Feeding an athletic child!

GymMom · #1 02-02-2009, 11:15 AM

I need help from anyone who has an athletic child. let me give you my DD's background. Abby is a competitive gymnast and we homeschool due to the long drive to gym and the amount of time at the gym. She is 5 1/2 (young for her level of gymnastics) she practices 3 days a week. Mon, wed and Fri. plus a meet on saturdays. Drive to gym is 45 minutes each way. This fall they want to ship her past level 4 onto level 5 which means more practice hours and much harder skills.
she has been very whinny lately. has never been a good eater. i was doing reseach about calorie/nutrition intake of highly active kids and Abby should be getting around 2200 calories a day!!! There is no way she is getting that much! Not counting working out at the gym she is constantly on her head, doing flips, cart-wheels at home. she is already very very lean and muscular. i know muscle burns more calories than fat. there is no telling how much energy she is burning just at home. I am just a person who believes kids need some fat for brain development, growth, puberty etc. I totally think she needs to eat healthy but I need ideas on how to get her to eat this much food a day!!! YIKES, 2200 calories is alot!!!
any ideas would be appreciated!
amy

MonkeyMamma · #2 02-02-2009, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GymMom

I need help from anyone who has an athletic child. let me give you my DD's background. Abby is a competitive gymnast and we homeschool due to the long drive to gym and the amount of time at the gym. She is 5 1/2 (young for her level of gymnastics) she practices 3 days a week. Mon, wed and Fri. plus a meet on saturdays. Drive to gym is 45 minutes each way. This fall they want to ship her past level 4 onto level 5 which means more practice hours and much harder skills.
she has been very whinny lately. has never been a good eater. i was doing reseach about calorie/nutrition intake of highly active kids and Abby should be getting around 2200 calories a day!!! There is no way she is getting that much! Not counting working out at the gym she is constantly on her head, doing flips, cart-wheels at home. she is already very very lean and muscular. i know muscle burns more calories than fat. there is no telling how much energy she is burning just at home. I am just a person who believes kids need some fat for brain development, growth, puberty etc. I totally think she needs to eat healthy but I need ideas on how to get her to eat this much food a day!!! YIKES, 2200 calories is alot!!!
any ideas would be appreciated!
amy

First of all let m ejust say........................WOW

A level 5 at age 5 /12??? What a little talent! I used to coach a gymnastics team so I know a bit about it. She is obviously a natural.

I would suggest looking up a food guide with a calorie count. Go thru the list and pick foods that are high in calories and nutrients and then just offer lot of snacks during the day. Find as many choices possible that she may like. Also maybe protien smoothies she may like.

Samantha dances 10 hours a week and is highly athletic but she eats like a cow so no worries there. Saturday she came home from classes and ate two turkey/swiss sandwiches, one strawberry/banana yogurt, a chocolate cream cookie and a glass of tea. Not long after that she had 3 cupcakes and two helpings of ice cream at her sisters party. For dinner she had 2 overeasy eggs, two breakfast pork chops and a huge helping of homemade hashbrowns. Then a rootbeer float.

She is 12 yrs old, 5'2'' and weighs next to nothing.

DizneeTeachR · #3 02-02-2009, 12:09 PM

I just remember when I played sports before big games our coach would always tell us to eat pasta the night before so we would have the carbs. Lasgna would be a good one to make on like Sunday & have throughout the week as lunch or dinner.

Just a thought.

GymMom · #4 02-02-2009, 12:24 PM

thank you! she loves pasta!

GymMom · #5 02-02-2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkeyMamma

First of all let m ejust say........................WOW

A level 5 at age 5 /12??? What a little talent! I used to coach a gymnastics team so I know a bit about it. She is obviously a natural.

I.

she will be 6 in june and they are very interested in moving her to 5, not sure what my hubby and I will decide is best! but thank you for the help!

kbabe1968 · #6 02-02-2009, 02:47 PM

SHE DOES HAVE A TALENTED DAUGHTER!!!

I have a few of Leah's favorite recipes that I'll email you! We run into the same thing!

GymMom · #7 02-02-2009, 03:00 PM

thans honey! you are so sweet!! email me how the meeting went!!

GymMom · #8 02-02-2009, 03:01 PM

today has gone well after the struggle at breakfast. 1400 calaries, not near the 2200 recommended but not too bad!

kbabe1968 · #9 02-02-2009, 03:43 PM

I just sent you an email...

I can't believe I forgot that Leah loves eggs! She usually has them once a day.

Will Abby eat shakes and that kind of stuff? Drink vs. eat?

I know sometimes Leah will not want to STOP to eat...so I have her on a schedule (right now...b/c of her practices and meets and such)...I try ot make sure she eats every 2 to 2 1/2 hours even if its a shake of some sort.

(forgot to put all that in my email!)

I tried to send you a copy of her beam routine from her last meet too - you'll hve to tell me if it went through.

scottiegazelle · #10 02-04-2009, 05:36 PM

When I ran in high school and college, I rarely ate a big meal but I always grazed. I'm still a grazer. But especially when I was running, I was always eating something. Is she frequently asking for food or complaining of being hungry?

I don't count calories, I am very bad when it comes to nutrition (on my to-learn list), but a few ideas that pop in my head:
- since you are in the car so much, keep some sustainable healthy munchies there. Things like crackers or fruit (make sure you grab stuff after). Bananas were always something I craved while I was running, so you could pack up a banana for her.
- Yogurt, I think, is a decently caloried snack for at home
- Carbs are an awesome idea; the girls at my church are on the swim team and they frequently have a "pasta party" the night before a swim meet. You can make frequent pasta dinners for her to consume in one sitting: spaghetti, lasagna, etc. I have a recipe for chicken spaghetti that is basically spaghetti noodles, cheese, and chicken, 450 for an hour; very easy and a nice change from 'regular' spaghetti.
- My guess is that she should be drinking whole milk rather than slim or 2%. Another way to slip some extra calories into her diet and give her some much-needed fat to burn.
- Make sure, of course, that she is getting enough water as well.

Hope this helps.