Big 10 on Nutrition


For those paying attention (not even me most days) you’ll remember that I was just at the NFL combine to pow-wow with Team doctors. One of the invited speakers was Amanda Philips; nutritional consultant to the Miami Dolphins, FSU and Tampa Rays.

Over the years, I have personally studied 1000’s of hours of advanced nutrition. It’s one of those things that gets more and more complicated, nerdy and geeky. Ms. Philips was able to bring it down to a simplified message. She found that most players would just toss their meal plans and head to McD’s. Think about it, that’s buying an Aston Martin DB-9 and filling it up with 87 octane. So she breaks it down. Nutrition in 10 simple steps:

  1. Come back to Earth- Eat food that comes from dirt, not bags. Closer to the ground the better; green leafs better than tree fruit.
  2. Eat a rainbow often -No less than 3 colors of fruit and veg/meal
  3. The less legs the better -Quality of protein: fish/egg>poultry>animal
  4. Eat fats that give back -Eat the fats that are more than just calories. Omega 3’s have wonderful benefits besides just being high-dense calories.
  5. Breakfast everyday-It really is the most important meal
  6. Eat every 3 hours-Eating often reduces your overall calorie consumption, boosts your metabolic rate and prevents gorging.
  7. Stay hydrated-1oz of water/lb body weight
  8. Don’t waste a workout
  9. Supplement wisely – ***Another story for another day
  10. Get some sleep- No less than 7 hrs/night