Helping them eat like gold-medal winners
Olympic dietitian talks about what to have for breakfast and how to snack on the road
Catherine Naulleau is an Olympian’s best friend or worst nightmare.
She’s the woman who advises Canada’s Olympic athletes on what to eat, how much and when. She knows if they skipped breakfast, forgot an after-workout snack or are trying to cut weight dangerously, and even knows the colour of their urine.
There’s no escaping her — she’s going to Rio.
The Star spoke with Montreal-based Naulleau, a registered dietitian and sports nutritionist for the Canadian Olympic Committee, to talk protein, pee and poutine — and how regular folks can incorporate Olympic-level eating habits into their own lives — as she preps Canada’s top athletes for the August games.
On breakfast blunders
Athletes are notoriously bad for skipping breakfast, said Naulleau.
“They have early training, they wake up at the last minute because they went to bed too late and they don’t take their best meal of the day,” she said. She warms athletes up to the prospect of breakfast by recommending they start with toast and almond butter or almond butter and a banana wrapped in a tortilla. Those are easy-to-prepare protein-packed options that’ll keep an athlete full through a morning workout.
For regular folks: “Everybody needs to have protein,” said Naulleau. Eggs and cheese are other options that pack a protein punch.
On recovering the right way
Forgetting to pack snacks — trivial as it sounds — is one of the worst missteps an athlete in training can make.
“They forget to bring a (post-workout) snack, and then it takes them an hour to go home and then they’re starving,” said Naulleau. “They would eat the walls if they could.” She recommends athletes eat two to three snacks per day to help with muscle recovery and stave off hunger. The snacks should be a combined source of protein, high fibre and carbohydrates. Almonds, chocolate milk and bananas are all good options, she said.
For regular folks: Similar snacks after a workout are a good option.
On paying attention to pee
An average person needs between two and three litres of water per day. On top of that, an athlete needs roughly 500 to 700 millilitres of additional water per hour of training, said Naulleau. She also recommends drinking a sports beverage or diluting juice in water if the athlete is working out for longer than an hour and a half, as glycogen stores in the muscles and liver are not sufficient to cover the length of training. Sports drinks also help restore electrolytes in endurance athletes and those training in the heat, she said.
The best method of gauging hydration levels? “When you pee, you just look at the colour. If it’s dark, then OK, even if you had your 3 litres plus your two bottles, it’s probably not enough,” she said.
For regular folks: Hydration matters, but if you find yourself running to the washroom all day, cut back on the water intake, as you’re likely consuming more water than your body can handle. (If you suspect there’s something more serious going on — for instance, you feel like you need to go to the washroom all the time — see a doctor.)
On eating on the road
When travelling, Naulleau advises all athletes to pack food they’re already familiar with, such as protein powder, energy bars and nuts.
“They usually complain it’s too heavy,” said Naulleau. “But they fly with super elite status, so there’s no excuse — they can bring three suitcases.” These go-to foods will help keep athletes’ diets on track when they might not have control over the food available to them, she said.
For regular folks: To stick to a healthful diet, travel with light foods that are rich in protein, carbs and fibre. Good options include fig bars, energy bars, fruit bars, dried mangoes and almond butter. On cutting weight Wrestlers and boxers have the unenviable — and sometimes dangerous — task of cutting weight before competition weigh-ins. “Some will want to go in the sauna, some will want to bike covered in clothes, others want to stop drinking,” said Naulleau.
To make sure her athletes stay healthy, Naulleau starts monitoring them five to six weeks before a competition. The week before a weigh-in, Naulleau advises athletes to safely cut back on foods, reducing fibre and vegetables. Twenty-four hours before a weigh-in, athletes restrict water intake and graze on snacks such as apple sauce and granola bars, she said. But if cutting weight proves too difficult, she advises athletes just move up a weight class.
For regular folks: Put simply, don’t do the above if you’re trying to shed weight, as it’s not sustainable, not healthy.
Naulleau advises people concerned about their diet to focus on eating vegetables (low in calories and high in nutrients), protein (20 g on average) and good fats at each meal. On calorie counting Athletes performing a medium-intensity training session lasting one or two hours typically need to consume 35 to 40 calories per kilogram of body weight per day, said Naulleau. If they’re training at a higher intensity, they’ll need more calories.
For regular folks: A mostly sedentary person with a normal body weight and BMI needs around 30 to 33 calories per kilogram of body weight per day, said Naulleau.