Maintaining Weight: The Athlete's Struggle

As an athlete and somebody who lives with 5 other athletes there is constant discussion in our room about how to maintain weight while eating from the dining hall. All of us have different strategies because our bodies react in different ways. However we all have a need to maintain our weight and strength so that we can perform at our best in our given sports. When asked my roommates Ben and Q  both offered similar answers to how they maintain weight. “For me it’s all about consuming as many calories as I can, I look for things like burgers, fries and ice cream because it allows me to get the most calories at once”. For them this strategy works wonders as they have naturally fast metabolisms and the options for calorie rich foods in chase are few and far between.

Myself as well as my roommates Tim and Tommy have a much different strategy. We cannot go for these more empty calories because even though we are exercising as much as we are we will not burn these excess calories off. Rather we like to stick to a plan of consuming larger portions of healthier foods. Things such as spinach, chicken, peanut butter, and wheat bread.

These differing strategies come from differing needs that result in  performance. One of the biggest things I have learned in my almost 4 years of eating chase is that you need to find the best foods for you. I have had four basketball seasons here at Wheaton and have attempted to tweak my diet each year to try and maximize my results and each year I find a new trick at chase that helps me to maintain my weight and my strength.