Bodybuilding.com - The Elimidiet For High School Athletes.

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As a high school coach I find that one of the biggest hurdles that I face with my athletes is diet. Most high school athletes have a horrible diet.

By: Intensity Magazine

As a high school coach I find that one of the biggest hurdles that I face with my athletes is diet. Most high school athletes have a horrible diet. The crap that they are served in cafeterias, fast food restaurants or even at home is terrible. The worst part is that the kids don't know any better or they simply don't care. They have been brainwashed into thinking a bagel and a diet Pepsi is the breakfast of champions. The result is what I call skinny-fat kids. They look athletic with clothes on but when they take their shirt off, they have no definition, just an old man gut. This, of course, dramatically hurts our athletic performance, especially when athletes are getting into the 10% and over range in body fat. It costs them tenths of a second in races. And that is too much. So, I decided to do something about it this year.

I made it our goal is to be really strong and lean. Our days of skinny-fat, suburban kids are over. It does not mean that we can't gain weight but we need to gain muscle mass not body fat. I decided to educate my athletes about proper eating. Since I knew that cold turkey would be asking too much and I would have zero compliance, I needed to make a less painful diet. Each week we will decrease something from our diet that shouldn't be there in the first place.

That way it is not so hard. After doing the program for seven weeks, I am noticing a difference in their look and performance. So, here it is.

7 Week Program For High School Athletes

Week 1: no pop, chips, crackers, bagels, muffins
Week 2: No fried foods (French fries, doughnuts, onion rings etc.)
Week 3: No foods with sugar including corn and rice
Week 4: (Hump week) no pizza, hot dogs or restaurant food
Week 5: no white bread, pasta, potatoes
Week 6: no cheese
Week 7: no fruit

You can have 3 bad meals the first 3 weeks, 2 bad meals the next 2 weeks and 1 bad meal the last weeks. So what is left? Since some of their diets consist of entirely of these foods, I gave them a list of some good foods:

Almonds
Apples
Asparagus
Avocados
Beans
Peppers
Berries
Broccoli
Cantaloupe
Celery
Chicken
Cottage Cheese
Crab
Cucumbers
Eggs
Fish
Grapefruit
Honeydew Melon
Kiwi
Lobster
Mussels
Nectarines
Oatmeal (never instant)
Olive Oil
Onions
Peaches
Pears
Pecans
Plums
Shrimp
Soybeans
Tomatoes
Turkey
Yogurt (low sugar)
Oranges
Peanut Butter

Learn The Nutritional Value Of Over 6,200 Foods, Click Here!

The Ideal Daily Meal Plan
With Our Normal Schedule Consists Of The Following.

Pre-workout: 1 cup of oatmeal with a scoop of whey protein
Post workout meal: protein shake with some kool-aid and 3 scoops of protein. This is the most important meal of the day and the only time that you can have sugar after week 3. If you want your muscles to grow, this is the time when you can fuel that growth.
2-3 period snack: protein shake with 2 tbsp of flax seed oil or peanut butter sandwich
Lunch: Type of bird sandwich or 2 with no chips and an apple
Before 9th: snack of fruit and nuts
Post workout meal/dinner: follow rules about what you can have
Pre-bed meal: Protein shake or a bird sandwich, very important

People Who Want To Just Gain Weight:

I tell athletes that the amount of food that they are currently eating is making them the size that they are. And the type of food that you are eating is giving you the composition that you have. So the trick is to systematically add good calories every week.

That may be by adding another scoop of protein or an extra tablespoon of flax oil every week or even additional sandwiches every week. It also helps to eat more at night. You cannot do it just a couple days. I tell them to look at the bigger picture with weekly and monthly caloric intake. It has to be a commitment just like training.