Every morning, one piece of athlete nutrition arrives in The Huddle. Not an article. Not a plan you have to follow. One thing worth knowing and one thing to do with it today.
It is written for a school day, a bag packed at seven, a match on Saturday and a household budget. Nobody here is cooking from a laboratory protocol.
Under a minute to read, which is why people keep reading it
Everyday food, not a supplement aisle
Reviewed and approved by a board certified sports dietitian before it publishes
Questions go in the thread, and get answered in a later post
The best nutrition advice is the kind a fifteen year old will actually follow.
Today's post
One idea.One fact. One action.
Day 1 of 90Posted 7:30 am ET
Why Your Pre-Game Meal Is Your Secret Weapon
Core message
Eating a meal 2-3 hours before competition optimizes energy without GI distress
Athlete fact
Athletes who skip pre-game meals can lose up to 12% of endurance capacity
Today's action
Eat a carb-rich, low-fat meal 2-3 hours before your next session
Reviewed by Kristen Hamilton, DCN, RDN, CSSD, Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, SiSu Systems
Ninety days of posts, one a day, then the cycle begins again. Every post has the same three parts, so you always know what you are reading and what you are meant to do with it.
Before you eat anything
Buildyour plate.
A short, free self assessment that tells you which plate fits today's training, rather than a general instruction to eat healthily. A few questions about your sport and how hard and how long you trained, and you get back a specific breakdown of carbohydrate, protein, color and fluid for that day, with real food examples you can act on straight away.
Use it the morning of a big game, the night before a tournament, or on an ordinary Tuesday to stop guessing what eating right actually means for an athlete.
Built by Kristen Hamilton, DCN, RDN, CSSD, of SiSu Systems. About two minutes, no login.
Kristen has spent two decades working with athletes on performance and recovery nutrition, using an individualised, non diet approach. She reviews and approves every Training Table post before it goes live, with age appropriate review on anything written for an athlete under eighteen.
SiSu Systems is in network with Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Anthem BCBS, Aetna and Sentara, for athletes and families who want individual nutrition support beyond the daily post.
The nutrition library
Seven one page guides.Yours to keep.
Written by Kristen and SiSu Systems, free to download, no membership needed. One page each, because a nutrition guide nobody finishes helps nobody.
Foundations
Sports Nutrition 101
The four foundations of performance eating: fuelling consistently, building complete meals, matching food to timing, and recovering on purpose.
The content has a shape, so nothing gets covered twice and nothing important gets missed. Over a season it adds up to a real education rather than a stream of tips.
01Performance fuelling
What to eat before it matters, and how far ahead.
02Recovery
The hours after training, and why they are easy to waste.
03Clear head
The connection between eating well and handling pressure.
04Sleep and rest
What helps you sleep, and what quietly does not.
05Weekend prep
Tournament days, early starts and long drives.
06Simple wins
One small habit, the kind that survives a busy week.
07Week ahead
Getting ready for a heavy week without a full meal prep.
Ninety posts in the current cycle, covering all seven. The whole archive is searchable inside The Huddle.
What we will not do
The rules thiscontent is written under.
Plenty of young athletes eat too little for the training they are doing, and the effects turn up as mood, sleep and injury long before they turn up on a scale. Daily nutrition content aimed at that audience can do real harm if it is written carelessly, so the standards are fixed before anything is written and they are not negotiable for the sake of a good headline.
Never weight loss focused
Never framed around restriction, cutting or earning food
Always framed around performance and recovery
Reviewed and approved by Kristen Hamilton, DCN, RDN, CSSD before publishing
Extra review on anything a thirteen year old will read
No supplement promotion, and no brand deals in the daily post
The goal is not a perfect diet. It is an athlete with enough in the tank to be themselves.
For college athletes
My CollegeKitchen.
Real food, a busy schedule and a college budget.
The jump to college changes everything about how an athlete eats. New schedule, new budget, and nobody packing the fridge any more. My College Kitchen is built for that transition: practical recipes and evidence based guidance made for dorm kitchens, dining halls and student money.
