As you are likely aware, no one training diet works for all athletes (that would be too easy!) Effective sports diets are as varied as the athletes who consume them. There are, however, some common denominators to effective training diets that are worth mentioning:

BALANCE:
It is without a doubt important to get plenty of carbs in a training diet - but some athletes tend to go ìcarb crazyî and forget the importance of consuming high quality protein and fat. Without adequate protein our bodies cannot recover well from repeated intense workouts. And some fat is necessary for good health. Athletes should strive to get a balance of the macro nutrients (carbohydrate, protein, and fat) at each meal and snack.

HYDRATION:
The rigors of a training program can dehydrate  you quicker than you can say ìdesertî. A good training diet always contains tons of fluids. (The recommendation from the folks at Gatorade is : 80 oz. per day baseline, 16 oz. prior to a workout, 4-8 oz. every 15 minutes during exercise, and 24 oz. soon after exercise.)

VARIETY:
One of the hardest things for most student-athletes to do is vary their diets. There is a tendency to get into a ìrutî and eat the same things every day. The importance of variety is that each food has its own unique set of nutrients and by limiting variety, you are limiting your intake of important vitamins and minerals. Try at least one new (or neglected) food every week - your body will thank you for it!!

TIMING:
A good training diet provides the athlete with plenty of ìfuelî prior to a workout or event an is timed so that a feeling of fullness or GI distress is prevented. Timing of meals and snacks is very individual and usually entails a lot of trail and error.

MODERATION:
This one sort of goes hand in  hand with balance. Effective training diets usually do not contain large amounts of any one food, nutrient or supplement. By the same token, the occasional indulgence in ìsinfulî foods is allowed. (key word is occasional!!)

PERSONAL:
The best training diets are the ones that take into account the huge range of nutritional needs of athletes. We all have different sports, schedules, genetics, training programs, good likes and dislikes, supplement needs, cultural beliefs, ethics, sizes, body compositions, living situations, incomes,.....well, you get the idea. All these factors play a role in what your ìperfectî training diet will consist of.