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Recent Posts. Not only is intuitive eating for athletics very much possible, IE can also be an incredibly helpful tool for boosting performance. While I am by no means the worlds foremost sports nutrition expert, intuitive eating has been an invaluable tool in my work with athletes and active people in all sorts of different sports, and at different levels.

While athletes often need a bit more structure with food than the average human being, that does not mean that intuitive eating for athletes is not possible.

Intuitive eating teaches you to recognize hunger and fullness cues , and respond accordingly by eating more or less food. When your body is adequately nourished, appetite cues will pretty closely mirror your energy needs, telling you to eat more when your body needs more energy, and eat less when your tank is full.

However, there are two main complications for athletes. One is that athletes often benefit from eating more on certain days, and occasionally less on others, depending on their training schedule. Another is that intense physical activity suppresses hunger cues by reducing levels of ghrelin, a hunger hormone , immediately after exercise.

So how do intuitive eating athletes navigate this seeming dilemma? I remind my clients that intuitive eating is all about bringing together brain knowledge and body knowledge. For example, an athlete might experience very low appetite after training, but also know that their body would benefit from refueling with carbs and protein.

Another example might be intentionally choosing more energy-dense foods on days or in seasons where energy needs are higher. Athletes often need a lot more calories than they expect.

Rather than eating to physical discomfort, working with a dietitian and choosing foods that are higher in calories for the volume of food they supply, or choosing energy dense supplements, can be helping for meeting ones needs. In intuitive eating, there are no good and bad foods.

Where many athletes and people in general! That is absolutely not the case. But think about how runners often use energy gels to fuel their runs. Guess what that is? You see, while sugar may not provide nutrition through vitamins, minerals, or fiber, it does have a purpose nutritionally!

Different foods serve different purposes. While these salad bowls look lovely and fresh and packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber, they might not be the best choice right before a race, as all the raw fiber might lead to bloating and stomach upset, and because these bowls are a bit light on carbs.

Intuitive eating can help athletes improve their relationship with food and their body within the context of their sport. It also makes it easier to transition between different phases of their athletic career, such as in-season, off-season and during extended periods of break such as injury, retirement, pregnancy.

Additionally, it allows them to easily adapt for different food situations, such as traveling, eating out or sharing meals with others. Also, their hunger signals might be reduced by high levels of activity. For these reasons, athletes would also benefit from timed eating and considering their high energy expenditure to help them decide when, what and how much to eat.

This includes the easy, moderate and intense days plates depending on individual needs. Read more about the plate system here! Be flexible with your food choices by choosing from a variety of those you enjoy. For example, an athlete could have two daily floating snacks that they implement sometime before their evening workout — this could be 2 snacks in the afternoon, or one in the morning and one before their training.

The athlete chooses when to eat the snack, and can adapt the timing based on their daily experiences. This allows flexibility with when they eat it, but still benefiting from the pre-workout fueling strategies to help them give their best at their workout!

Pleasure is key to sustainable habits. Consider setting ambiance with favorite music, lighting candles and choosing favorite tableware to make the eating experience more enjoyable.

Prioritize colorful fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains when possible to obtain the essential nutrients you need to support both performance and overall wellness. It is also important to stay well hydrated throughout the day, especially if attending a gathering with alcohol.

In general, using your typical performance plate as your base for a balanced meal and then adding a treat or two will ensure you are consuming the nutrients you need while also giving you the satisfaction necessary for a sustainable nutrition plan.

Leave room for joy on your performance plate by carefully selecting seasonal treats. Many of the foods and beverages you will see at a potluck or family dinner are typically only available during this time of the year.

Opt to enjoy your favorite seasonal treats rather than piling every single seasonal option onto your plate with full abandon. Think about which items will bring you the most joy and satisfaction and stick with modest portions of those foods.

Balancing your indulgences in this way allows you to enjoy your favorite holiday treats in moderation and without overindulging. Mindful eating involves being fully present during your meals, chewing each bite carefully, and savoring your food as well as the company of friends and family to get that additional psychological benefit.

Slowing down while eating, waiting some time before you grab seconds, and avoiding grazing can help you to better gauge your hunger and fullness levels so you can eat to fulfillment without feeling overstuffed later on. A major component of mindful eating is to listen to your body.

This means paying attention to not only how you feel during a meal i. If you notice that certain foods or dishes leave you feeling bloated, sluggish, or uncomfortable later on, consider if you want to continue eating those foods at future gatherings, or consider reducing portions so you can still enjoy them.

Many people will stuff themselves at holiday meals so much so that they are still feeling full and sluggish the following day. Finally, give yourself some grace. If you get to a point where you are over-full and uncomfortable, then use this situation as a lesson for the next event you attend.

This also means that you should not beat yourself up or overcompensate with restriction or overtraining. Simply resume your normal nutrient-dense diet and restart your regular routine activity.

