As part of our growing list of content here at LIJSoccer.com we are introducing a weekly feature discussing the importance of good nutrition, not only in terms of how it helps your performance, but how it also contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Want to know what you should eat before a game? After? In the offseason? What about a plan for the right way to eat during those long tournament weekends when you may only have an hour between games?
Be sure to check back each week as our LIJSoccer nutrition expert, Cristina Rivera of Nutrition in Motion gives you all those answers and more. Each week, Cristina will offer a fun nutritional fact that can help you get a better understanding of healthy eating, and twice a month will post more detailed features regarding the best way to lay out a proper nutrition plan for young athletes.
This week’s fun nutritional fact talks about ways to avoid hunger and a lack of energy in the middle of games.
“Do you constantly find yourself getting hungry in the middle of a soccer game or half way through practice? Try eating a meal that contains soluble fiber 3-4 hours before heading out to the field. Foods such as oatmeal, beans, bananas, apples, peaches, and lentils take longer to travel through your digestive system so they keep you full longer (not to mention they are rich in vitamins and minerals needed by athletes). Just be sure to give yourself ample time to digest to avoid any GI distress.”
Cristina Rivera is the President of Nutrition in Motion PC, a registered dietician, and a Board Certified Sports Nutritionist. Her clinical work at the NYU Hospital of Joint Diseases, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Bellevue Hospital has given her a diverse and skilled background in medical nutrition therapy. As a certified specialist is sports dietetics, Cristina has worked with numerous running and triathlon teams to design specific meal plans for athletes during training and on race days. She has also served as a consulting sports nutritionist for the NYU athletic department and currently consults for the Coca-Cola company. Cristina has been featured in Shape, Women’s Running magazine, Women’s Day, and on ESPN.com.