When it comes to hockey nutrition, girls hockey players know that they shouldn’t be eating a Twinkie right before they hit the ice. If you want to become an elite female hockey player, you’ve got to eat healthy and give your body the high quality fuel it needs to perform its best. But does that mean that you can never eat anything “unhealthy” again?

Eating healthy doesn’t mean never eating a Twinkie again. Even the best women’s hockey players in the world eat “junk” every once in a while. I’ll let you in on a little secret – at national team camps, there are always cookies in the training room. Players aren’t in there in between periods scarfing down cookie after cookie. The players know that these are treats that they are able to enjoy because they work so hard each and every day both on and off the ice. These aren’t a critical part of their daily hockey nutrition plan – they are an extra.

I cringe every time I see a girls hockey player eating junk food right before hitting the ice. Whether it is a Twinkie or a bag of chips, all this low-quality fuel is going to do is destroy your on-ice performance if you eat it right beforehand. If you are going to allow yourself to have a treat (and you should every once in a while), make sure that you are timing it properly. If you need to have your treat, have it after your practice or game so that you aren’t on a sugar-high after your donut or feeling sluggish after taking in all of that salt and fat from the potato chips.

I would never tell a young athlete who wants to play at the next level that they can never eat “unhealthy” treats again. In fact, I think it is healthy, from both a nutritional and psychological perspective, to allow yourself the occasional indulgence. Just stay aware of the timing and the reason why you are having the treat (is it just because it is there or because you really want it?).

The key to hockey nutrition is to always think about how the fuel that you take in is going to affect your next activity.

If you are about to hit the ice, eating a pile of sugar, fat and salt will hurt you instead of help you. You are better off to save it for after the game – if at all.

To take your nutrition, and game, to the next level, check out Game Winning Nutrition.

Work Hard. Dream BIG.

~ Coach Kim