This Only Affects You! The Female Hockey Player
It’s not fair but sometimes things in life aren’t fair and this is one of those times. Whether you’re male or female under eating and over working will have huge negative effects on your performance. But the thing that’s really scary is, not only does under eating have negative effects on a female’s performance it has an even bigger effect on her overall health. This is a very serious topic and I’m going to cover what I feel is important. However, if you’re a female hockey player and you think you may have some form of an eating disorder, I strongly recommend that you go talk with a health care provider.
It’s very unfortunate but society has made females believe that they need to look thin in order to be attractive. And most females believe this is only achievable if they don’t eat and exercise lots. This could not be farther from the truth. Social media has made this way of thinking even more prevalent in today’s female population and that needs to stop.
Today’s post is going to be geared towards female hockey players and the risks and concerns they can undergo if they don’t follow a proper nutrition plan.
A big reason why female hockey players feel they need to look a certain way is due to sociocultural pressures. With social media apps like Instagram, it’s no wonder girls feel they need to look a certain way. Female athletes may feel the pressure from their teammates or coaches to have a certain physique for optimal performance. Having these pressures can result in the female athlete feeling shame about her body and this can lead to lower psychological well-being and more eating problems in young women.
In order to succeed in hockey nowadays, you must train hard. Constantly being in the gym lifting weights and out on the ice burns a lot of calories. When you don’t consume enough calories to give your body the energy it needs to perform at its peak you’ll go into what’s called an “energy deficiency”. If this energy deficiency is prolonged over time you will start to develop serious health issues like menstrual disorders (functional hypothalamic amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea), a decrease in bone mineral density (osteopenia and osteoporosis), cardiovascular dysfunction, musculoskeletal injuries, depression, social isolation, and a poorer quality of life.
The issues that come about when you operate in energy deficiency for too long don’t happen independently but typically go hand in hand with one another. All it takes is a few weeks to months of burning more energy than you’re consuming for hormone alterations to occur. Cortisol is a hormone that starts to increase during this energy imbalance. Having excess levels of Cortisol will cause your bone mineral density to decrease while increasing anxiety and depression. Long term menstrual disorders have also been linked to decreased bone mineral density, which places you at a greater risk of bone fractures. And having these issues at a young age (15 years old) will place you at a greater risk of having osteoporosis at an older age.
Now that you know the severity of under eating, let’s talk about how to prevent these issues from happening. The first thing is to make sure you’re eating enough. Knowing how many calories you’re burning is the first step in figuring out how many calories you should be consuming. Figuring out your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is crucial as this is how many calories your body burns at rest for normal function (heart rate, breathing, keeping warm, etc). To figure out your BMR use the following formula BMR= 655.1 + (9.5663 x weight in kg) + (1.85 x height in cm) – (4.676 x age in years). Once you have your BMR you’ll need to determine your physical activity level. If you’re at a sedentary to light activity level you’ll multiply your BMR by 1.53, if you’re active to moderately active you’ll multiply your BMR by 1.76, and if you’re vigorously active you’ll multiply your BMR by 2.25. Once you have your total, if you’re trying to lose body fat you’ll want to decrease this number by 300-500kcals but it is recommended that you wait until the off-season to partake in a calorie restricted diet. Following such a plan during the competitive season can have detrimental effects on your performance.
Eliminate any confusion about what you should be eating and how much of each macronutrient should make up your diet by getting my eBook that explains in detail the importance of each macronutrient, micronutrient and how much you should be consuming of each of them. The eBook includes some sample diet plans to follow along with. Don’t forget that nutrition plays the biggest role in performance and overall health.
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