I would guess that the majority of girls hockey players are not taking in enough high-quality fuel to give them the energy they need to perform on and off the ice.

When I was 13 years old, I was taking in more than enough calories to fuel my on-ice performance, but none of it was high quality fuel.

When I was in junior high school, my sports schedule looked like this:

-> Basketball practice before school
-> Gym class
-> Soccer practice after school
-> Hockey game at night

This is still very common among girls hockey players who participate in multiple sports. With the amount of energy I was using on a daily basis, I probably needed to take in about 3,000-3,500 calories per day. I am pretty sure I was taking in the right quantity of fuel, but I definitely wasn’t taking in quality fuel.

In grade 7 and 8, I ate McDonald’s for lunch each and every day! I still can’t believe I did it, but I consumed a McDiet up until I went to high school. It wasn’t like I was going home at night and eating salads and fruit either. It was junk food all the time for me and I never thought it was a bad thing – I just knew I enjoyed it, so I kept eating it.

The ironic thing is that my McDiet actually helped me to take in all of the calories I needed to fuel my hectic sports schedule. Unfortunately, all of this fuel was low quality and wasn’t used effectively by my body for energy. The amount of sugar, salt and fat I took in every day only made me tired.

It wasn’t until I went to high school that I realized that my McDiet was harming my on-ice performance. I wasn’t too concerned about body image at that point – I just wanted to be healthier so that I could play better on the ice.

I started eating more fruit, more vegetables (which wasn’t hard since I basically ate none before) and avoided sugary drinks. I quickly went from a fast-food diet to a much healthier diet and I felt much better…for a little while.

Within a few weeks of quitting the McDiet cold-turkey, I found that I was still tired all the time. This time it wasn’t because of all the fat, sugar and salt, it was because I wasn’t taken in enough fuel for the amount of activity I was doing on a daily basis. I was eating the right food, I just wasn’t eating enough of it.

I can’t tell you how many calories you need to take in daily. Every female hockey player is going to be different based on their size and their age. My advice is to keep these two things in mind:

1) Are you taking in high-quality fuel?
2) If so, are you getting enough of that fuel to keep your energy high?

Write down what you are eating for the next few days and track what your energy levels are like as well. You might be surprised how closely related the fuel you take in and the energy you have to put out are.

For a nutrition plan that is specifically designed for female athletes, check out Game Winning Nutrition.

Work Hard. Dream BIG.

~ Coach Kim