Healthy Snacks for Gymnasts for Practices or During Meets

Trust me- I’ve made a LOT of mistakes on nutrition for my kids, and a LOT of excuses. With two level 10 gymnasts, we know that food is fuel and healthy snacks for gymnasts are something we have got figured out!

Healthy Snacks For Gymnasts and Clean Eating While Traveling

Whether you are traveling for a sports tournament, academic activity, theater, or (fill in the blank here for your family), learn from my mistakes and pack your vehicle with optimal energy for your on-the-go gang. Note that there are no fruit snacks, goldfish, or granola bars on my list (even if organic)…just real food and clean eating for your family.

During a typical month, y family spends multiple weekends traveling to sporting events, meets, or other activities- often with 4-hour car rides (just one way). I am a mother of 3- I’ve got all ages covered with one in elementary, one in middle school, and one in high school.

I’m going to share the excuses I USED to make regarding nutrition when we traveled afar before we discovered how easy clean eating and providing healthy snacks for gymnasts while traveling can be. Read on and see if any sound familiar.

Excuse #1

Road trips or weekend tournaments are fun and special treats are deserved.

Vacations are truly a time to step back from reality and indulge- have an extra dessert or splurge on candy from one of the specialty candy shops.

In stark contrast to an occasional vacation, kids today are participating in sports tournaments or performing arts shows multiple times per month. These are not vacations, and instead, are truly times to maximize good nutrition to enhance stamina.

Packing the van with movie theater candy boxes, Goldfish crackers, pretzels, and granola bars is what I USED to do. When my youngest was about 3 years old, she used to love attending her siblings’ gymnastics meets because of the sheer amount of candy and junk food she would receive. YIKES! No wonder she ended up a sugar addict- a habit I had to break her of over time and had no one to blame but myself. Over the years, I’ve learned that fueling the tank of the entire family during long car rides and weekend competitions needs to be with real food.

Excuse #2

Eating healthy on the road is too expensive.

My husband is famous for making this excuse, and I can’t totally argue- healthy, fresh foods do tend to be pricey. Strictly looking at the price tag, it is more expensive to purchase a container of blueberries than a bag of chips on sale. BUT, you are what you eat!

The way I’ll combat this is through something I learned from the nutrition specialist I hired when we were struggling (https://www.betsymcnally.com) – she reminded me about the enormous amount of money we pay for practices, preparation, various types of training. Then…. we fail at fueling our entire family properly.

Simply stated, it’s like buying a fancy car and filling it with crappy gas, but expecting it to perform well.

If you provide amazing clean eating for your family, you may be surprised at the money you ultimately save on physical therapy bills and braces for aching body parts. Furthermore, I think we underestimate the amount of cash we spend at tournaments and competitions on concessions and gas station stops- remember that $4 soda or stale pretzel purchased for a starving sibling that ended up getting tossed into the garbage? Erase those expenditures from your budget, and use them to stock your bags with the items below.

Excuse #3

Packing healthy, nutritious food for road trips and tournaments is too much work and I’m already too busy!!

My mom says it best- everyone is busy. If we are too busy to feed our families in a healthy manner, maybe we need to look at exactly how we are spending our days and reevaluate our priorities.

My suggestions below for clean eating packing for road trips, day-long or weekend long tournaments or performances will make it easy to pack just two bags (a cooler and a bin) with easy, no-prep, on-the-go foods.

I am ONLY listing foods to pack for clean eating that require NO preparation. I repeat: NO preparation- buy, place the items in your bag / cooler, go. If you have time and want to add fruits that require cutting or fun snacks like homemade energy bites, go for it- even better! I am keeping this list as simple as possible.

If you are like me, you get nervous at your child’s performances, and stress-eat! Packed in advance with health in mind, you won’t feel guilty about eating a container of snap peas like you would a bag of cookies. Just eliminating that guilt will make the small amount of work packing the bag was worth it (the healthy snacks for gymnasts apply to parents too).

Excuse #4

If I pack healthy food, my kids won’t eat it and it will go to waste.

Been there, done that. One thing I’ve learned this year is that kids (and adults) will eventually eat what is there. I guess if they truly choose to not eat and it has a detrimental effect on their performance, it’s a learning opportunity for them.

We can’t force our kids, especially teens, to make the right decisions, but we can provide them the tools, in this case, real food for clean eating, and hope they choose wisely. Often, mindless eating in the car is due to boredom, and they may reach for those blueberries and cucumbers and munch away, simply because that’s what is available.

For our family, as stated above, we hired a specialist in nutrition (www.betsymcnally.com) who works specifically with gymnasts and I had her work directly with my kids. Once they bought in and understood the ‘whys’, they were more apt to try new foods and make better choices. With respect to my youngest, it just took time, persistence, and reintroducing the healthy items over and over. You may choose to hire a professional, or buy a book on nutrition, listen to podcasts- however you prefer to obtain your information. The important thing is arming yourself and your family with the knowledge to fuel properly.

Excuse #5

My kids are exercising all weekend in ______ (you fill in the blank) sport, so they can eat whatever they want- they need the calories.

