Early morning practices can sometimes means scarfing down a banana or a bowl of cereal while the car warms up then heading to the rink, however is that enough food fuel to keep you going?
According to some nutritional resources, those *are* actually a really great ways to start your day.
An active hockey player's diet should consist of carbohydrates (found in cereals) even though they've got a bad rap in recent years. They are the perfect fuel and source of food energy that you can and will burn off during practice or a game.
Carbs can also be found in breads (like having a slice of toast, crackers, a granola bar), vegetables or fruit (dried or in soups or salads), or in dairy products (like milk, yogurt, or even chocolate milk).
Although, you can't survive on those carbohydrates alone, you'll also need to combine them with proteins like nuts or eggs, cheese or milk, and lean cut meat, chicken or fish.
According to The Hockey Source [1], there are six types of nutrients for top performers: Carbohydrates, fat (good fats, like vegetable fats), protein, vitamins, minerals (calcium and iron) and water. Being hydrated is a huge part of staying healthy and fit. Not only does your body need a lot of it during the day, if you're active you're going to be sweating out moisture that you'll need to get back.
Power-Fuel Nutrition [2] also has some great recipe suggestions for meals before or after games and even some snacking options.
Nutrition is a big part of being a good athlete and you'll find that at most hockey schools or programs they'll promote it, just like they would stick handling or shooting.
There are different ways to make sure your body can keep up with your activity, especially for back-to-back games or road trips, so making sure it has the right nutrition is key.
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