Contrarian to the world of managed weight loss and gimmicky “fat-free” substitutes many high school athletes struggle to gain needed pounds for respective competitions.
Through the practice of implementing simple high calorie snacks into their daily routine athletes are finding a healthy alternative to weight gain versus the, sometimes controversial, use of over-the-counter supplements such as Whey protein and Createan.
“By simply adding a few high fat content snacks into your diet you can easily add 500 to 1000 calories into a standard controlled diet for athletes,” says Brett Singer, certified sports dietitian for Ironman Sports Medicine Institute.
“Choosing snacks that have high fat content is helpful for weight gain as fat carries more calories per gram than carbohydrates and protein.”
Properly managing your snack intake can be as simple as scheduling around breaks keeping a daily routine.
“Its important that the athletes manage and time their intake to not conflict with their training and competitions,” says Singer.
“High calorie snacks based with high fat content are more for long term weight gain, not for short term energy boosts, which are based more on carbohydrates.”
Good sources of high calorie snacks are nuts and seeds which delivers additional protein along with dairy products such as full fat milk and yogurt which brings added calcium.
When it comes to gaining weight the overlying thought process is you have to consume more calories than you are burning.
For more information on Sport Nutrition and Diets contact Brett Singer MS, RD, CSCS, LD of the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institue of Houston.
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To listen to the full version of Brett Singer’s interview on High Calorie Snacks click the play button