Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner - What Should a Soccer Player Eat?

Goal Soccer Training

It's not rocket science the more green and fresh food you eat, the less inflammation. The more sugar processed foods, more inflammation.

"Inflammation is often the chief reason you feel old, since it produces aching joints, loss of energy, brain fog, memory loss, and much more." - Dr. Frank Lipman

Having a healthy relationship with foodFirst things first, it may feel difficult to even define what a healthy relationship with food looks and feels like. Let’s start there by sharing what healthy relationships with food might be like—as they’re different for everyone.

Having a healthy relationship with food could mean that you enjoy foods that you understand are promoting better health outcomes. For example, recognizing that eating enough protein per day contributes to maintaining lean muscle mass or that eating healthy fats can be good for cardiovascular and brain health.

It can also mean that you feel little to no guilt, shame, or regret around your food choices. That you may be more mindful during the times you do eat, slow down to enjoy the food for what it is. Eating until you’re comfortably full and eating again when you feel physical hunger. Giving yourself open relationships to all foods—not identifying something as clean/dirty or good/bad or on/off limits. Not planning a makeup meal or assigning planned cheat days to binge/overindulge. Focusing on nourishment for the body.

Potential Benefits

In my professional opinion, tracking your food can be a great tool to keep yourself accountable whenever you’re making changes to your eating habits.

It can provide accountability, excitement, motivation, and inspiration.

Potential Challenges

If and when tracking food intake in whatever capacity you are using it, becomes a stress, an obsession, a reward, or it becomes a feeling or an action that holds a lot of emotional weight to it—then you might need to take a break.

Under proper supervision, this can be a great tool for accountability, but if it becomes a stressful action or a compulsion, then it might be negatively impacting your mental wellbeing.

High quality breakfast

I’m not saying to completely abandon the foods on the left or that they are all unhealthy. They can all be added to a healthy diet in moderation, but the combination of all three products leads to a diet very high in simple sugars, low in protein, and low in much needed micronutrients.

Orange juice does contain some great vitamins and minerals, but the lack of fiber turns this into a sugary treat which is treated by your body the same way a soda is treated. Stick to water and get your micronutrients in from actual fruit instead.

In addition, a croissant and cereal aren’t bad for you at all, but it’s not the best choice to make those products the only things you’re eating in the morning. Be sure to add lean sources of protein, healthy fats, and make sure to have some fiber and quality micronutrients in there by consuming fruits and/or veggies.

High quality lunch

Gatorade is great for consumption during training or during games due to the fast dissolving simple sugars, but when consumed at lunch while at school or while sedentary you might as well just be having a soda as the sugars are digested in the exact same way.

Try to also trade highly processed foods like muffins, crackers, white bread for whole, real foods like almonds, fruit, veggies, and whole grain bread.

Finally, supplementing a healthy lunch with a treat like a cookie is great and won’t ruin your healthy lunch. I’d argue it’s better for athletes to have a cookie with a lunch on the right than no cookie and consume the lunch on the left.

Snack time

Naked Juices do contain some great vitamins and minerals, but the lack of fiber turns this into a sugary treat which is treated by your body the same way a soda is treated. Stick to water and get your micronutrients from actual fruit/veggies instead.

In addition, certain granola bars can actually be really healthy, but most are loaded with sugar, preservatives, and low in protein.

Remember, I’m not saying to completely abandon the foods on the left or that they are all unhealthy. I sometimes have chips or crackers as a treat when I’m craving them. They can all be added to a healthy diet in moderation, but the combination of all four products as a snack leads to a diet very high in simple sugars, low in protein, and low in much needed micronutrients.

Food is the most abused drug. Exercise is the most underutilized antidepressant.

High quality dinner

Gatorade is great for consumption during training or during games due to the fast dissolving simple sugars, but when consumed at dinner or while sedentary you might as well just be having a soda as the sugars are digested in the exact same way.

In addition, bread rolls and pasta aren’t bad for you at all, but when that makes up 100% of your dinner then it might not be the best choice. Be sure to add lean sources of protein, healthy fats, like salmon, brown rice, and make sure to have some fiber in there by consuming fruits or veggies.

Finally, if you’re not sensitive to dairy, then adding chocolate milk can be a great way to treat yourself and get some quality protein in as well.

Happy quality eating, Goal Soccer Training Family!