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Food is fuel. Food is power.
It comes down to three things: eat enough to fuel your training and growth, eat real food, and time it around when you play. No restriction, no diet talk, just giving your body what it needs to maximize performance.
Meet your macros
Protein, carbs and fats each do a different job. You need all three of them every single day.
Protein
0.7g per lb of bodyweight
It builds and repairs muscle, especially after a hard practice or workout. When you train, you create tiny bits of stress in your muscles, and protein is the fuel that rebuilds them stronger. Getting enough of it helps you grow, recover faster, and show up ready to perform.
- Eat it throughout the day, and not all at dinner
- Aim for a palm-sized source at each meal
- Eat a variety of proteins like eggs, cheese, greek yogurt, chicken, fish, beef, beans, tofu, etc
Carbs
45 to 60 % of calories
Your main fuel. Carbs top off the energy your muscles burn during sprints, lifts, and games. They're not your enemy. They're your friend.
- Eat them throughout the day for stable energy
- Have a carb-rich meal or snack about 1 to 2 hours before training so you have energy during your training.
- Eat a variety of carbs like rice, oats, pasta, potatoes, fruit, bread, honey, etc
- Whole-grain when you can, but any carb fuels you
Fats
~25 to 35 % of calories
The long-term fuel. Healthy fats support the hormones that help a teen body grow and recover. Don't fear them.
- Eat them throughout the day
- Focus on healthy fats like nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado, salmon and eggs
- Don't fear the calories in them
More than you think.
Here's the part most teen athletes get wrong: you're growing AND training at the same time. That takes serious fuel. Under-eating stalls growth, tanks energy, and slows recovery. When in doubt, eat a bit more, especially carbs and protein.
Always hungry, sluggish at practice, or not recovering between sessions? That's usually a sign to eat more, not less.
Roughly what to aim for
Ballpark daily targets for an active teen athlete. Bigger bodies, harder training days, and growth spurts all push these up, so treat them as a floor, not a ceiling.
Male athletes
| Age | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13-14 | 2,600 | 325g | 110g | 85g |
| 15-16 | 3,000 | 375g | 130g | 100g |
| 17-18 | 3,200 | 400g | 145g | 105g |
Female athletes
| Age | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13-14 | 2,200 | 275g | 95g | 75g |
| 15-16 | 2,400 | 300g | 105g | 80g |
| 17-18 | 2,400 | 300g | 105g | 80g |
Estimates for active/competitive teens, based on general guidance from the USDA Dietary Guidelines and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Your real number depends on your size, sport, and training load. Always hungry? That's your body asking for more.
Runners, watch your iron
Iron carries oxygen to your muscles, so when it runs low you feel it fast: heavy legs, gassing out early, and a slower recovery. Distance runners burn through it quicker than most, partly from the pounding of every footstrike.
For girls especially: because of your period you lose more iron, so make sure you include iron-rich foods and pair them with vitamin C (like peppers or fruit) to absorb more. If you're constantly wiped out, ask a doctor about checking your levels before adding a supplement.
Calcium builds the frame
No matter what sport you play, everything you do puts stress on your bones. Calcium is what keeps them strong and dense, which means fewer stress fractures and a body that can handle harder training as you grow. Your teen years are prime bone-building time, so this is the window that counts.
Aim to get some at most meals, and remember vitamin D (from sunlight and fortified foods) helps your body actually use it.
Most athletes aren't eating enough, and they don't even know it.
Here's the thing almost nobody tells you: a huge number of teen athletes fall short on calories and macros every single day, simply because they have no idea how much they actually burn.
I'll be honest: I'm a cross country girl, and I didn't realize I was underfueling for a long time. Then I looked up how many calories, carbs, protein, and fat I should actually be eating. When I tracked what I was really getting, I wasn't even close. I was eating healthy whole foods, but avoiding carbs because I thought they were my enemy. Now I realize that food is fuel and power, and I make sure I hit my calorie, protein, carb, and fat targets every single day. Now I even go over them, so I can maximize my performance without getting injured. It has truly changed my entire fitness performance. No more brain fog during the day from inadequate carbs, just stable energy.
Take it from me: don't guess. Know your numbers and fuel like they matter.
HYDRATION HELPS YOU PERFORM FASTER
Even a little dehydration makes you slower, weaker and foggier. Most of it is just building a habit.
Before
Sip water through the day so you start practice topped off. Don't just chug a lot at the last second right before training.
During
A few gulps every 15 to 20 minutes. For sessions over an hour or in the heat, an electrolyte drink helps.
After
Keep drinking throughout the rest of the day, so that you don't feel dehydrated later in the day.
Add electrolytes when you sweat hard
When you sweat, you don't just lose water, you lose electrolytes like sodium and potassium that keep your muscles firing. On long sessions (over an hour), hot days, or two-a-days, plain water alone can leave you cramping and drained. That's when an electrolyte drink or a powder mix in your bottle really helps you hold your energy. For short, easy workouts, water is still all you need. No need to overdo it.
