You’re 2 Habits Away from the Perfect Diet

Ok, probably not, but you’ll be a lot closer!

There is no “perfect” diet. Let me start there so that if someone tries to roast me, at least you’ll know that they didn’t even read the first sentence. While there isn’t a perfect diet, even for athletes, there is probably an “ideal” diet that’s good for most.

Obviously, it will vary from athlete to athlete based on different factors, but we can assume there is a way to eat that will help maximize performance and a way that will be detrimental to it.

I saw this tweet back in 2017 and it’s stuck with me for the last 5 years.

I think you can apply it to pretty much any part of your life, but for young athletes, I think one of the biggest areas is the way that you eat. If you’re reading this, I believe that you are two nutritional habits away from taking your game to the next level: one that you need to start and one that you have to stop.

Nutritional Habits You Need to Start

Eat Breakfast — Many of the programs we run are before school and from my personal observations, from just a show of hands, about 40% of those athletes are eating something before that workout and maybe another 10–15% have something to eat after.

Again, this is not a perfect assessment, but that means that nearly half of the athletes I work with in the mornings, train at PC, go to their sport practice, and will not have eaten anything between dinner the night before and lunch that day. 🤯

Drink More Water — Everybody tends to think they’re drinking enough water, but no one knows for sure because they aren’t tracking it. If you don’t have a plan in place to consume half your body weight in ounces of water each day, you likely aren’t. Not only is water critical for every major bodily function, but you’re also missing a great opportunity to gain an edge over your competition.

Plan Quality Snacks for School — I’ve coached in the public school setting for 16 years. I walk past the vending machine nearly every day. There ain’t much quality in there. You are going to need to plan this.

One great resource I’ve found lately is Wendy Irlbeck. You can find her on Instagram or Twitter or TikTok or really anywhere! She puts out some really awesome content for young athletes.

Nutritional Habits You Have to Stop

Eating Junk — If you have to ask, “is this good for me?” chances are, it probably isn’t. We don’t have to get too scientific with it. Try to eliminate the bad things you’re eating. Now, you don’t have to do it completely. Still enjoy those things from time to time, but if you’re consuming a soda and a bag of chips daily, maybe cut that to just a couple of times a week. If you find yourself having to hit the drive-thru to grab a quick dinner after a late practice, maybe aim for Chipotle or Jason’s Deli instead.

Relying on Supplements — They are called “supplements” for a reason. They are to SUPPLEMENT a solid diet. They should not be a necessity. If the only way you’re getting protein is in a shake, you should probably reevaluate your meals. If you need two scoops of rocket fuel to get through a workout, you need to take a good long look at what you’re putting in your body each day.

Avoiding Carbohydrates —Your diet should look like that of an athlete! Carbs don’t make you fat. They do, however, give you the energy you need to compete at a high level and recover well. Your parents may be cutting carbs to drop a few pounds after the holidays, but that’s not what you need. Choose quality carbs, time them right (around your training) and you’ll be just fine.

Obviously, the list can go on, but let me challenge you to take a look at your daily habits when it comes to your diet and just change two of them. That’s not asking too much of you and I promise it will pay you back.

Plus, the great thing about habits is that once they become just that, habits, you can work to change to a couple more without having to worry about adding more to your plate (pun very much intended) on top of the other changes.

Get after it. Add one positive habit and remove one negative habit.

You can do that!

And I bet it will be really easy once you start to see your performance go to a new level.