Tennis Tips….Recipes for success: eat healthy!

I am going to do something I have wanted to do for a long time and share some tennis tips with all you tennis addicts(and I am definitely one!)
Tennis is a wonderful game in the sense that you can play it all life long and even though physical health may deteriorate one can still work at improving one’s game.
Diet we all know is important to health and how it can affect your game.
Always eat breakfast which should contain at least 25% protein along with some carbs and fats.
I recommend whole grain pancakes with raisins, eggs, meusli like Alpen if you can find it, warm tea.Also a handful of nuts such as almonds provides long lasting energy and micronutrients in the form of minerals. Avoid cold milk and juice your body has to work hard to warm this up and a cold start to your day is very hard on your stomach.
Obviously, pop and soda such as coca cola should be avoided as they contain lots of calories but no real nutrition. We all know that.Juices I don’t recommend unless they are freshly squeezed and at room temperature. Avoid ice in drinks it is a load of cold in your stomach and your body has to work hard to warm it up.
In a long match make sure you have a healthy snack with you. Bananas are popular but they are very high in carbs a better option is trail mix with seeds, nuts and a little dried fruit. It will sustain you and why lose a match because you didn’t pack a snack and I have seen it happen especially amongst juniors who need those calories. Athletes need high quality food and a peanut butter sandwich with jam is NOT enough, I’m sorry.
Food for lunch: warm again if possible like soup, split pea, lentil or chile con carne or a beef stew with lentils hidden in the stew tastes great!
Other options for lunch are whole grain sandwiches using avocado as a spread instead of mayo or butter(although butter is okay) cheese with ham tomato and onion.
Eat supper early, chicken beef fish with veggies is good.
For female athletes warm foods are very important to prevent menstrual problems and suffient iron in the diet to prevent iron deficiency anemia which will wreak havoc with fitness and performance.
If you have to take an iron supplement then make sure you top up your vitamin E as iron in supplement form can deplete your Vitamin E levels.
It is absolutely essential to eat reagularly and always have a snack prepared for that long match you didn’t expect.