Nutrition

Here are some nutrition Diets that I found on the web.If you have a better one let me know and i will put it on this page too.

Wrestlers Diet

From USA Wrestling CT added 11/16/06

With the start of every season, there is always renewed interest in nutrition. Whether the focus is on dropping to a lower weight or staying strong through a proper diet, wrestlers always have many questions on what they should eat.

Judy Nelson, Nutrition Coordinator for the United States Olympic Committee helps America’s elite athletes achieve success at the highest levels of competition. USA Wrestling’s coaching staff relies on her expertise on a regular basis. Her suggestions should be high priorities for wrestlers and coaches trying to establish proper nutrition in a daily diet.

Step one: Switch to skim

Switching to skim milk can make a dramatic difference in caloric and fat intake for any individual. In an eight ounce glass of reduced fat 2% milk there is 122 calories with 4.7 grams of fat. In low fat 1% milk, there is 102 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. A wrestler that switches to skim milk takes in 86 calories and .4 grams of fat per eight ounce glass.

Clearly there is a benefit in switching over to skim milk. An eight ounce glass is generally smaller than what most people consume in a sitting these days. So, the benefit can be even further magnified.

Step two: Lots of fruit

In speaking to Ms Nelson about the importance of fruit in a diet, she sees benefits varying from fruit to fruit. “Bananas and oranges are very important because of the Vitamin C they provide. Melons are high in Vitamin A and blueberries are also great.” So, when adding fruit to a diet variety can be an important factor to consider.

Step three: Juice over pop

Pop provides nothing of value to for a wrestler’s body to run off of. There are no nutrients to digest. Further, youthful consumers have gotten hooked on oversized drinks. A wrestler should definitely consider the numbers before they grab a soda. Eight ounces of pop has about 140 calories. The “average” pop serving has increased in size, with many people drinking as much as 24 ounces of pop in one sitting. Using a caloric intake of 4200 calories a day, 24 ounces of pop would be 420 calories or nearly 20 percent of the energy intake for the day. Throw in the fact that it has no nutritional value, coaches and wrestlers should see that fruit juice is a much better beverage to reach for.

Step four: Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes are an easily prepared food that should become a staple in a wrestler’s diet. Don’t forget to eat the skin though. According to Nelson, the baked potato has almost no fat and a minimal amount of sodium with a good supply of complex carbohydrates.

Of course a wrestler’s nutritional training can run afoul if the potato is loaded down with condiments like butter and sour cream. A wrestling secret in eating a potato is adding water to the potato. Wrestlers know that baked potatoes can be dry, so the best thing to do is re-hydrate it. After breaking it open and smashing it with a fork pour a little more water on it and it won’t taste as dry.

Step five: Maintain Variety.

Once again Judy Nelson’s nutritional point is very simple. “No one food has everything a wrestler needs.” Variety in food, even in a specific food group is important. Don’t rely on one food, to supply all of the vitamins and nutrients needed for day to day health. Remove the junk from the diet, but maintain variety.

Step six: Lots of water.

Staying properly hydrated is difficult for the average person. For an active athlete it can be very hard to stay hydrated without a conscious effort. Nelson offers that fluid needs can be estimated at 1 milliliter per calorie. So in a 3000 calorie a day diet an individual would need to three liters of fluid.

Generally speaking water is overlooked as an important part of good nutrition. One old standard is 64 ounces of water consumption a day. Although Nelson states that this is not very scientific, it is probably well above what most wrestlers are consuming daily. Clearly wrestlers work hard and perspire significantly so wrestlers should work to replace the lost fluid. Water replacement is a critical part of a nutritional plan for a wrestler.

Step seven: The secret of egg whites

Wrestlers need to understand where hunger pains come from. Foods that are high in sugar, for example, are broken down quickly after consumption. So, while a candy bar might taste good, its satisfaction is limited because it is broken down before other foods that contain higher amounts of protein.

If wrestlers want to maintain a fuller feeling for a longer duration they need to look to having a diet with good protein. Egg whites are a common source of quality protein. Additionally, egg whites contain no fat. Throw the yolk away, that’s a whole other topic.

