Week 5 Determine your nutrition needs

As athletes, in order to nourish your body properly you need to know what it needs. Start by determining your overall calorie needs by choosing a caloric calculator found here: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/nutrition/sport/calorie.asp.

Once you know your calorie needs you can then determine your individual macronutrient needs. General macronutrient recommendations are:

6-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per day (3-5 gm/lb)
1.0-1.8 grams of protein per kilogram body weight per day (0.4-0.8 g/lb/day)
20% to 35% of calories from fat

For example, a 28 year old female who is 5 feet 8 inches, weighs 175 pounds and is a training for a marathon (intense daily training) would need 2715 calories per day based on the Mifflin equation. Now let's break down macronutrient needs.

175 x 3 to 5 grams= 525 to 875 grams carbohydrates

175 x 0.4 to 0.8 grams= 70 to 140 grams protein

2715 calories x 20% to 35%= 543 to 950 calories/ 9 calories per gram of fat= 60 grams to 105 grams fat

Weekly Checklist:

1. Using your information, calculate your calorie and daily macronutrient needs. Save this information because you will use it for the Meal Plan assignment due Week 7.

2. Sign up for a free online calorie tracker (like MyFitnessPal, Lose It, or another free program you find) and track your food intake for the week (7 days total). Again, save this information because you will use it for the Meal Plan assignment due Week 7.

3. Complete this week's discussion.

4. Complete the quiz. Due Sunday by 9 pm MST/MDT.