Nutrition Guidelines – Netball

Nutrition is crucial to aid performance and training, help you keep motivated and help build a strong and healthy body. An important part of performance nutrition is the ability to construct a well balanced diet to support your training. This involves making good food choices, planning your meals well and cooking healthily.

Top tips

Eat a wide variety of food

Eat regular meals – don’t limit yourself to one or two big meals each day

Aim for a minimum of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables EVERY day

Keep well hydrated throughout the day

Aim to eat healthy nutritious food 80% of the time for good balance and just enjoy the remaining 20%

Remember that nutrition strategies are very individual. What works for your friend may not suit you. Listen to your own body. Don’t just stick with something because you’ve been told or read that it’s the right way to eat / drink – try it out for yourself and make changes if it isn’t working.

Meal ideas

Breakfast

Always eat a substantial Low GI breakfast

High fibre cereal or sugar free muesli with skimmed milk, piece of fruit

Porridge oats with skimmed milk, glass of juice

Low fat yogurt, fresh chopped fruit, nuts and seeds, glass of juice

2 slices wholemeal toast with small amount of peanut butter + chopped banana

Fresh fruit smoothie with yogurt and nuts, couple of oat cakes

Baked beans on toast

Late riser breakfast options (for before training)

Banana

Fresh fruit smoothie

Piece of toast with honey

Rice cakes

+ fluid

Mid-morning snacks (see recipes below)

Important to maintain normal blood sugar levels and to prevent energy dips

Chopped carrots and hummus dip

Dried fruit bar and small handful of nuts

Fresh fruit 1 – 2 pieces

Oat cakes + peanut butter

Low fat yogurt / smoothies

Lexia Raisin Flapjack – beware of high fat shop bought flapjacks

Lunch

Wholemeal bread sandwich

Pasta or brown rice salad with protein and vegetables

Baked potato with protein and salad

+ a piece of fruit

Pre training snack

Helps maintain good energy levels throughout training – 1 -2 hours before

Fresh fruit / dried fruit

Smoothie

Fruit yogurt

Cereal / breakfast bar

Fruit loaf or raisin bread

Rice cakes

Diluted fruit juice

Additional fluid 15 minutes before session

Recovery nutrition

Good post exercise nutrition is crucial to help the body refuel for your next training session. Don’t get into the habit of eating exactly what you feel like after training because you ‘deserve it’!

Immediately after exercise

Glass of low fat milk as soon as possible after training + (one of the following)

High GI snack such as banana

Handful of dried fruit

Dried fruit bar

Recovery sports drink to aid nutrient replacement

Plenty of water

Evening meal

Should contain combination of carbohydrates, protein and vegetables – palm size protein / twice the amount of carbs and plenty of fresh vegetables – increase amounts if needed

Chicken or prawn stir-fry with rice or wholewheat noodles and veggies

Wholemeal chicken pasta with tomato sauce

Spaghetti Bolognese with extra vegetable portions (made with lean beef)

Wholemeal toast and beans / piece of fruit

Late evening Meal choices

Make this meal lighter if possible. Keep the fat and protein content of this meal lower to speed up digestion and avoid sleep disturbance.

High fibre cereal with skimmed milk, piece of fruit

Porridge oats with skimmed milk, glass of juice

Low fat yogurt, fresh chopped fruit, nuts and seeds, glass of juice

2 slices wholemeal toast with peanut butter + chopped banana

Fresh fruit smoothie with yogurt and nuts, couple of oat cakes

Baked beans on toast

Competition days

The day before Aim for good food and hydration all day

On the dayIncrease breakfast size. Again stick to low GI breakfast containing slow-releasing carbs. If possible eat 3 hours beforehand (practice this eating strategy before competition day to minimise any negative tummy complaints!)

