Why do athletes procrastinate for 6 months before calling for a nutrition appointment?

Posted on 13-10-2015 , by: Nancy Clark , in , 0 Comments

I’ve been a sports nutritionist for 40 years now. During that time, both casual exercisers and competitive athletes have come to fully understand that nutrition offers the winning edge. But nutrition can also be the missing link. Any way you look at it, athletes need food to enhance performance, stay healthy, and healthfully endure this marathon called life.

So why do active people procrastinate for 6 months before making a nutrition appointment to get some food help? There are many reasons why, including—

–“I am embarrassed about my terrible eating habits.”

–“I feel too much shame about my weight.”

–“I’m afraid a dietitian will tell me to stop eating my favorite foods.”

–“I already know what I should eat (and just doesn’t eat it.)”

The problem is, most active people don’t know what they don’t know. For example, if you have never met with a registered sports dietitian (RD CSSD), you don’t know you have overlooked one of the best performance enhancers. You might want to find your local sports RD by using the referral network at www.SCANdpg.org.

No need to feel ashamed, embarrassed, or guilty about admitting you need food-help. This nutrition professional has undoubtedly heard it all before. You will not be the only athlete who struggles to eat a better sports diet or has gained weight when training for a marathon. A sports dietitian can teach you nutrition skills and eating strategies that work far more effectively than relying on your white knuckles and willpower.

Today is as good a time as ever to start eating proactively, to invest in higher energy and better performance, and stock-pile your body with good nutrition to boost your immune function and reduce your risk of getting injured. You will be better-off improving your sports diet now, when you are healthy, rather than in reaction to “bad news”, when you get diagnosed with muscle strains, osteoporosis, heart disease or high blood pressure.

Is it time to let food be thy medicine?

 

Helpful book:

Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook

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