Gavin had a consultation with a triathlete who is a mother of 3 young children the other day.

During the consultation she was talking about being ravenously hungry when she got back from training and ended up eating crisps and biscuits while her food was cooking.

She realised this was a problem that needed adressing.

The conversation went something like this…

Question: Why do you have that food in your house to begin with?

Answer: It’s for the kids!

Question: What do you mean it’s for the kids?

Answer: Well they have them in their school lunch boxes, for a treat occasionally or if they get hungry when they come home from school.

Question: Why are you feeding your kids such crap on a daily basis! Don’t you care about them?
LOL Ok I didn’t really say it like that, she is a good friend. I was a bit more diplomatic.

There are a number of issues that need adressing in this situation.

Firstly about the kids…

What you are feeding your kids?

Is that food going to help them concentrate at school?

What are you teaching them about healthy eating?

Are you and should you be using food as a treat or reward?

Secondly

Why do you have that food in your house?

Do you use sweet foods as a treat or reward?

Your lack of self control – Why can’t you resist the cakes and biscuits?

Where is your planning at? You are planning and doing your training but not planning on what you are going to refuel yourself with?

There are a lot more questions that could be asked in just this area alone, what’s important though in the consultation / coaching process is to come up with some solutions and different ways of organising your life.

Some Solutions

Try not to let your kids get too hungry. You should know your kids routines and what they are like and when they feel hungry.

I know that my 8 year old Jack is generally Ok if I pick him up at 3.05 from school, an apple never gets refused he can generally wait 15 minutes till we get home though.

If he has had an after school activity and I pick him up at 4.15 he ALWAYS needs something straight away, so I need to be prepared for that.

You may need to feed the kids a proper dinner earlier and you can have yours heated up when you come in from training.

If they are teenagers prepare it the night before and leave it for them to warm up.

Give the kids healthier alternatives for snacks:

tuna and sweetcorn wrap,
fried egg sandwich with tomato,
cold hard boiled egg
carrot sticks,
fruit (apples, bananas, pears etc),
fruit smoothies

get them involved and make a fruit smoothie together and add in milk, cottage cheese, silken tofu and lots of other good stuff like ground flax seeds and oat flour.

Oat based pancakes are another healthy filling alternative to have after school.

There are plenty of healthy alternatives that are just as quick and easy to prepare with a bit of planning. If you are strugglin do a bit of research on the net. Try and steer away from healthier versions of cakes and other sweet tasting foods and focus on ‘real food’ though.

Gradually wean the kids off the snacks and sweets, there are plenty of times they can eat that sort of food at party’s etc without them feeling like they are freaks or they are being deprived..

Solutions for the Athlete

Ok so there are some solutions to fit in around your schedule for the children, what about you as the athlete.

Over cook meals so you have extra food you can take with you to eat mid afternoon and or straight after training.

Plan what you are going to have every day.

If you train late in the evening have something you have prepared ahead of time so it is ready to eat as soon as you have finished training and you don’t have to wait and try and cook something when you get back.

Cook bigger meals and freeze individual portions so they are readily available.

In a lot of cases you know what you should be eating as an athlete the difficulty is identifying solutions that are going to work for you from a practical stand point It takes effort but the results are worth it.

If you are struggling with sticking to a plan or working out one that is going to fit into your routine then you may want to consider talking with Gavin so he can work with you to identify some workable solutions.