Wrestlers can prepare egg whites easily by boiling up a dozen eggs and storing them in the refrigerator. Egg whites contain about 3.5 grams of protein each. Encourage wrestlers to make use of this source of protein.

Step eight: High fiber is highly important

Again variety is certainly important for wrestlers focusing on proper nutrition. Fiber is one part of a good daily diet. Judy Nelson encourages wrestlers to make a high fiber cereal part of their daily food consumption. Cereals like All Bran and breads can be good sources of fiber. In checking the nutrition panel on cereal or bread try to find a product that has at least three grams of fiber per serving. Don’t be deceived by the packaging or the name, make sure to check the nutritional outline.

Step Nine: Don’t rely on meat

Protein is a highly important element for good nutrition for athletes. But a person does not have to rely only on meat to get good sources of protein. There are many soy -based products and dairy products that can work just as well as red meat does for protein. Wrestlers should consider trying legumes such as black beans and pinto beans as protein sources. Again variety can help in nutrition and make it easier to maintain a positive outlook when a person watches what they eat.

Step Ten: Plan for after the weigh-in

Wrestlers after making weight need to focus on foods that will help recover and won’t adversely effect performance. Foods with fat are definitely slower digesting. Carbohydrates can be easier on a wrestler’s stomach. Foods like applesauce, crackers, and cereal can be easily digested and aid in recovery. After making weight don’t let a lapse in judgement effect your performance, plan ahead and shoot for smaller portions spread throughout the tournament day.

Reaching a high level of achievement requires mental focus on all aspects of a wrestler’s performance. Proper nutrition can be an area that can really help a wrestler attain their goals. Of course being a wrestler, in a junk food culture will hold anyone back. So, please take the ten simple suggestions to heart. Make use of the same nutritional training that athletes in the Olympics rely on.

dakotagrappler.com 11/16/06

To get a rough estimate of how many calories you need in a day, take your weight and multiply by 17. (This is for very active people, such as wrestlers). A 140 wrestler needs 2380 calories to maintain his weight, less to lose weight and more to gain weight. Now take a look below to find out what foods you should eat to get those calories. Calories and grams of fat per serving for most foods can be read from their Nutrition Information label. If you need Nutrition Information for a certain food, including eggs, meat, and other things that don't usually have these labels, go to the USDA Food Database and enter it in their search engine.

NCAA - Nutritional Information and Weight Management Rules Education for Wrestlers added 1/7/2002

Sport requirements: Wrestling requires speed, strength and agility. The primary energy source is the anaerobic energy system. The aerobic system also is used.

Tips : To keep your speed and power throughout a match, you need to keep your fuel reserves high. Drinking a carbohydrate fluid-replacement drink will help you achieve this goal. Eating consistent meals will help you avoid weight cutting by maintaining your weight.

Breakfast: Don't skip breakfast, or you'll start your day at a deficit. You will feel sluggish most of the day, which may affect your practice. Breakfast will boost your metabolism and fuel you throughout the day.

Pre-competition: For pre-competition snacks and meals, choose primarily carbohydrates. A little fat and protein are fine, but high-fat meals do not digest quickly or easily and can leave you feeling sluggish. If you are eating a carbohydrate meal, allow three to five hours for a large meal to digest and two to three hours for a smaller meal to digest. Try to eat three to four servings of foods that each containing approximately 15 grams of carbohydrates. Eat foods that will digest easily. Nerves may make it more difficult to digest pre-competition meals. Try these foods before practice before eating them prior to competition.

Competition: Drink a carbohydrate fluid-replacement drink between matches to keep your energy levels up. In an all-day tournament, try to have snacks or small meals around to keep yourself fueled for the entire day. Try to eat within two hours after competition. This will allow you to refuel your energy sources quickly.

Post-competition and practice: To recover from practice every day, you need to refuel your reserves. Eating high-carbohydrate foods within two hours after practice is the best refueling tactic. Try to eat 0.3 to 0.5 grams of carbohydrates for each pound of your body weight. This will keep you fueled and ready to go on competition days.

