How would your diet plan for a football player differ from that of a marathon runner?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Athletes need varying amounts of food energy, depending on their body size, their body composition, and the type of training or competition. A petite gymnast may need only 1800 kcal/day to sustain normal daily activities without losing body weight; a tall, muscular swimmer may need 4000 kcal/day. If an athlete experiences daily fatigue and/or weight loss, the first consideration should be whether that person is consuming enough food. Up to 6 meals per day may be needed, including 1 before each workout.

Monitoring body weight is an easy way to assess the adequacy of calorie intake. Athletes should strive to maintain weight during competition and training. Generally, if athletes are losing weight, then energy intake is inadequate; however, if athletes are gaining weight, then energy intake is too high. If an athlete needs to lose weight, his or her food intake should be lowered by 200 to 500 kcal per day. This slight reduction will allow the athlete to continue to train and compete yet will create a calorie deficit so that weight loss can be achieved. Reducing fat intake is the best way to cut calories and not affect performance. On the other hand, if an athlete needs to gain weight, increasing food intake by 500 to 700 kcal/ day will eventually achieve that goal. The extra calories should come from a healthy balance of carbohydrate, protein, and fat; exercise needs to be maintained to make sure this gain is mostly in the form of lean muscle mass.

In general, both athletes should focus on clean unprocessed foods.  The calorie levels would depend on weight goals and current status.  The football player (focusing on strength), would require a high calorie load, with focus on 1-1.7g/kg protein, while the marathoner would focus on 1.7g/kg protein with a very high carbohydrate intake as well.