One of the most important factors in weight management is nutrition. Nutrition for weight management in athletes differs significantly from diets recommended for weight loss in obese and sedentary individuals.
It should be emphasized once again that the regulation and weight loss is a complex process that includes nutrition.
The main difference between the nutrition of athletes and nutrition for obesity is the maintenance of high norms of animal protein and the sufficient introduction of carbohydrates in the form of monosaccharides. Restriction of the diet is mainly due to fats, polysaccharides with a decrease in fluid intake.
When regulating weight, the caloric content of nutrition is gradually reduced to 30-45 kcal per 1 kg of body weight of an athlete per day. The composition of the daily diet: 2.4-2.5 g of protein, 1-2 g of fat and 4-4.5 g of carbohydrates (per 1 kg of body weight per day). The norm of fats is reduced even below the indicated figures, but the consumption of vegetable oils remains within 10-15 g per daily ration.
Athletes should approach this reduction in calories gradually. In the first days, it is recommended, with sufficient calorie content of the diet, to reduce the amount of food taken by reducing the portion of the first course (up to 200 g), refusing carbohydrate side dishes (potatoes, cereals, pasta, etc.).
Meals include lean meats, chicken, fresh (lean) fish, cottage cheese, raw vegetables, fruits, sugar, honey. Bread is limited.
Oranges are a very valuable product in the diet when regulating and cutting weight. 100 g of oranges contain 40 mg of vitamin C. An orange (especially in the peel) contains a lot of pectin substances that reduce putrefactive processes, reduce gas formation in the intestines and neutralize harmful substances in the body. A lot of pectin in boiled vegetables (especially beets, carrots). Of the sugars in an orange, monosaccharides (fructose and glucose) predominate.
Apples are also useful, which contain less sugar, but are quite rich in pectin and potassium. Apples are also valuable for normal bowel function.
To prevent constipation in the diet should be enough fiber contained in vegetables and fruits (apples). A valuable help can be the use of up to 100 g of prunes. Kefir also contributes to the normal activity of the intestines (depending on the drinking regime from 100 g to 400 g per day).
How to make the right diet for weight control?
If athletes (especially women) with increased fatty tissue due to constitutional features (gymnasts, divers, etc.) need to reduce weight, the calorie content of the daily diet should be calculated (see above). Then the diet for the next week is determined, taking into account the habits and tastes of the athlete. The diet includes a sufficient amount of vitamins (primarily C and group B).
Sample menu for weight control:
Breakfast: granular caviar – 25 g, butter – 25 g, sugar – 50 g, kefir 150 g, beef fried without garnish – 100 g, tea with lemon – 100 g, bread – 50 g.
Lunch: fresh cabbage salad with apple seasoned with sunflower oil – 100 g, meat broth (strong) – 200 g, fried chicken without garnish – 300 g, mineral water – 100 g, fresh apples – 200 g.
Dinner: cottage cheese with sour cream – 120 g, sugar – 70 g, fresh pike perch without garnish – 100 g, orange – 100 g, tea with lemon – 100 g, bread -50 g.
This diet contains approximately 1800-2000 kcal with a daily ration of about 1.5-1.8 kg. If necessary, very significant adjustments can be made to this diet plan. You can reduce the amount of food by more fluid restriction and changing the set of fruits and vegetables.
The diet for female gymnasts, high jumpers, and water jumpers may have specifics. For these sports, weight management should be more limited in volume and reduced in animal proteins in the diet.
With long-term adherence to a diet with a limited volume and caloric intake, it seems appropriate once every 7-12 days to allow a day of eating according to individual desire (the so-called “turn”). Naturally, in this case, food intake should not turn into gluttony. Such “turns” can be timed to dinner after a steam bath in connection with the end of the next training cycle. This technique allows the athlete to get rid of excessive nervous tension, if necessary, to constantly limit their desires.
Salt-free diet, as well as protein-fat and fat diets in the regulation of weight in sports practice are not widely used. With a salt-free diet, water-salt metabolism is disturbed, which limits the possibilities of sports training. In some cases, it is possible at the first stage of weight regulation with small training loads for 1-2 days to reduce (or eliminate) the intake of table salt with food, while maintaining the amount of water in the same volume. After such a “blurring” of metabolism, they switch to the recommended diet.
If an athlete follows the chosen diet for a long time and this, of course, coincides with training for important competitions, then he must be constantly under the supervision of a doctor and trainer. He must also strictly follow the rules of self-control. Along with the objective data of medical and pedagogical observations, the correctness of the chosen diet will be indicated by, for example, subjective feelings: moderate fatigue after training, quick recovery by the morning of the next day, good health.
The forced weight loss diet is usually prescribed 7-10 days before the start of the competition and is based on the sample menu above. Food can be quite high-calorie; its volume decreases mainly due to the liquid drunk and carbohydrate side dishes.
If an athlete needs to lose 2-3 kg in the last 1-2 days before the competition and he did not limit himself to the previously usual diet, then he needs to reduce the daily ration to 1-1.5 kg, while maintaining an increased protein content (meat, cottage cheese, eggs).