Sample Diet's

Drink up: Drinking fluids is important for wrestling. The fast movement of the match will cause you to sweat a great deal. If you do not drink enough, you will lose speed and coordination.

Do not wait until you are thirsty to begin drinking. If you only drink when you are thirsty you will replace just 50 percent to 70 of your body's needs.
Try to drink 4 to 6 ounces of fluids every 15 minutes during exercise to stay well-hydrated.
For every pound of body weight lost when exercising, drink 2 cups of fluids.
Avoid beverages containing caffeine -- they may have a diuretic effect, which can lead to dehydration.
Fluid requirements: Basketball players should drink 1 milliliter of fluid per calorie consumed to maintain average fluid levels. For example, with a 3000 calorie diet, drink 3000 milliliters of fluids (30 milliliters = 1 ounce). To calculate into ounces: Divide 3000 milliliters by 30 = 100 ounces of fluids.

This is probably the question I have been asked most often by athletes. Although an important consideration, I usually encourage athletes to look not only at what they are eating before exercise but what they eat afterwards, to promote recovery and what they eat all the time to support their training.

In most sports, what is consumed immediately before exercise is not going to be a major source of energy for the exercise session. More important goals for the pre-exercise meal are preventing hunger before and during the event, topping up muscle (a little) and liver (mostly) glycogen or energy stores, ensuring an adequate blood sugar level, supplying food that is quickly and easily digested and maximizing fluid levels, especially if dehydration risk is high during exercise.

Pre-exercise meals should have a high carbohydrate content. Roughly 65 to 70 percent of the calories in the meal should come from carbohydrate foods like vegetables, fruit, bread, cereals, rice or other grain products. The meal should contain a small amount of protein (no more than 15 percent of calories) and little or no fat. Fat takes longer to digest and uses more energy in the process. If time is of the essence, pre-exercise meals should also be reasonably low in fibre so they can be digested more readily.

If high-sugar foods are to be consumes, they should either be eaten within about five to ten minutes of the exercise session or forty-five minutes or longer before. Otherwise an undesirable rise in insulin levels followed by a drop in blood sugar and energy can occur.

Eating something familiar is a critical issue before an important competition. This is not the time to experiment with a new energy bar or spicy bean burritos if these are not items you normally eat and are used to digesting.

The most important issue in pre-exercise eating is how much time you have between your meal and the start of your exercise session. It takes about three to four hours for a large meal (about 1,000-1,500 calories) to be digested. This is why a hockey player would eat his or her dinner by about 4 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game start. A smaller meal like lunch, about 600 calories, takes about two to three hours to be digested and turned into energy. One hour is adequate for a liquid meal or snack under about 300 calories. The hockey player mentioned above may choose to have a snack at about 6 p.m. to top up energy.

I’ve given you some examples of pre-exercise meals broken down by time frame. If you have one hour or less:

A shake made of soft tofu, fruit and juice
A shake made of yogurt, fruit and juice
Yogurt and a bagel or piece of bread
Fruit or juice
An energy bar
Small piece of vegetable-based pizza
If you have two to three hours or more:

Cereal, milk and a piece of fruit
Pasta, vegetables and a lean meat sauce
Vegetables, rice and fish or chicken
A turkey and vegetable sandwich
Vegetable-bean soup, crackers and milk
If one of the goals of your exercise program is to maximize fat loss, aim to allow at least one hour between eating and the start of your exercise session. If you are working out first thing in the morning and can’t eat a whole meal, have a small snack like a piece of fruit, yogurt or juice and eat your breakfast meal after the session.

The Bottom Line
Almost more important than what you eat before exercising is how much time you have. Experiment with different foods and the timing of eating before exercise to determine what works best for you.

Action Tip
A light, easy-to-digest carbohydrate snack is the best pre-exercise option.

Hazards: Restricting fluids and food to avoid weight cutting is the main hazard in wrestling.

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