Remember, the holidays are a time for celebration and festivities with loved ones that athletes can partake in, especially while making mindful choices that help support overall well-being.

As you can see, your nutrition approach to the holiday season as an athlete can include all of your favorite treats in moderation without any additional stress or overindulgence. Following these tips and listening to your body can help you successfully stay on top of your nutrition plan so you can achieve your individual performance goals.

LA Galaxy Performance Blog presented by Herbalife. Try it now for free! By using these principles with your clients, you help them learn to reject food rules influenced by diet culture and instead choose when and what to eat based on how their body feels.

Additionally, this framework is meant to act as a guide for your clients to pick and choose which principles apply best to them and their needs. Due to the nature of their respective sports, athletes can be more prone to body dysmorphia and disordered eating due to strict dietary guidelines and certain body image standards.

This can lead to obsessive, unhealthy thoughts around food, as well as an inadequate energy intake. Moreover, restrictive diets are dangerous due to overpromised results. From improved performance to physical appearance, athletes can fall into the trap of manipulating their diet and exercise routine in a negative way to meet the strict guidelines of their respective sports.

This type of dieting has also been shown to increase anxiety and depression, and decrease performance and recovery. Between meal composition, nutrient timing, and macronutrient intake, there is a lot for athletes to consider when it comes to fueling their workouts.

This becomes detrimental to sports performance, as they may not have enough energy to power through a practice, training session, or game. This is where intuitive eating comes into play! As a dietitian, you can utilize intuitive eating principles to help athletes prevent low energy availability and ultimately boost performance.

Studies have shown that intuitive eating leads to benefits such as improved HDL cholesterol, higher body appreciation, increased pleasure from eating, reduced instances of binge and emotional eating, and decreased prevalence of eating disorders, all of which can boost sports performance [4,5,6].

Additionally, research indicates that those who practice intuitive eating tend to have lower BMIs than those who controlled food intake through restrictive diets [7].

You can help athletes intuitively eat by rejecting food rules and figuring out what works best for them. Here are 9 ways that you can implement intuitive eating principles with athletes.

Each workout is different. While a regimented diet plan can work for some athletes, it can actually be restrictive and harm their performance over time since some meal plans may not account for different levels of exercise intensity.

Since macronutrient needs will differ with each workout, you can help athletes determine what foods will help fuel specific exercises, and how they can listen to their body to identify what to eat after a certain workout. All foods fit. By applying some intuitive eating principles, you can help your client maintain balance in food intake and promote a healthy relationship with food.

Treat eating as self-care. Instead of mindlessly eating, you can help athletes learn to treat food as a form of self-care so they can view food as nourishment, not a punishment.

Be flexible. Athletes each have specific nutritional needs, but they can eat intuitively around those needs to find foods that work best for them. For instance, if you suggest that they consume protein with each meal, they can choose the specific type of protein that they enjoy when it comes time to eat it.

Fuel for performance, not for appearance. Unfortunately, we live in an appearance-focused world, which can negatively affect us all including athletes. Redirect mental energy. Thinking about the number of macronutrients consumed during the day or calories burned in a workout can take up extra brain space.

Instead of worrying about a diet plan, athletes can use intuitive eating principles to focus on non-sports-related things such as building relationships, excelling in school, or finding other hobbies.

Utilize the off-season. Certain sports can put pressure on athletes to manipulate their physique during the off-season. While you can implement intuitive eating principles all year long, you can take advantage of this time to help athletes re-establish hunger cues, tune in with their bodies, and reject food rules.

Honor your hunger. Athletes who ignore feelings of hunger or cravings are at risk for under-fueling, disordered eating, and long-term performance issues. As a nutrition professional, you should encourage athletes to eat when they feel hungry and to have them identify those feelings on a hunger-fullness scale.

Embrace change. Since intuitive eating focuses on a relationship with food rather than weight or appearance, it is possible for your client to gain weight, lose weight, or even stay the same. When done correctly, intuitive eating can provide a supportive framework that promotes body respect and improves their relationship with food.

We invited nutrition experts Leslie Bonci and Roberta Anding to provide us with some more information about how dietitians can help athletes improve their relationship with food via intuitive eating. Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, CSSD, LDN, is a registered dietitian, board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, nationally and internationally recognized speaker and co-founder of Performance a sports nutrition consulting company.

Intuitive eating is a flexible style of eating that emphasizes listening to your body and choosing foods accordingly. Athletes can greatly benefit from this method, as it allows them to become more in-tune with their bodies, respect their set weight, allow flexibility in their eating habits, stop obsessing over macros, and improve their relationship with food.

As a dietitian, you can help your clients implement intuitive eating principles by helping them understand how to nourish their bodies and fuel for performance. Our nutrition software can be your sidekick to help your sports athletes clients achieve success!

We are always working toward bringing you the best nutrition content, so we welcome any suggestions or comments you might have!