Product Description

Boost your energy, manage stress, build muscle, lose fat, and improve your performance with the all-time best-selling sports nutrition guide!

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook will help you make the right food choices in grocery stores, restaurants, drive-throughs, and your own kitchen.

Whether you're preparing for competition or simply eating on the go, let sport's leading nutritionist show you how to get maximum benefit from the foods you choose and the meals you make. You'll learn how to eat before exercise and events as well as how to refuel afterward for optimal recovery.

Updated and on the cutting edge, the fourth edition includes the latest sports nutrition research on hydration and fluid intake, vitamins, supplements, energy drinks, organic foods, and the role of carbohydrate and protein during exercise. You'll also learn about the new food pyramid and the American Heart Association's latest dietary guidelines.

If you're seeking advice on losing weight, getting energized to exercise, or improving your health and performance, Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook has the answers you can trust.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29006 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 472 pages

From School Library Journal
YA-- As a consultant to the Boston Celtics, Clark is well equipped to advise sports aficionados on their training diets. Although her focus is primarily on the serious athlete, her nutrition tips can be useful to anyone desiring a healthy lifestyle. Discussion of the carbohydrate issue, foods to eat before and after exercising, fluids, and supplements are presented. There is also a section on weight control tips as well as suggestions for gaining weight. Healthful recipes with nutritional and caloric information complete the volume. Most of this is information is basic and is available elsewhere, but Clark's abundant use of charts and diagrams and her enthusiatic presentation make the book a winner. --Anne Paget, Episcopal High School, Bellaire, TX
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Nancy showed me how eating the right foods, at the right time, would both enhance performance and create a leaner physique. Those lessons, and many more, are included in Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. It's a must-read for anyone involved in sport and fitness."

Jennifer Shultis
United States Adventure Racing National Champion
Captain of Team Eastern Mountain Sports

"Nancy Clark understands what it takes to be properly fueled for peak performance in any activity. Her experience as both athlete and nutritionist helped in creating a book that will benefit any athlete-serious, recreational, or weekend warrior.
Tommy L. Owens
National Training Coordinator for Team in Training

"The nutritional information in Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook helped me accomplish a lifelong goal of not only skating at the Olympics, but receiving the honor of becoming a silver medalist as well. I highly recommend her book."
Kitty Carruthers Conrad
Olympic Silver Medalist
United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame Member

Ingram
Complete guide to eating for the vigorous person. Provides the basics of sports nutrition and includes over 100 fast recipes for meals that enhance physical performance.

Customer Reviews

very basic, good recipes though
This book is very basic. This book should be half the size it actually is. She repeats herself quite a bit, and she over explains things. There were a few things not mentioned. She states there is one essential fat, linoleic acid. There are actually two essential fats. She said nothing about the one that Americans are sorely lacking in, linolenic acid, or the omega 3 fats. The recipes were good though. If you want a good sports nutrition book get Dr. Michael Colgan's "Optimum Sports Nutrition". Easy to read, and follow. No recipes though. Nancy should rename her book "Sports Nutrition Cookbook".

A good addition to your nutrition library, but...
This book is great for endurance athletes. I run about 15-20 miles per week and it was helpful for me to learn about the importance of carbo loading and glycogen stores. The book also has many useful tables and facts. Nancy Clark addresses all the major topics on sports nutrition.

Having said that, she sticks a bit too closely to the FDA food pyramid, suggesting that just 15% of your daily calories come from protein. This seems awfully low to me (perhaps I've been tainted by the Adkins Diet craze?).

She also cites many "studies" but most of them were done on just seven male athletes. It was hard for me to buy into all the results. I do appreciate supporting evidence, but such a small group of test subjects made me question her assertions.

She talks about vitamins and minerals as the "spark plugs" of a good diet, but suggests sticking crackers in your gym bag, which have absolutely no nutritional value. She also doesn't recommend taking vitamin supplements. As a woman, I can't see the harm in making sure I have enough calcium, iron and folic acid in my diet (most women don't).

Most of the recipes are great, like the banana bread. However, she shot herself in the foot by supplying the percentages of carbs, protein and fat in each dish. In the rest of the book, she suggests getting 60-70% of your calories from carbohydrates, but very few of her recipes have such a high percentage of carbs - even the pasta dishes. One other surprise: the recipe for the pasta with spinach and pine nuts suggests adding "3-4 tablespoons" of oil! Sounds more like oil loading.

I am glad I read the book, but I think I will be looking for another book with other points of view to balance Nancy's suggestions.

Great book if you want to improve your performance
I just read my title and probably should clarify that I am talking about your sports performance!!! I am currently training for a marathon and have used the information in this book to improve my nutrition to optimal levels for the extended running levels of marathon training. It has gotten me through well. I have been able to keep my weight stable and my energy levels up. Highly readable, it provides accurate and useable information on sports nutrition. I also recommend the "Food Guide for Marathoners" from the same author, which is more specific to the marathon runner.