Post Game Nutrition: Are You Chicken?
It’s 7:30 at night, you just finished a girls hockey game and you are so hungry that you are ready to knaw your own arm off. You can’t wait until you get back home to eat, so you stop at the drive-thru instead. So what’s your best fast-food option after your game?
All of the 3 options I showed you are good choices to have after the game as they are all pretty healthy. These are all much better than the deep-fried options that you would find at the rink snack bar.
Although the grilled chicken salad is definitely healthy, it doesn’t have enough calories or carbohydrates in it to help you recover quickly after the game and to give you sustained energy for the next time you hit the ice.
The grilled chicken wrap is a better option because it has more calories and carbohydrates, but the white wrap isn’t a great option because your body treats it like pure sugar and it isn’t going to give you the long-term energy you need to recover properly.
Your best option of these 3 after the game is the grilled chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread (hold the cheese and mayo please). You are going to get the protein your muscles need to recover in the chicken, as well as the complex carbohydrates in the whole wheat bread that you need in order to replenish your energy stores and feel your best for the next game.
So to rank your three chicken options at the drive thru:
#3 = Grilled chicken salad
#2 = Grilled chicken wrap
#1 = Grilled chicken sandwich (on whole wheat – no mayo, no cheese).
What’s your favorite fast-food option after the game? Do you think that you are getting all the calories, carbs and protein you need in order to recover quickly?
For a complete nutrition guide to take your performance to the next level, check out Game-Winning Nutrition here.
~ Coach Kim