Breakfast for Athletes
Content by: Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD
Athletes need balanced, healthy meals. It starts with a healthy breakfast! Learn more...
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Skipping breakfast leads to needless fatigue, trouble concentrating at school and less energy for afternoon sports. Just as it's important to make time for exercise, it’s also necessary to make time for breakfast. Even athletes who want to lose weight should eat a hearty breakfast.
What's best to eat? Any breakfast is better than no breakfast, and some breakfast choices are better than others!
Try these hearty breakfasts for a high energy day:
• Oatmeal cooked in milk with banana and peanut butter.
• Whole wheat bagel with eggs, cheese, and orange juice.
• French toast with vanilla yogurt and applesauce.
• Yogurt, granola, berries and almonds.
Quick Tips!
1. A great breakfast option includes cereal + milk + banana.
2. Cereal offers carbohydrates to fuel the muscles. Enriched and fortified cereals provide iron, a mineral important for carrying oxygen from the lungs to your muscles.
3. Milk provides protein to build and repair muscles, as well as for calcium for strong bones.
4. Fruit provides vitamin C for healing bumps and bruises, along with potassium from sweat loss.
Next Steps!
Eat on the run too often? Eat from a travel mug for breakfast on the run. A simple meal provides important nutrients needed for athletic success.
Everyone needs a little help with maintaining a high quality, balanced diet. Take a look at the MyPlate Meal Planning tool and share.
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