Food Diary of an Olympic Athlete

In my previous post, I talked about how Olympic dieitians work with the athletes to provide optimal nutrition for their individual sport. Every wonder what a typical day of eating looks like for a high level athlete?

Today we get a sneak peek into Speedskater Maria Lamb's food diary. She will contest the 5,000-meter distance in Vancouver (she also raced in Turin in 2006). Her team's nutritionist, Nanna Meyer, shared a typical food diary, and her nutritional analysis, with US News. Here's what this 24-year-old Olympian ate one Tuesday in July while in off-season training:

Breakfast:

Oatmeal: 1 cup rolled oats cooked in water with ¼ cup raisins, cinnamon, sea salt, and 1 teaspoon of honey.
Banana smoothie: 1 medium banana, ½ cup skim milk, ½ cup low-fat plain yogurt, 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal, and ice

Workout nutrition (during 2½-hour roller ski session): 2 Clif Shots (energy gels)

Lunch:

Sandwich: 2 slices whole-grain mountain rye bread and 2 tablespoons hummus.
Soup: 2 cups of carrot cilantro soup.
Smoothie: 1 medium banana, ½ cup nonfat plain yogurt, 1 scoop soy protein powder, 1 teaspoon virgin coconut oil, cinnamon, water, and ice.
Fruit: 1 apricot, handful of cherries

Snack (midway through her noon-to-4 shift at Home Depot): Medium apple
Snack (at end of shift): Clif Nectar bar, cherry pomegranate flavor

Workout nutrition (during 2½-hour strength training session): ½ Clif Bar, banana nut bread flavor

Recovery nutrition (after workout): Other half of Clif Bar, medium banana

Dinner:

Pasta: whole-wheat pasta tossed with sautéed zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, corn, onion, garlic, oregano, fresh basil, and olive oil. One egg. Glass of milk. Handful of almonds

Snack: ¾ cup homemade granola (includes rolled oats, rye, whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, buckwheat groats, flaxseed meal, soy protein powder, walnuts, cinnamon, salt, honey, vanilla, and applesauce)

Total: 4,067 calories, including about 141 grams of protein, 685 grams of carbohydrates, and 102 grams of fat. (Numbers may be rounded.)