Tournament Food – handy snack ideas for your kit bag

Crackers, oatcakes, rice cakes

Dried fruit – raisins / figs

Malt fruit loaf, Jaffa cakes, banana loaf

Sandwiches, rolls, pitta with low fat fillings

Fruit – banana / pineapple

Cereal bars or fig rolls

Low fat smoothies or milk shakes

Popcorn

Fruit juices or squash

Sports drinks

Hydration

Start each session well hydrated

Drink plenty of fluids after exercise

Sports drinks containing carbohydrates and electrolytes are useful for intense exercise lasting more than 1 hour (see homemade recipes below)

Practice drinking strategies during training and adjust accordingly

Make your own isotonic sports drink – for rehydration and refueling

Important to measure the ingredients correctly.

Option 1 – 50 – 70g sugar / 1 litre of warm water / 1 – 1.5g (pinch) of salt / sugar free squash for flavouring

Option 2 – 200ml ordinary fruit squash / 800ml water / 1 – 1.5g (pinch) of salt

Option 3 – 500ml unsweetened fruit juice / 500ml water

Breakfast recipes

Quick porridge oats

100g whole porridge oats / water, apple juice or milk / chopped fruit / seeds and nuts

Soak porridge oats overnight by covering with water, a mix of water and apple juice or milk and leaving in fridge. In the morning add more liquid, chopped fruit, nuts and seeds.

Alternatively put oats and other ingredients in a Tupperware and take with you to eat before school. The oats will soften before you eat them making them easier to digest

Snack recipes

Lexia Raisin Flapjack

300g Lexia raisins, washed and dried / 75ml extra-virgin olive oil / 250g rolled oats /

50g desiccated coconut / 1 tbsp natural vanilla essence (optional)

Set the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Place the raisins in a pan with 150ml water and heat gently for about 10 minutes to soften them. Cool slightly. Place the contents of the pan in a food processor and process briefly. Stir in the olive oil, oats, coconut and vanilla and mix well.

Press the mixture into a 7 x 11inch Swiss roll tin and smooth over the top. Place in the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until lightly browned on top. Cool in the tin.

Oatmeal Banana Bars

1 tbsp soft butter / 1 tbsp brown sugar / 2 ½oz rolled oats / ¼ tsp ground cinnamon / 2oz wholemeal flour / 4fl oz apple juice / ½ tsp pure vanilla extract / 1 banana mashed / 1 ½ oz dried currents or raisins

Preheat oven to 180C / 350F. Lightly oil an 8inch square baking tin. In a medium sized bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Stir in the oats and cinnamon until combined, then add flour and stir. Mix apple juice with the vanilla and 4fl oz of warm water in a bowl, then add to the dry ingredients and stir well. Stir in the banana and currents. Spread the dough in the prepared tin, smoothing the top and bake for 1 hour until the top is golden. Let the cake cool in the tin on a rack. Cut the cake into quarters and then each quarter into 3. Makes 12 bars.

Homemade lunch recipes

Brown rice salad

Cook brown rice and add chopped cucumber and pepper, grated carrot, spring onion, a handful of lightly toasted pine nuts or chopped cashew nuts, chopped sundried tomatoes and a small amount of feta cheese. Moisten with a dessertspoon of cold pressed essential fat oil from the health food shops Carob, Leaders and Health Essentials

Rice with pine nuts, avocado and pesto

Add lightly toasted pine nuts, a tablespoon of red pesto (M & S do an additive free version), diced cucumber and avocado to cooked brown rice for a delicious and easy Tupperware lunch option.

Quick Quinoa Salad(adapted from Gillian McKeith’s ‘Ultimate Health Plan’)

Boil 50g quinoa grains for 10 minutes. Drain under cold water. Add chopped cubes of cucumber and beetroot, sliced spring onions, sliced chicory, a handful of trimmed mange-tout and some chopped parsley. Add some of your favourite salad leaves and sprinkle with a small handful of raw nuts such as hazelnuts, cashews, almonds.

Mandy Bonhomme - - tel. 879657