Not eating after swim practice

My daughter was sort of like that back when she was on her h.s. swim team. It was interesting, and now about six years later while she's not swimming, that although she may not want to eat in...she's always up for eating out. Offer that to your son and see if he bites. I'm wondering if the hunger, or lack of it, immediately following the workout could be due in part to the amount of pool water ingested? Just a guess. Dan

So, some people just don't have an appetite immediately after exertion. I know I usually have to wait an hour or so before I feel like eating a full meal after a meet or a particularly hard workout. I don't think skipping meals is a good thing for a 13-year-old, working out or not though. Is he just not really interested in eating or is he flat-out refusing to eat?

Try a glass of chocolate milk! I would find it hard to not be either hungry OR thirsty, and the chocolate milk helps with carbs, fat and protein, all in one!

He is not interested. If I make him he will sit there picking at his food for an hour and will eat may be 1/4. It takes him about 45 minutes from the end of practice to get home so its not immediately after. I tried waiting an hour, two and three - he stills says he is not hungry. Does he eat well otherwise? Is he losing weight? Does he have digestive system issues? Track his calories for a week, maybe he gets enough otherwise. Is he doing two-a-days? Could be doing too much and be worn out. That kills appetite. Does he sleep well? Does he understand he needs to eat to maintain energy and recover? "Not hungry" =/= "can't eat," millions of overweight people around the world can probably attest to that in some form or another. Try a glass of chocolate milk! I would find it hard to not be either hungry OR thirsty, and the chocolate milk helps with carbs, fat and protein, all in one! I was going to suggest that or a protein shake.

Trust but verify. Proper fueling (before, during and after workouts) are key elements of development and performance improvement. Eat when you’re hungry and drink when you are thirsty, don’t typically hold true for athletes striving for peak performance. You and your son should consider bringing this up with his primary care physician or consulting a sports nutritionists. You can also check out articles on the web. USA Swimming has some good resources on nutrition and there are a number of hits when googling nutrition for competitive swimmers. At 13, your son can do a lot of this research on his own, but you may want to spend some quality time with him looking into this. Yes I tried to do some research but all I found was that the meal after practice should be a balanced meal of complex carbs, protein and fat, nothing about actually NOT WANTING to eat anything. I suppose I can force him to eat it, but I am trying to understand why he doesn't want to eat it. Will check with his doctor also.

So, some people just don't have an appetite immediately after exertion. I know I usually have to wait an hour or so before I feel like eating a full meal after a meet or a particularly hard workout. I don't think skipping meals is a good thing for a 13-year-old, working out or not though. Is he just not really interested in eating or is he flat-out refusing to eat? He is not interested. If I make him he will sit there picking at his food for an hour and will eat may be 1/4. It takes him about 45 minutes from the end of practice to get home so its not immediately after. I tried waiting an hour, two and three - he stills says he is not hungry.

It's good that you are taking this issue seriously. Have you consulted with your son's coach? The coach is administering the workouts and is aware of the volume and intensity that your son is swimming. You should get his opinion about your concern. You may also want to consider consulting with your son's primary care physician, as was suggested earlier, to determine whether there are any other issues at play. Good luck.

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?Trust but verify. Proper fueling (before, during and after workouts) are key elements of development and performance improvement. Eat when you’re hungry and drink when you are thirsty, don’t typically hold true for athletes striving for peak performance. You and your son should consider bringing this up with his primary care physician or consulting a sports nutritionists. You can also check out articles on the web. USA Swimming has some good resources on nutrition and there are a number of hits when googling nutrition for competitive swimmers. At 13, your son can do a lot of this research on his own, but you may want to spend some quality time with him looking into this.

Something else I thought of... When my now college-aged son was in middle school and h.s., he played youth, and then on the h.s. hockey team. Since grade school he'd been prescribed Concerta for attention deficit (without the hypertension factor). He only took it once a day, as he would be leaving for school. But, he frequently wouldn't eat his lunch because he said the meds suppressed his appetite. That, in turn, caused him to frequently feel weak during hockey practices right after school because his most recent meal was breakfast eight hours earlier. Obviously your son's issue is much different. I only say all this only to point out that IF/perhaps your son is on some medication it might be affecting his appetite....depending on when he takes it. Dan

I agree with the chocolate milk, and about not feeling hungry immediately after heavy exertion. (It may also be that being hungry makes him feel sickish, so he further doesn't want to eat, compounding the issue). Chocolate milk, or something relatively light - cheese & crackers & veg w/ dip, or something.