TMU student-athletes share how they eat

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not substitute for professional health advice.

By Amna Saeed

As university life threatens to overwhelm everyone who started this semester with a “this is my year” mindset, seeking some advice from some seasoned veterans could help — and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) athletes may be the most experienced at balancing academics, health and other commitments.

Many TMU student-athletes have been involved in sports since childhood, citing relatives or other athletes as inspiration. Upon entering university, some with a competitive streak found an outlet through the athletic teams at TMU. Others nurtured their passion for a specific sport, integrating it into their lives in a way they hadn’t been able to do before. 

Second-year student Giorgio Armanio, despite having previously played soccer his entire life, was inspired by the Olympics and pursued his interest in track and field when he began his studies at TMU.

“I do not follow any specific diet or nutrition plan… I try to eat as healthy as possible,” said Armanio. “The average meal for me is… a small amount of carbs and [a] very high amount of protein and obviously vegetables.”

His journey to building a healthier lifestyle truly started at TMU, and he currently juggles this goal with athletics as well as his studies in aerospace engineering — a particularly time-consuming major. His passion for both shows that balancing health and academics is completely achievable as long as you start the process. 

“I’ve never been used to eating a lot during the day,” explains Armanio, later discussing his goals to develop new eating habits. “I’m trying to actually eat a lot more now… I usually eat twice in a day… [with] little snacks in between those big meals.”

Second-year nursing student Ella Di Mola chose to pursue track and field after having to give up sports altogether for a while due to COVID-19, now balancing school and athletes along with commuting.

“I do a lot of commuting because I live in Vaughan… I also work so… it’s really busy like I’m never free. Usually in the night-time, I’m free because we have practices right after in the morning…” mentioned Di Mola. “My [program], nursing, is hard… it’s hard to balance but I manage to do it.”

TMU’s athletes are an easy source of inspiration for aspiring go-getters. Like Christina Karaiskakis, a third-year track and field athlete, many start the day early with a bang, heading straight for practice or class after a light breakfast. 

Being a student and an athlete can go hand in hand as maintaining grades and skills is crucial to keep their position on the teams. Karaiskakis emphasizes that it’s all about prioritizing. 

“I would say my academics come first,” said Karaiskakis. “My training comes second.” 

Though it seems a cliché, organization is key. Regardless of majors, professional commitments or specific nutritional lifestyles, the method of organization is a commonality among TMU athletes and is especially vital for commuting athletes. 

For William Portokalis, who plays for the TMU Bold Men’s Hockey team, writing down tasks is helpful.

“It’s honestly pretty tough sometimes,” admitted Portokalis, “I found that putting [tasks] into a Google Calendar and just following along with it has really helped me stay on top of things.”

But organization alone isn’t enough; you may have to commit to regularly applying it as well, students say. These athletes offer a tested method of planing their meals in advance to streamline the grocery-getting process. This can reduce the stress of scrambling to put together a meal — a process that can often lead to forgoing a home-cooked meal altogether in favour of fast food.  

“I definitely do try and plan [my meals]… I guess you could say I plan weekly. Sometimes I do go day-by-day.” explained Karaiskakis. “A lot of the time, every week is kind of repetitive, but if something were to change, say I have an exam or say I have a [track] meet, I definitely go in and I sit down and I’m just like, ‘okay, this is what I have to do’, If there are any changes, I go in and change it.”

One definite advantage of living in TMU’s student residences is that it’s much easier to implement a daily meal plan, if you can afford it. All meals are decided and provided by campus housing in the university’s cafeterias. Nutritional as they are, the meal plans also allow customization for different diets and tastes.

Why not get the most out of your money? For first-year Emmanuel Owonibi, a member of TMU Bold’s Men’s Basketball team, there are definite perks to resident food and meal plans.

“One thing that’s good about the residence food… [is] it’s very nutritious,” said Owonibi. “You have different options and they also provide enough nutrients, so living [in] residence is very beneficial.”  

An important factor that came up in conversation with the athletes is that there is a difference between healthy eating and dieting. None of the athletes interviewed followed a rigid or specific diet style, rather, they focused on unprocessed foods and getting their personalized nutritional requirements. Their meals aren’t centred around restriction so much as on substitution.

“Every fruit has sugar. So usually I’ll try [make] a smoothie and just use chocolate protein powder instead of actually having chocolate,” said Portokalis.

For some TMU athletes, they find that once you give up processed or fast foods, they don’t necessarily want to go back.

“It’s kind of weird, every time I eat ‘healthy,’ I’m never craving something ‘unhealthy’ and then as soon as I have something ‘unhealthy,’ I’m literally craving it all the time,” said Di Mola.

