{"id":81427,"date":"2025-03-28T15:15:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T21:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=81427"},"modified":"2025-03-28T15:15:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T21:15:55","slug":"performance-plates-boosting-performance-with-balanced-nutrition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/performance-plates-boosting-performance-with-balanced-nutrition\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Performance Plates:&#8217; Boosting performance with balanced nutrition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_81438\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81438\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-81438\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/20093644\/balanced-nutritionsized.webp\" alt=\"Adjusting your diet based on the intensity of your workout can help boost performance. Some athletes are taking a Performance Plates approach to their nutrition. Photo: Getty Images.\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-81438\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adjusting your diet based on the intensity of your workout can help boost performance. Some athletes are taking a &#8220;Performance Plates&#8221; approach to their nutrition. Photo: Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For a balanced diet that supports peak performance, some athletes are turning to the Performance Plates model.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c&#8217;Performance Plates&#8217; are an adaptation of the MyPlate model to adjust for the different training durations and intensities athletes engage in,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-integrative-medicine-clinic-steamboat-springs\/\">Skylar Weir,<\/a> a registered dietitian nutritionist at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-yampa-valley-medical-center\/\">UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center<\/a>. \u201cIt can be appropriate for athletes to have 50% of their plate or meal coming from carbohydrates, and that\u2019s because athletes\u2019 needs for energy are much higher than the general population.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture developed the <a id=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myplate.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MyPlate<\/a> approach to help people maintain a balanced diet. With Performance Plates, athletes shift the ratios of different macronutrients based on their training.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are &#8216;Performance Plates,&#8217; and how does they work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>During <strong>rest days or light training<\/strong> when sessions are less than 30 or 40 minutes, athletes follow the MyPlate model, in which half the plate is filled with colorful foods, a quarter with complex carbohydrates and a quarter with whole-food proteins.<\/p>\n<p>During <strong>moderate training days<\/strong>, when training hits 45 to 90 minutes and intensity increases, athletes divide their plates evenly between the three types of foods: a third of the plate is filled with colorful foods, a third with complex carbohydrates and a third with protein.<\/p>\n<p>During <strong>hard training days, <\/strong>when training exceeds 90 minutes, or athletes train twice during one day, half of the plate is filled with carbohydrate-rich foods, while the other half is split between colorful foods and protein.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really the increased energy demand that drives these shifts,\u201d Weir said.<\/p>\n<p>Snacks can be critical for athletes to boost nutrition and energy. Weir encourages athletes to incorporate carbohydrates and protein in each snack, and depending on activity level, to enjoy two to three snacks a day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSnacks are your superpower,\u201d Weir said. \u201cThey allow you to get these little drips of energy throughout the day and fuel around your workouts more effectively, so you don\u2019t go into training or come out of training with an empty tank.\u201d<div class=\"su-pullquote su-pullquote-align-right\">Read more on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/optimal-hydration-and-nutrition-improves-athlete-performance\/\">hydration&#8217;s role in performance<\/a>.<\/div>\n<h2><strong>What are the benefits of shifting to a Performance Plates approach?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When shifting to a Performance Plates approach, athletes often see immediate benefits.<\/p>\n<p>Some athletes are used to fueling the same way on hard training days as on rest days, making it difficult to recover after an intense training session.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFueling with a large salad after a long run just isn\u2019t enough,\u201d Weir said. \u201cWhen athletes start to add in more of these carbohydrates and fuel sources and start to meet these energy demands, they recover more quickly, the risk of injury goes down, and their mental clarity goes up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Athletes may also struggle to include enough antioxidant-rich, colorful fruits and vegetables. However, overall health can suffer without those colorful foods to counteract the inflammation naturally caused by exercise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelping them understand the why behind these foods can be very helpful,\u201d Weir said. \u201cDuring rest days, they can introduce these fiber-rich colorful foods as they have more time to digest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another challenge for some athletes is to incorporate sufficient portions of carbohydrates, which help fuel workouts and improve recovery.<div class=\"su-pullquote su-pullquote-align-right\">Read more on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/rest-and-recovery-for-athletes-physiological-psychological-well-being\/\">why rest and recovery are essential<\/a> for athletes.<\/div>\n<p>\u201cProbably the biggest pushback I get, whether for MyPlate or Performance Plates, is when someone\u2019s really scared of carbohydrates,\u201d Weir said. \u201cWe usually have to spend some dedicated time breaking down why they\u2019re afraid of carbohydrates and what they\u2019ve read or heard about them. Usually, the background for that fear is that carbohydrates lead to weight gain. We have to debunk that carbohydrates are not what\u2019s contributing to weight gain \u2013 it\u2019s eating an excess of any food.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The structure and visual nature of Performance Plates can give athletes a straightforward way to balance nutrition without getting overwhelmed or obsessed with what they\u2019re eating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think most of the athletes find it to be a very helpful, valuable tool,\u201d Weir said. \u201cIt gives them an easy way to judge if they\u2019re getting enough of each nutrient on different training days. Most athletes enjoy that it\u2019s more of an intuitive approach to eating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This story first appeared in the Steamboat Pilot.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a balanced diet that supports peak performance, some athletes are turning to the Performance Plates model. \u201c&#8217;Performance Plates&#8217; are an adaptation of the MyPlate model to adjust for the different training durations and intensities athletes engage in,\u201d said Skylar Weir, a registered dietitian nutritionist at UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center. \u201cIt can be appropriate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2163,"featured_media":81438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[275,276],"class_list":["post-81427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-food-and-nutrition","tag-nutrition-services"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Performance Plates: Boosting performance with balanced nutrition - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Performance Plates help athletes adjust their diet based on the level of intensity for workouts in a single day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/performance-plates-boosting-performance-with-balanced-nutrition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;Performance Plates:&#039; Boosting performance with balanced nutrition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Performance Plates help athletes adjust their diet based on the level of intensity for workouts in a single day.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/performance-plates-boosting-performance-with-balanced-nutrition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-28T21:15:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/20093644\/balanced-nutritionsized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/performance-plates-boosting-performance-with-balanced-nutrition\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/performance-plates-boosting-performance-with-balanced-nutrition\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270\"},\"headline\":\"&#8216;Performance Plates:&#8217; 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