You Are What You Eat - Ali's Words

“You Are What You Eat,” is a phrase you must have heard very often and for a good reason because it holds a lot of meaning. A good diet will make you healthy and strong, while a bad diet will have the opposite effect. However, it is easier said than done. As a diabetic, I can assure you it is not an easy exercise, but when you have to, then you must.

Being fit is particularly important for young football players as this directly impacts their performance and is paramount to their success. The relation of a healthy diet with fitness and good performance is directly linked. Every player needs to be aware of their personal nutrition because a balanced diet will be different for every type. There is no one size fits all nutrition plan.

Keeping this in mind, we have recently signed up with a nutritionist expert who started working with our players. One can immediately see the value nutritional strategies can add to the fitness goals and training of the players. Along with football training, this aspect to enhance the playtime on the field cannot be ignored.

Football is an intense game that demands high endurance capacity and energy levels. The problem that many young athletes encounter is that either they are overweight or under. To be fit you need to maintain the right balance. A player needs to be strong yet have to stay agile and fast because speed, strength, and power matter when on the field. Boys do not understand how to maintain this balance and how it can impact their performance, recovery, and level of play.

Today, I read an interesting article about how football Clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United are teaching their players to cook for themselves. I believe this is a brilliant way to educate them about nutrition. When you make breakfast for yourself and put in the ingredients you gain awareness regarding what is going in. This will make the players analyze their meals more diligently. This is a strategy that we will be implementing at EPC as well.

At the moment, we have players who are trying to sign up with the team and mostly they do not meet the fitness criteria. When you talk about nutrition it is something novel for them and they seem surprised to link this with football. This shows the lack of awareness about the importance of a healthy diet with a good performance. We aim to promote this awareness, so young athletes can perform to their full capacity. You are what you eat is something every player must understand and that is my message to aspiring football players. If you want to make the most of your talent, make nutrition a priority. Stay at your best, which is possible only if you eat right.