them. Is she drinking any protein shakes right after her workout to feed her muscles? She might like it for taste too and something to keep her blood sugar from dropping if she is hungry after her workout plus keeps her away from fast tempting alternatives.

I would cut out all that milk for starters. Could she wean this with 2% then 1% then skim and then less of it?

Good luck to her and you are a good daddy trying to get her on the right track so early in life.

Greetings,
Thank you for responding and sorry I haven't written back quickly. I did mention to her about drinking water with her meals and cut back on the amount of milk she drinks per day. She said she will have milk with her breakfast only if possible. What I meant by pretty clean is, I believe she could change her refined sugar foods with fruits or veggies. Apple instead of cheese crackers..

She has never been a runner and hates to run. She never learned to run so she thinks she is bad at it therefore she hates it. Also, it hurts her knees, but she also has patellofemoral syndrome. Its very common in young teenage female athletes that have started puberty. Its caused by the widening of the hips and weak knees which cause a weird angle at the knee area. She corrected most of the pain with PT. She's does dry land exercises which does involve running so she is learning and seeing the benefits.

Interesting theory about adopting a layer of body fat but I don't think it will fly with her. LOL! She compares herself with others on her team but they are 4-6 inches shorter and distance swimmers. I explained that and told her not to worry about it. She's beautiful and perfect and I tell her to believe in herself and no-one will take that from her.

[10nispro]

Ahh the memories....

Anywho back to reality. Having been a competitive swimmer for 9+ years I can speak on this subject, but keep in mind since I am not a woman this info will vary.

First off at 2.5hr of swimming a day and soon to be 2-a-days, 2000 cal is most likely not enough. I can recall my most productive year when we would average about 5-7k yards every practice(I was a distance guy so this might be different for a sprint specialist), and when we did the 2-a-days for 3 months in the summer I took in 4-6k cal on training days(M-F), and still lost about 12lbs. So IMO she needs to eat more in order to have the energy to last for those grueling practices, and make it through the rest of the day. I also agree with slimmer on the milk, that is an awful lot of milk. Make sure your daughter also understands that because we swimmers spend so much time in those cold pools our bodies naturally adapt with a small layer of fat to help keep warm. Most swimmers will always have a soft look to their physique, well at least for distance swimmers, I can't speak for sprinters as I was not and am not one.

If your daughter is conscious about what other think/feel about her(again being a man i have no problem with this and just saying it because I can't read women's minds) she can always eat the food at home, because you WILL get comments like: "Good god man," or "Save some for the rest of us if it doesn't trouble you." Once my dad even told me I would have to start footing the grocery bill, (I never did lol).

For the PWO meal my favorite was always homemade whole-wheat bread or Ezekiel bread with 2 serv. of all-natural peanut butter, topped with a medium banana; eaten about 30-45 min. before practice. On the harder days I would also eat the things called Clif Shot Blocks, which are little chewy squares made by the Clif Bar company, about half way through practice for the little energy boost. Electrolytes are also good during heavy training especially when it is hot outside.

Take a look at www.usaswimming.org there is a nutrition section on this site geared solely towards swimmers. It has tons of articles for you to read.

Hope that helps, even just a little bit.

Its always good to hear from a former swimmer on this subject. It seems foods I eat for my sport and training seems to cross over some. Its really tricky to find what works best at certain times. I will pass on about increasing some caloric intake during normal season and especially during the summer.

what's your thoughts on less training yardage for sprinters compared to distance swimmers?

[10nispro]

Slimmerme ----- I wanted to add, that yes I have her taking in a protein shake post workout. I also read where a glass of chocolate milk is one of the best post workout drinks.. Go figure

[Dr. R.]

Its always good to hear from a former swimmer on this subject. It seems foods I eat for my sport and training seems to cross over some. Its really tricky to find what works best at certain times. I will pass on about increasing some caloric intake during normal season and especially during the summer.

what's your thoughts on less training yardage for sprinters compared to distance swimmers?

Wow I'm sorry this took so long. I got caught up with some school stuff, and then lost this thread among the others.

But here is a small article about sprinting nutrition, it's not much but it might help
http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewMiscA...33&ItemId=5109

I would assume the diet should be about the same, maybe not as many slower acting carbs and such because sprinters exert their energy explosively and very fast. Also maybe more protein than a distance swimmer because the sprinters tend to do more weights and have bigger muscles etc. But that is just what I'm thinking can't be absolutely sure, sorry, but being a distance guy for so many years I now realize I know very little on how a sprinter's diet should differ from distance swimmers.

And here is an article from BB.com about how sprinters tend to train out of the pool, with input from Jason Lezak,
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jasonlezak1.htm