This could be a misconception of mine but I always thought swimmers should be ravenous after swim practice. My son (13) swims for 2-2.5 hours and does not want to eat dinner after practice. He eats about 30 minutes before he leaves for practice but it's not a huge meal. Most days he skips dinner and goes to sleep without eating anything. I am concerned because 1. shouldn't he re-fuel his body after practice? and 2. not sure he is getting enough nutrition to sustain the level of effort that is needed. At the same time I want to trust his body to let him know when and how much he needs to eat. When I ask him he will say he is not hungry. Any advice?
Consider a protein shake. What kid (or, ok, 51-year old) can say no to a PB and chocolate shake. A friend of ours had an issue with her teen (15-16) who was a big runner and, unfortunately who had serious body image issues related to her weight (she, the daughter, thought she was too heavy when in fact she was not, so she skipped lots of meals). She'd come home from school or the gym, after running 5-10 miles, and all she'd have for dinner was one protein shake, which amounted to not many calories. Her mom offered to have her shake ready for her when she got home. Unbeknownst to the daughter, her mom spiked the shake with full-fat heavy cream. She got much-needed calories in her daughter. In fact, her daughter's running and weight-lifting improved. Our friend credited her magic shakes!
Consider a protein shake. What kid (or, ok, 51-year old) can say no to a PB and chocolate shake. A friend of ours had an issue with her teen (15-16) who was a big runner and, unfortunately who had serious body image issues related to her weight (she, the daughter, thought she was too heavy when in fact she was not, so she skipped lots of meals). She'd come home from school or the gym, after running 5-10 miles, and all she'd have for dinner was one protein shake, which amounted to not many calories. Her mom offered to have her shake ready for her when she got home. Unbeknownst to the daughter, her mom spiked the shake with full-fat heavy cream. She got much-needed calories in her daughter. In fact, her daughter's running and weight-lifting improved. Our friend credited her magic shakes!
