Eat Like an Athlete

by Simone Austin

Have you ever wondered how professional athletes stay strong and fit? How they recover after competition and training, how much water they drink, what they eat, and when? Do you or your kids play local competition sport, or run in marathons or go on long distance bike rides? And would you like to know what you can learn from the nutrition of professionals in the field?

In Eat Like an Athlete, sports dietitian Simone Austin shares practical tips and suggestions on how to boost your energy and performance through nutrition, derived from her years of experience advising advising elite athletes. Simone's hands-on manual allows people of all ages, from weekend warriors to professional players, to give their bodies optimal nourishment for training, competition and recovery.

Eat Like an Athlete covers the role of the important nutrients in the body, discusses the impact of the immune system and addresses questions around liquid intake, food pre- and post training, and nutritional requirements for different age groups. Simone Austin also provides useful advice on how to implement the eating like an athlete lifestyle into everyday life – around the workspace, at home, with friends, while travelling or when eating out. In Eat Like an Athlete, you will get all the info available to professional athletes. Let Simone Austin help you to optimise your performance in the sport and physical activities you enjoy.

256 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2019

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was browsing my local library app last weekend when I saw this book. When I read that the author worked with the Australian Men's Cricket Team through two world cups I was sold. It was indeed a treat to read anecdotes about the cricket team and also to read on nutrition from an Australian author referring to patterns prevalent in Australia.
Now I am no athlete and only aiming for moderate physical activity in my life, so a lot of the food prep and items which are best suited for ppl with rigorous schedules was not very relevant for me. Still I really liked the no nonsense approach and interesting titbits I picked up along the way.

If nutrition is a topic of interest to you, I highly recommend reading this book from a trained dietitian with such a wealth of experience.

Here is some information I have noted as a reminder. I am currently in the process of cleaning up my carb heavy diet and upping the veg and fruit content, hope to use what I learned from the book to end up with something sustainable. Fingers crossed!

- Don't follow any prescriptive diets (it's so tedious) instead monitor how your own body reacts to food, energy levels,what you enjoy and change your diet accordingly. There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to nutrition. Make changes to your diet to keep energy levels steady during the day, maintain energy during exercise, aid in post exercise recovery, body composition etc

- Stop eating when you feel comfortably full. This means you eat with awareness enjoying your meal. Don't stuff yourself or starve.

- Add protein to breakfast as muscle mass is lost when we are inactive.

- Don't go for low carbohydrate diets, instead pick low GI and nutritious carbs

- Australian protein RDI is 0.75-1g per kg of body weight for the average adult. Physical activity plus the right nutrition, equals muscle repair, maintenance and growth.

- Look for protein powders manufactured in Australia under the FSANZ and GMP standards

- Eat the egg yolk, it's full of nutrients. Yaay!

- EVOO is the best oil for cooking as it's stable for home cooking. Look for Australian EVOO. This info was a complete suprise as I have only seen it recommended in salads so far!

- Stay hydrated (your urine should be straw in color). If you are a salty sweater, then consider electrolytes to rehydrate. (Sweat testing is a thing!)

- Your liver can only breakdown about one standard drink per hour. (10g of alcohol = 100ml wine = 250ml beer == 30ml spirits)

- Healthy gut bacteria is important for your immunity

- Be careful when buying almond milk. There might be only a handful of almonds in 1 litre or five almonds per glass, not very beneficial or cheap compared to eating a handful of almonds.

- All vegetables are superfoods.

- Familiarisation is key to enjoying new foods. You have to try a new food item (e.g. tofu) around 10 times before you truly like them.

- Flatulence can be a good sign. (What!!!!) Fermentation of certain food items in your large intestines produce gas but this is good for the bowels and helps protect from bowel disease. Introduce new foods like legumes slowly in your diet to reduce gas discomfort. (But if you have stinky gas it's due to undigested protein, this is not good)

- Half time oranges still recommended. Easy to prepare, provides fluid, sugar and electrolytes. (There are junior sports teams that stopped this practice due to some negative info reg oranges, can't remember what)

- Canned food is fine

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really straightforward and easily digestible book that helped me refine good and healthy eating habits. Not just for athletes! The approach is "what you can include rather than restrict" and is sustainable. Loved it!

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for no-frills, practical nutrition advice and education, this is the book for you.

There are no activated almonds recommended by Simone, she just gives very down-to-earth tips on how to eat healthier, what the various foods are doing to your insides, and how to eat better to get more out of your body. She goes into the science a bit, to educate the everyday person - it's not too sciencey or complicated, just gives you a better understanding of the what and why.

I'm not an athlete myself, just someone who exercises to stay healthy. I read this book after seeing Simone give a talk at a gym, and loving how no-nonsense her advise was. Follow her on instagram for daily tips and suggestions too (https://www.instagram.com/stories/sim...).

[sam howie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is simply straightforward advice to the non-academic reader. Positioning food options positively while focusing on mindful eating with great levels of sincerity. The non-academic nature of the book does leave itself open for criticism, however, Austin's professional experience gives the work a sense of security. For me, it essentially clarified a lot of ideas that I had been compiling for the last few years which, personally, made it an incredibly valuable read.

[Helfren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eating was the most essential part of being any competitor. The power of guts which control the many system of human function, either eating a salty food the day before or the the few hours before the competition, really changes the way human in modern era win against the odds other than his opponents.

[Ivana Nikic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love how practical and easy to read the book is. Great examples used throughout.
The only thing lacking are references. I wish there were some studies referenced to back up the author’s statements.