JUMP ATTACK FUEL (TIM GROVER)

• By: Louis Ochiel
• Date: February 20, 2023

Be honest: When it comes to eating and drinking, what are you willing to give up to get where you want to be? I can’t count how many athletes have said to me, “I’ll do anything to play, I want to be the best, just tell me what I have to do!” Then I tell them to give up bacon double cheeseburgers and soda, and their hair starts to fall out. When a player tells me he’s “hungry,” I sometimes have to wonder if he’s hungry for success or for dessert. When you make the commitment to become a serious athlete, your priority must become eating for physical excellence, no matter how much you love fries. If you’re working to get stronger and build your body, you have to eat in a way that supports muscle growth and recovery and gives you energy when you need it. You’re eating for athleticism now, not for entertainment. I’m not telling you to sacrifice taste or good food, but if you’re serious about your body and how it performs, you have to take care of the machinery. Think of yourself as a race car: without the right fuel, you’re not going very far or very fast.

Not the first time you’ve heard this, right? Most athletes know the way they eat has everything to do with the way they play; there’s nothing new about that. So then explain this to me: Why, after committing to endless hours of training and practice and competition, is it so difficult to commit to a healthy and effective diet? How is it possible to spend hours in the gym, sweating and working and swearing you’ll do anything to be the best, and then sabotage it all with what you’re putting into your body? Why is it so hard for so many athletes to eat right? Here’s why: Because they think good nutrition is too complicated. What should I eat? When should I eat it? How much should I eat? It’s too expensive! I don’t cook! A lot of athletes believe nutrition is all or nothing; you eat right or you don’t. And then when some expert or trainer tells you what to do, you get a giant list of everything you shouldn’t eat, and suddenly you feel like you just lost your best friend. You hear over and over what’s “bad” for you, and you feel guilty for eating it. You don’t have the time or desire to mess around in the kitchen or grocery store. You need something fast and easy. I believe in keeping it simple. When I have a player who needs to change his eating habits, I’m going to give him a program he can handle, because if it’s too restrictive and overwhelming, he’s going to quit.

I have to be realistic about food and alcohol and other things that they’re just not going to give up, so I give my guys choices. I know I can’t get the younger ones to give up fast food; they live on it. You know why it’s called fast food? Because it speeds you to the end of your career. Okay, you don’t want to eliminate it? Then you have to make smarter choices. If you want the burger, cut the fries. Choose chicken sandwiches instead of cheeseburgers. If you must have a cheeseburger, instead of twice a day, have it once. When you get that bacon double cheeseburger with the three slices of bread, toss one slice of bread and half the bacon. Then eventually throw two slices of bread away and a little more bacon. Instead of drinking two sodas, how about one soda and one bottle of water? Or get totally crazy and give up soda for good? I know you can’t stand egg-white omelets. How about two whites and one whole egg?

I give my guys eating guidelines, a yes/no list of foods. I’m not giving them a meal-by-meal diet, with how many ounces of chicken they can eat and how many blueberries are allowed. Everyone is going to cheat on a diet. Everyone. And as soon as they cheat, they think it’s over because they cheated. I don’t want to see you measuring a quarter cup of cheese, I want you to use common sense. You don’t need a degree in nutrition to know it’s better to eat grilled chicken than a bag of chips, or that it’s healthier to eat fruit than candy bars. The question is: Do you have a strong enough desire and backbone to control your eating, or does eating control you? You can’t get to where you want to be unless you’re willing to do what you need to do. The key to success is the willingness to give up what’s preventing you from getting there.