Easy ways to do it: grab a Gatorade, or pour a Liquid I.V. hydration multiplier into a bottle of water (that's what I personally do). Other powder mixes like LMNT or Nuun work great too. Toss one in your bag so it's ready when practice runs long.
Go easy on the caffeine
Between school, sports, and everything else, it's tempting to run on energy drinks and coffee. Here's why that backfires.
A lot of teen athletes lean on caffeine to get through a packed day. The problem is that it's easy to overdo it. Too much caffeine can mess with your sleep, leave you jittery and anxious, spike and then crash your energy, and make your heart race during training. And since sleep is when your body actually recovers, trading it for caffeine works against everything you're training for.
Caffeine doesn't actually give you energy. It just borrows it and hides how tired you really are. Real energy comes from food, mostly carbs. If you're reaching for a third energy drink, that's usually a sign you need more fuel and more sleep, not more caffeine.
I swapped caffeine for carbs.
I used to drink caffeine all the time, and late at night because I thought it was giving me my energy. Once I started fueling with more carbs, I realized the energy was coming from food the whole time. Now I drink way less caffeine and lean on carbs instead.
I feel steadier all day now, with no jittery crash.
Fueling around practice & games
What you eat matters, but when can be the difference between flying and dragging.
2 to 3 hours before: the real meal
A balanced plate: carbs for fuel, some protein, light on heavy fats. Think chicken, rice and veg, or a turkey sandwich with fruit.
30 to 60 min before: the top-off
If you're hungry or it's been a while, grab a quick carb snack: a banana, a granola bar, toast with honey, applesauce. Easy to digest, no heavy meals.
During: stay topped up
Water for most sessions. For long games or tournaments, sip a sports drink or grab carb snacks at breaks to keep energy steady.
Within 60 min after: the rebuild
This is the golden window. Pair carbs + protein to refuel and start repair: chocolate milk, sandwiches, or a real meal if it's close.
Dawn practices & morning races
Cross country runners know the drill: practice at 6 a.m., or on the bus by 5 for a race that doesn't start until 8 or 9. You can't sit down to a full breakfast, but running on nothing is even worse.
This is different from normal pre-practice fueling. There's no time (or stomach) for a real meal that early, and something heavy will weigh you down while you run. But skipping food entirely is a mistake a lot of runners make. If you don't eat, you're racing on an empty tank.
The fix is simple: eat something small and easy to digest about 60 to 90 minutes before you run. Just enough quick carbs to top off your tank without weighing you down. You'll feel the difference in the last mile.
LIGHT, EASY CARB OPTIONS BEFORE A MORNING RUN
- A banana
- A granola or energy bar
- Toast with honey and/or jelly
- Applesauce pouch or a few dates
- A bagel with jelly
My cross country coach always says you can't perform your best running on an empty tank of gas. And he's right.
Even a small snack beats nothing. Find the one food that sits well in your stomach and make it your race-morning routine, so your body knows exactly what's coming.
My favorite carb snacks
I'm a 16-year-old who runs cross country and lifts, so I'm always hungry and always moving. These are the carb snacks I actually reach for to keep my energy up between class, practice, and the weight room.
Banana
Quick carbs from the banana. My go-to before a run.
Pre-workout fuelThat's It Fruit Bars
Just apples & strawberries, apples & blueberries, or apples and mango
School stapleApple sauce
My favorite on the go snack. I love to buy the ones in pouches, so I don't have to worry about having a spoon
Quick and tastyMade Good Granola Bars and Oat Bars
Great carbs and taste amazing.
Quick energyHomemade Muffins
Endless flavors: banana, pumpkin, blueberry, chocolate chip, or even cinnamon apple. I like to use Kodiak pancake mix as the flour for a little added protein.
RefreshingToast with spread
Endless combinations: butter, cream cheese, nut butters, seed butters, jelly, even apple butter.
Quick carbs10 fruits packed with carbs
Fruit is some of the easiest, fastest carb fuel out there, plus you get vitamins and water along with it. Here are 10 of the highest-carb fruits, with rough carbs per typical serving.
I rate the snacks I actually eat
The list above is what's in my stash. Over on Snack Reviews I go further and rate prepackaged snacks out of 5 stars on taste, fuel, and how well they survive a backpack, so you know what's worth buying before you get to the store.
Read the snack reviewsNutrition articles
Protein 101: how much a teen athlete really needs
A no-math way to make sure you're hitting enough across the day.
Carbs aren't the enemy, they're your fuel
Why cutting carbs is the fastest way to feel slow on the field.
The lazy athlete's guide to staying hydrated
Simple habits that beat panic-chugging before practice.
What to eat the night before a big race
A carb-heavy, familiar dinner fills the tank while you sleep.
7 backpack snacks that actually fuel you
Cheap, packable, and way better than the vending machine.
5 nutrition myths teen athletes need to drop
No, you don't need to "cut," and other things the internet got wrong.
The athlete's guide to eating at restaurants
Build every order around protein, carbs, and something fresh.