Hey everyone,
This is kind of a long post, so please bare with me and thanks in advance for your time and constructive input. I’m new here but not entirely new to physical training - I lifted weights and read T-Nation and men’s health forums religiously since my jr year in high school for about 4 years when my focus shifted to soccer fitness. I admit that I haven’t visited these forums since moving out for college a couple years ago.
So here’s the thick of it:
I need some help figuring out again what foods I should be eating and when on a daily schedule that affords proper nutrition for my sport and it’s game/training schedule. Additionally, I am a full-time student in college (majoring in Biomedical Engineering), so I need to work around a college student’s budget.
My sport is soccer - I play the striker position or midfielder position in a very competitive league: Major Division adult men’s based in the Coast Soccer League (1 step below the premier league or about 2 below the MLS). In official games, I typically play 60-75 minutes of actual playtime out of the 90 min game. My off-time being when I am subbed out for rest.
I made it onto the team in October and have played well with them - the problem has been my diet and nutrition. I’ve never played or trained at this level before, and it’s obviously very demanding. I don’t really have a set diet at the moment except I eat clean foods only (I have maybe 3 cheat days/month, usually Chipotle).
I have started an intense conditioning training 2 weeks ago in addition to normal games/practice…and since then my body has been completely drained of energy at times and I feel that I haven’t been loading it right or eating correctly for recovery. I’m used to controlling my diet in a less demanding way of soccer, and I used to bodybuild in the gym a few years ago but those nutrition plans are very different from my needs now and I’m lost.
My soccer schedule:
Typically a full 90min League game every Sunday morning/afternoon, a 90-120 min scrimmage game every Tuesday night. During the morning/afternoon on Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Friday I have conditioning training and/or technical training (skill work, ball control, shooting, etc). The conditioning training exercises vary every day, but typically alternate daily between a focus on sprints or on endurance runs.
Conditioning usually is about 1-1.5 hours long. Additionally every other day there is a full body circuit consisting of bodyweight exercises like pushups, lunges, squats, etc. This circuit takes maybe 15 minutes or so. Technical drills are generally an additional hour, and while their focus is not so much on physical training, they do certainly add to the wear factor.
My diet right now is inconsistent with exception to my breakfast: usually 2 eggs and either whole grain bagel or oatmeal. Sometimes with a grapefruit or half of a pomelo. I generally have 2-3 large meals each day and 2 snacks. I probably take in about 2200 calories a day, mostly carbs and protein. Maybe 15% of it is fats, and of those I’d say 90% or more is from unsaturated fats, mostly polyunsaturated. My snacks are typically edamame, roasted almonds or peanuts, or a whey protein shake.
Other than that my lunch/dinner meals are pretty random. I grill chicken or pork loin often, tilapia and someimes shrimp for my main protein sources. I eat brown rice often and make pasta maybe one night a week. One meal I consistently eat each week is chicken tortilla soup loaded with veggies. I try to eat steamed broccoli, butternut squash or sweet potatoes a few times a week, as well as one whole fruit + a salad each day. I have no real restrictions on things I’ll eat, except I typically avoid fastfoods
supplements I currently use:
MGN pure whey isolate 2x1scoop servings per day
Opti-Men vitamins 2-3 per day
1500 mg Glucosamine w/ 1500mg MSM
*CoQ10 - 100mg daily
*ON’s Tribulus caps 625mg 3 per day
*Ai Sports RecoverPro BCAA 4:1:1 ratio - 2 scoops taken before and after workouts/games
*Endurox R4 - one serving after each workout/game
*=I’m considering dropping these supp’s. I’m also considering adding creatine monohydrate and fish oil. Also thinking about taking an inexpensive 200mg caffeine pill an hour before trainings to help compensate for days I’m lacking energy.
Again, thanks for your time and any input you can provide.