Giving up what many people refer to as ‘junk food’ is a hard endeavour to begin, and even harder to be consistent with for numerous students. TMU’s athletes focus on fighting cravings specifically by overcoming the habit of consuming fast food. 

As such, favourite meals also tend to be largely ‘healthy’ for the athletes who prefer them, and so they can incorporate them into their meal plan more frequently. The meals include a variety: steak, chicken, rice or pasta. Yet, for some international student-athletes like Armanio who prefers jollof rice — a West African classic — a favourite meal isn’t always readily available. It might take some more hunting for international students to find the food that they crave, but it’s encouraged because to maintain your nutrition journey, it’s best to find enjoyment in your food.

Even if you’re not an athlete, there are tips everyone can utilize when balancing being active and nutrition, such as not to eat too much right before a workout — unless you want to throw up, which is why most of these athletes opt to eat larger meals after a workout or game.

But make sure to recognize signs of low energy, such as cramping or lightheadedness. If necessary, have a light snack before pursuing any activities. In terms of go-to snacks, the athletes largely favour protein smoothies or protein bars — gotta get in those macros — though bananas seem to be nice substitutes for some athletes, since they’re good sources of potassium, important for heart function and muscle contraction. Often, a go-to snack packed with your specific nutritional requirements such as fibre for digestion or protein for energy are helpful to maintain energy throughout the day. 

A nice benefit of being a student-athlete — apart from the uniforms’ pretty colour schemes — is the little pieces of advice that they receive from their coaches, which are almost like ‘nutritional cheat codes.’ 

Portokalis gave an unexpected tip for recovering from physical fatigue, which may just make bad soda habits a little more guilt-free.   

“There’s a whole thing about drinking flat Coke between periods and after games,” he said. “That’s like a healthy recovery, which none of us knew about, so we would have little cups of flat diet Coke for us to drink, and I didn’t even know that until last year.” 

This seems to be common practice for many athletes, and though the de-carbonation isn’t necessary, it does seem to be preferred. The reason why soda is a popular healthy recovery method is due to its caffeine content, which can offer athletes a quick energy boost and allow for speedy recuperation in between breaks. 

Di Mola states that her coach has given her multiple tips to ensure that she and the other women on her team stay energized and healthy, specifically centred around their requirements as women athletes. 

“He has the girls taking iron because we lose iron when we run, so most of us take iron pills,” she added. “When I focus on the athletics, I focus on my health.”

Women are reportedly at a higher risk for iron deficiency during strenuous physical activities such as athletics or other workouts. Although nutrition has basic set guidelines like dietary intake references or Canada’s food guide which recommends certain macronutrient — protein, carbohydrates, lipids — intake, it should also include tailored aspects to every individual as even twins could have different dietary needs. For example, Di Mola, carries sugar pills to maintain her blood sugar. As seen through TMU athletes’ diets, customizing your health plan can be beneficial  to building a sustainable routine that can actually work for you.

However, it can be okay to allow yourself some leniency during exam season and other high-stress situations. According to Cornell Health, taking breaks anywhere between five to 60 minutes can provide your body with a much-needed refresher and refocus — so as it may be tempting to power through the flurry of assignments and tests without consequence, there is also room for rest and breaks.

The brain needs glucose and at times, the quickest way to get some energy — fast-acting sugars — might be by reaching towards quick-energy foods as sources of comfort. TMU athletes share what they usually find themselves reaching for. 

For Portokalis, a little sugar seems to go a long way. 

“I’m not a big chocolate guy as it is, but there’s something about being under high stress and just knowing you have to do well or perform really, really well,” he said. “You just want to get some sugar in you as quick as you can.” 

Armanio also finds himself prioritizing quick energy boosts over nutrition. 

“[During exams,] I tend to find food places on campus to eat which sometimes is not the ‘healthiest’ of things to do,” Armanio said. “I tend to do it anyway because I need the energy at that point, for studying.” 

Balance can be hard so it is important to reach out for help when needed. The most important thing is knowing what will get you through temporary situations and utilizing that strategy at the right time. Campus support is always available — whether in the form of academic advisors, coaches for student-athletes or various resources for mental health — at TMU. 

“There’s a lot of places you can go to talk to people. On the sports team, you can talk to your coaches, they know best and they can help you if you’re behind in classes. We’ve got sports advisors, academic advisors on the athletics teams. To achieve your goal, you just manage your time very well if you need help,” said Owonibi.

“You just have to take that initiative and actually reach out to people and ask for help.”