Parents Food and diet ideas for female gymnast

[sara3art]

Hello. My nine year old daughter is all muscle and is constantly hungry. At school, she has a morning snack that can only be fruit, veggies, cheese or yogurt and it isn't filling enough. I focus on high protein, but she is also becoming increasingly picky and just declared she no longer likes chicken. I am looking for ideas and am wondering what others feed their gymnasts for all meals and snacks. Thank you so much.

 

[CuriousCate]

There are several similar posts from the past you can reference. Search "snack ideas" or "protein" and you'll come across some.

My kids eat a good amount of protein with breakfast.
Avocado toast + fried egg
Toast with banana and PB + greek yogurt cup
Collagen powder (we use flavorless vital protein) in a smoothie
Trader Joe's chicken-chili tamale (yep for breakfast)

Lunch is usually eaten the car for my gym kid. It always included fruit and veggies/salad. For protein we usually give one of the following in a Thermos:
Pasta and mini meatballs
Trader Joe's dumplings
TJ's tamale (if not eaten at breakfast)
Indian lentils with brown rice (I buy the yellow precooked lentils from Trader Joes but other brands have similar items)

Our snacks have less protein unless it involves PB. I buy the single serve packets and stick one in her gym bag with a sliced apple or a banana. You could also try something like almonds. We stay away from beef jerkey and "sticks" - my kids end up wasting most of them ever since they got braces.

 

[mrt659]

-Hummus: dip w/ whatever is preferred- pita bread, carrots, pretzels, etc.
-Any combo of meat and pasta in a small thermos
-Leftover taco meat in a thermos, cheese to add
-New Primal beef sticks

While protein is filling and important, don't forgot the large amount of carbs needed.

 

[sara3art]

There are several similar posts from the past you can reference. Search "snack ideas" or "protein" and you'll come across some.

My kids eat a good amount of protein with breakfast.
Avocado toast + fried egg
Toast with banana and PB + greek yogurt cup
Collagen powder (we use flavorless vital protein) in a smoothie
Trader Joe's chicken-chili tamale (yep for breakfast)

Lunch is usually eaten the car for my gym kid. It always included fruit and veggies/salad. For protein we usually give one of the following in a Thermos:
Pasta and mini meatballs
Trader Joe's dumplings
TJ's tamale (if not eaten at breakfast)
Indian lentils with brown rice (I buy the yellow precooked lentils from Trader Joes but other brands have similar items)

Our snacks have less protein unless it involves PB. I buy the single serve packets and stick one in her gym bag with a sliced apple or a banana. You could also try something like almonds. We stay away from beef jerkey and "sticks" - my kids end up wasting most of them ever since they got braces.

Thank you so much for the great ideas!

 

[sara3art]

-Hummus: dip w/ whatever is preferred- pita bread, carrots, pretzels, etc.
-Any combo of meat and pasta in a small thermos
-Leftover taco meat in a thermos, cheese to add
-New Primal beef sticks

While protein is filling and important, don't forgot the large amount of carbs needed.

Thank you so much.

 

[Dahlialover]

Peanut butter and honey spread on a flour tortilla and rolled up. Lunch meat and Swiss geese rolled up. Fruit. Kefir. Lots and lots of granola bars.

 

[WV Gym Mom]

Remember active athletes need lots of carbs too. Honestly, I really let my daughter guide me to what she wants, as she is quite picky and always hungry. For snacks she loves beef sticks, pepperoni, cheese, fruit, sugar snap peas, ham...but also loves mini muffins, pretzels, cheez-its, doritios I give her a mix of healthy and fun and that is what usually works best for her.

 

[Bcgeogirl]

Hello. My nine year old daughter is all muscle and is constantly hungry. At school, she has a morning snack that can only be fruit, veggies, cheese or yogurt and it isn't filling enough. I focus on high protein, but she is also becoming increasingly picky and just declared she no longer likes chicken. I am looking for ideas and am wondering what others feed their gymnasts for all meals and snacks. Thank you so much.

 

[Bcgeogirl]

Hi there. My daughter is the same. She is 11 now. I pack an extra meal for her on practice days to eat before hand. At their ages, I feel, they still really need carbs for development and energy. By mixing protein with carbs it will help to satiate them for a bit longer but from my own experience when I was in competitive sports, they are still going to be hungry.
I try to make sure my daughter eats lots of protein but I allow her to eat as many carbs (within reason) with her protein while making sure there are lots of fibrous proteins along with the rice or potato’s. You can also use whole fibers like brown rice which will help slow down digestion some.

You can also give her protein shake to make sure she still gets enough protein and use things like quinoa which have proteins closest to meat protein. I cook mine with chicken broth and herbs. I have also started making more lentils and chick peas (curries and stews mainly but they can be quite filling) which are a yummy meal served on rice.

This is a tricky age as they are still growing so much. Between sports fees and rising food costs we have to get creative

 

[GYM0M]

J used to keep fun size payday bars in her bag for emergencies when she needed an extra boost when she was young. I also used to put a little apple juice in her water bottle for practice or make apple juice ice.