Diet for 100 High School Football Players

[TimRomano]

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.

The local H.S. football coach asked me to come up with a general diet and list of "do's" and "don'ts" for the players during the offseason. The general goal is just becoming bigger, stronger, and faster. They work out Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday after school. The problem is that many of these kids work hard in the weight room but they don't know how to eat and some of them still eat candy bars and fruity cereal.

These kids are going to be taking whey protein, fish oil, and a multi vitamin but no pre-workout or creatine.

I am far from an expert but I came up with some general foods to eat and foods to stay away from and I would appreciate some feedback from any of you guys.

Typical Day:

Breakfast:

7:00 AM
3 Eggs
1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup of blueberries
1 whey protein shake
Multi Vitamin/Fish Oil

10:00 AM
1 Natural peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat
1 banana
1 cup of almonds

1:00 PM
1 piece of grilled chicken
1 cup of almonds

3 PM
Workout

4:30 PM
Post-Workout Whey protein shake with some type of complex carb

6:30 PM Dinner
Lean Meat/Fish
Brown Rice/Sweet Potato
Broccoli/Asparagus

8 PM
Shake with oatmeal, frozen fruit, peanut butter, protein powder, yogurt

10 PM
Cottage Cheese/Milk before bed
Fish Oil

(Drinking about a gallon of water throughout the day)

I plan on recommending that these kids buy GNC's Mega Men Multi mainly because it is time-released. Although GNC is a ripoff, I have heard that this is one superior product and perhaps the only product to buy from GNC. Most other multi's barely get absorbed and 70% of them are urinated out and never used (is this true??)

General Don'ts:

The obvious candy and junk food
Soda
Fruity cereals
White bread
White rice
White potatoes
White pasta

General "Do's":

Oatmeal
Natural Peanut Butter
Sweet Potatoes
Most Nuts and Seeds
Fruits
Most Vegetables (although I've heard veggies like corn have minimal benefits)
Wheat bread
Whole wheat pasta
yogurt (without sugar added)
lean meats
fish
chicken
brown rice

I am far from an expert so I wanted to validate this information and seek out any suggestions here before reporting back to the coach. Any feedback/constructive criticism would be appreciated! Any suggestions??? Thank you and happy holidays!

[kdog1189]

Giving a HS kid any kind of timed, planned meal-by-meal diet is never going to work.

Follow the KISS rule: keep it simple son. Make the dos genereal like "do eat at least 1 times your bodyweight in protein" or even more general "do eat a high protein diet."

HS kids are not like most of the rest of us. They have high running metabolisms and a lot of growth potential. Get them on somewhat of a good GENERAL diet and they will grow. Some of the best HS football players I knew and played with/against in HS did not have great diets.

[PushUp08]

Giving a HS kid any kind of timed, planned meal-by-meal diet is never going to work.

Follow the KISS rule: keep it simple son. Make the dos genereal like "do eat at least 1 times your bodyweight in protein" or even more general "do eat a high protein diet."

HS kids are not like most of the rest of us. They have high running metabolisms and a lot of growth potential. Get them on somewhat of a good GENERAL diet and they will grow. Some of the best HS football players I knew and played with/against in HS did not have great diets.

I agree...I don't think most of the players will understand or appreciate a specific time-based diet. Football players tend to burn a lot of calories with workouts and practice, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to cut carbs/fats. I would stress eating a good breakfast, eating more protein (eggs, meats, etc.) and plenty of carbs (rice, potatoes) without getting too specific.

[2020Wellness]

Come up with a monster shake recipe that will ensure that even if they eat poorly for the majority of their daily meals, they'll get decent macros in each day.

Have them drink two of those shakes per day.

I'll suggest something like:

2 scoops whey
2 cups whole milk
1 serving peanut butter
1 cup dry oats
1 banana
1 shot of olive oil

Two of those per day will get them plenty of proteins, fats, and carbs. Simple, easy, and they'll have fun talking about making and drinking them as well.

Just a thought. 100 kids is way to many to do anything specific with. Gotta be as generalized as possible

[Sediti0n]

The average highschool guy isn't going to be able to follow a strict diet like that.

Just keep it simple. Aim for 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight, .5g of fat her pound of body weight, and fill the rest with carbs. Obviously tell them to eat over matinance.

[WonderPug]

The average highschool guy isn't going to be able to follow a strict diet like that.

Just keep it simple. Aim for 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight, .5g of fat her pound of body weight, and fill the rest with whatever macronutrients they desire.

^ Fixed.

[psychodiver9]

^ Fixed.

2 cups of almonds a day? You realize that is about 1800 calories worth of nuts?

[WonderPug]

^ I don't think you intended to quote me as I made no such comment about almonds.

[Murderfox]

Wouldn't recommend Mega Men multi, crap and cheap sources for vitamins.

Far better and cheaper options out there.

Look into Life Force, ADAM, Anavite (performance based), or OT

[psychodiver9]

^ I don't think you intended to quote me as I made no such comment about almonds.

no i didnt. sorry. i just replied to your post as it was the last one. it was meant for OP's diet plan.

[ErickStevens]

Offensive/Defensive Line = See food diet + Lifting heavy.

[Beech27]

Offensive/Defensive Line = See food diet + Lifting heavy.

This.

They are young, and they are growing. Out and out junk food should probably be limited in some cases, but many of these kids -- provided they're lifting and conditioning -- just need calories.