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Eat like an Olympian
Is yours a win-worthy diet?
The Costco Connection
Warehouses carry a variety of fresh
fruits and vegetables along with other
healthful foods.
body’s physical energy needs, but also keep
athletes mentally alert. “If their mind isn’t
there, their body is useless,” says Guest.
To ensure strict focus and concentration,
Guest recommends brain-healthy snacks
high in omega- 3 fatty acids. A bean burrito
wrap with a heap of salsa; trail mix with walnuts, pumpkin seeds and dried apricots; or
half a whole-grain bagel with light cream
cheese and sockeye salmon are Olympian-quality brain snacks.
Olympians are intentional eaters
Athletes are mindful about what they put
into their bodies, but just because you aren’t
skiing down a mountain at 50 miles per hour
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be intentional
about your eating habits too. “The goal of
good nutrition is health, energy, strength and
good immunity,” says Guest. “Athletes are just
more intense because they have more demands on their [bodies].”
Planning meals and snacks can help you
avoid a midafternoon run to the corner store,
where you’ll surely end up with a less-than-healthful option. C
Lisa Evans is a Toronto-based freelance writer.
Costco member Nanci Guest, a registered
sports dietitian, has been working with
elite athletes for 10 years.
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SHUTTERSTOCK
By Lisa Evans
THE 2014 Winter Olympic Games are upon
us, a time when we get to observe male and
female competitors from all over the world
perform amazing physical feats of strength
and skill. There’s also no greater inspiration to
get in shape than watching the toned phy-
siques of these dedicated athletes.
Toronto-based registered sports dietitian
and Costco member Nanci Guest has been
counseling some of the world’s most elite ath-
letes for more than 10 years. Guest was the
supervising dietitian in the 2010 Vancouver
Olympic Village and most recently worked
with Olympians to prepare them for Sochi.
While our physical abilities may never
land us on the Olympic podium, we mere
mortals can learn some lessons from Olympic
athletes’ eating habits. Guest shares the following tips.
Olympians don’t rely
on supplements
While calcium supplements, for example,
may be appropriate for lactose-intolerant
individuals who can’t get enough calcium
from food sources, Guest says supplements
are too often marketed as a quick fix for
improper nutrition and can be dangerous in
high doses.
Athletes know that too much vitamin C,
for example, can affect how their muscles
adapt to training. (Too much vitamin C
Guest avoids
recommending supplements to anyone, pre-
ferring to counsel on food instead. “A poor
diet plus a supplement is still a poor diet,” she
says. “The best diet is one rooted in real food.”
Olympians fuel their workouts
Many of the athletes Guest works with
train four to seven hours a day. She says the
secret ingredient that fuels their training is
proper nutrition. “You can only train as
intense as the amount of fuel you have in your
system,” says Guest.
For athletes, that fuel is a combination of a
protein, which is essential for muscle growth,
and a carbohydrate, which is the body’s primary source of energy, and practically no fat.
“Fat slows down the absorption of nutrients,”
explains Guest.
Athletes will opt to eat smaller meals
before workouts to help them sustain a higher
level of energy. For the folks who only hit the
gym for an hour or so, great options to fuel a
workout include an apple and a glass of milk,
a banana and a cup of nonfat yogurt, or hum-mus and whole-grain pita slices.
Olympians are picky
restaurant eaters
Even Olympians enjoy eating out, but
Guest says they’re choosy about how food is
prepared. They order grilled fish or steak
instead of fried, and always ask for dressings
and sauces on the side because these can be
high in fat. They also choose
menu items with simpler
ingredients, such as skinless chicken breasts or
plain rice. “Things made
with multiple ingredients
that you can’t separate out
are likely going to be higher
in fat,” says Guest.
Olympians eat
high-quality snacks
While the word “snack” may
have you envisioning chips and
chocolate bars, Guest says what’s in
the snack cupboard of an Olympic-
level athlete is just as nutritious as what’s in the
fridge. Snacks not only help maintain the
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the snack cupboard of an Olympic-
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for your
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