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Getting some athletes to eat breakfast before a game should be its own Olympic event, right?
In their defense, eating at 5am for a 7am game doesn't necessarily sound appealing to me either.
But, imagine that you jumped in the car to drive to the rink and the "get gas now!" light were on...
depending on how late you're running, you might try to make it, but there'd probably be a whole lot of hoping, wishing, and pleading that you don't run out of gas before you get there.
Playing on an empty stomach is sort of like that.
Likely it's been 8-10 hours since they last ate and now they're expecting their body to be focused, fast, and strong for 90 physical minutes.
Odds are good that they'll be running on fumes long before the clock runs out.
I've heard multiple parents say that their athlete never ate breakfast before morning games, until one time they ate a donut and had one of their best games... so now they have a donut before every game.
To a degree, they're right... any food is better than no food.
But make a small switch and picture what that player's game could look like: even more focused, more endurance, and less chance of burning through energy before the end of the game.
Even though most hotels aren't serving breakfast right now, morning fueling doesn't have to start at the drive-thru.
With a room refrigerator and coffee pot you have game-fueling options. Add a microwave and there's even more!
steel cut oatmeal cups (just add hot water from the coffee maker) and a banana
greek yogurt with granola and berries or banana
small bagel with peanut butter and banana
non-gmo pancake cups (microwave)
scrambled egg (microwave), fruit, and 1/2 bagel
Or, try all of my athletes favorite... breakfast cookies. Easy to customize with whatever you have on hand at home or adjust for allergies.
Still concerned about your reluctant eaters fueling choices? Contact me here for more ideas.