A good friend of mine is very much into training and obviously what conversation always comes up after talking about training is food… or what we all call nutrition because is just sounds better.
This summer we talked a lot about it! Recently he asked what was the food like at the places I coached. My answer was easy…Great! Food is something that always brings people together: weddings, birthdays and holidays are usually always centered around a meal. Every school is different with their meal contracts. Some places let you use outside resources more openly and others only give you a few chances to cater from outside the Universities services. Either way you just have to creative!
If you ate Ruth Chris everyday for 3-4 months you would get sick of it even if you ordered different meals. That’s the challenge getting great tasting quality food that has a high variety. You need to understand most days you eat three meals at the same place! Everywhere I worked we did a fantastic job of keeping things fresh!
I am now going to share with you what weekly menu looks like and things that were done to keep things fresh!
Also the fueling stations are open at all times as well. They are fully stocked with anything you can imagine from salads, sandwiches, protein bars, nuts, trail mix, rice crispy treats, cheez its, granola bars, etc. At these stations there are also memos and instructions on what products are for what athletes.
It is very important to note that usually in the off season and summer I always had group nutrition talks 2 times per month to explain different topics that would benefit the athletes.
To make sure things were fresh we always had theme meals: Disney day, Halloween, Carnival day, Fast and Furious day just to name a few… those themes always came with full decoration and videos. They were always fun days!
This is just a taste of what it is like! The players get Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Monday -Thursday in season and Friday travel players get all the meals while the Development/Non-Travel squad gets breakfast. However most players also had money on there ID card to use for the rest of the day.
The following are in-season meals for a full day and what dinner is on a Sunday after a victory!
Breakfast on a Monday
Scrambled and hand boiled eggs
Omelette Station
Crepes with sweet and Savory
Bacon and chicken sausage
Stuffed Fresh French toast
Baked Diced Potatoes
Grits Station
Breakfast Bar
Toast, bagels,
Assorted Yogurt On bar
Cereal, Waffle Station
Fresh fruit
Lunch on a Monday
Hot Roasted turkey sandwiches
With Provolone and bacon
With Relish Tray
Fresh Fruit
Sorbet and Popsicle’s
Dinner on a Monday
Jerk Chicken
Cajun Tilapia
Pasta with Home made Marinara Sauce
Fried Plantains
Red Beas and Rice
Vegetable medley
Chocolate chip
Salad Bar, Fresh Fruits
Sorbet and Popsicle
This is a Sunday Victory Meal
Snow Crab Legs
Braised Beef
Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Au Gratin Potatoes
Wild Rice Pilaf
Grilled Mixed Squash
Ice Cream
Salad Bar, Fresh Fruits
Sorbet and Popsicle