I’m certainly not talking about calorie counting, restricting, or dieting. I’m talking about fueling properly with clean eating to maximize performance, both mentally and physically. Although they may be participating in the game of their athletic sport of choice, soon, they will be participating in the game of life and need to take care of their health. Set them up to win at that NOW by teaching them proper nutrition, both at home and on-the-go. The foods I’m listing are not necessarily low-calorie- they are nutritionally dense, and again- REAL food and clean eating.

Now that we have minimized our excuses….what are the magical steps to help you and your family survive the long travel to weekend events?

Step One:

Gather up materials for your trip:

A water bottle for each family member (label with their name)- invest in a good one that keeps water cold and you will save money in the long run- no more Gatorade or other drinks purchased at the overpriced concessions!
A small container with several plastic utensils, napkins, and 3-4 plastic bags to keep garbage in and empty at gas stations
A small container of sandwich-size baggies

I recommend keeping these items in a designated area of your house. Just pull out the bin out when it’s time for an early morning departure with your family.

Step Two:

Go shopping!

Some of these you will need to shop for before each trip (perishable); some you can keep in your basket until they need to be refilled.

No time to shop? Use whatever grocery pick-up or delivery service is provided in your area and have it ready the day before your departure.

Step Three:

Pack bag one (your cooler).

The size of your cooler will depend on the number of travelers you have. If the five of us are traveling, I will use the RTIC Soft Pack 30; if it’s just 1-2 of us, I switch to the RTIC Day Cooler 28. RTIC typically has ongoing discounts, so do a quick google search to obtain a coupon if you need to purchase a cooler. Obviously any cooler will do- these are just what we have found useful.

Of course, you won’t pack all of these items, but mix and match depending on the season, your mood, and store sales. I shop at either Target, Trader Joes, or Aldi.

Cooler Items (remember you will pick from this list- don’t pack it all!)

Bag of Mini Cucumbers
Individual bags of baby carrots (you can get a large bag too, but the little bags are handy)
Pint of blueberries
Bag of Sugar Snap Peas
Small container of pomegranate seeds (Trader Joe’s has these all prepared in little cups)
Chobani tubes of yogurt (Gimmies)
Container of cherry tomatoes
Bag of mini-BabyBel cheese
Bag of string cheese or individually wrapped small cheeses of your choice
Pre-sliced apple slices- you can take some small whole apples instead if you prefer
Clementines or Cuties (easy to peel!)
Sargento Balanced Break (huge variety to choose from; contains cheese, nuts)- Target and Aldi are starting to have their own brand of these as well
Edamame – we get ours from Trader Joe’s in the frozen section and just eat it after it thaws
Greek yogurt – any!

Step Four:

Pack bag #2 (I use a rectangular large bag from Thirty-One bags and put it between the seats of the van). As in Step 3, you will not be packing all of these!

Because most of these items are non-perishable, you can shop ahead and keep a special place in your pantry or closet for travel foods. When it’s time to go, pick a few from your stash — mix it up – variety is key and will keep your kids satisfied- healthy snacks for gymnasts made easy!

Bag Items:

Nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews- choose your favorite); I like to get the Emerald box with individual packages of almonds
Quaker or other brand rice cakes (plain or flavored)
Assorted small packs of almond butter (remember to squeeze and knead before opening)
StarKist Tuna or Chicken Creation packets
Annie’s Seaweed snacks
Bunch of bananas (obviously don’t keep these in your closet)
Box of Cheerios or Chex Cereal
Pre-made trail mixes (I let my kids make their own with oats, dark chocolate chips, banana chips, nuts, and coconut)- we use cute containers or fun baggies for these and label with their name
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds

And finally, for those who don’t need to read through the excuses, but just want the list for SIMPLE, healthy snacks for gymnasts eating on-the-go…

Full Shopping List All In One Place:

Bag of Mini Cucumbers
Individual bags of baby carrots (you can get a large bag too, but the little bags are handy)
Pint of blueberries
Bag of Sugar Snap Peas
Small container of pomegranate seeds (Trader Joe’s has these all prepared in little cups)
Chobani tubes of yogurt (Gimmies)
Container of cherry tomatoes
Bag of mini-BabyBel cheese
Bag of string cheese or individually wrapped small cheeses of your choice
Pre-sliced apple slices- you can take some small whole apples instead if you prefer
Clementines or Cuties (easy to peel!)
Sargento Balanced Break (huge variety to choose from; contains cheese, nuts)- Target and Aldi are starting to have their own brand of these as well
Edamame – we get ours from Trader Joe’s in the frozen section and just eat it after it thaws
Greek yogurt – any!
Nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews- choose your favorite); I like to get the Emerald box with individual packages of almonds
Quaker or other brand rice cakes (plain or flavored)
Assorted small packs of almond butter (remember to squeeze and knead before opening)
StarKist Tuna or Chicken Creation packets
Annie’s Seaweed snacks
Bunch of bananas (obviously don’t keep these in your closet)
Box of Cheerios or Chex Cereal

You may have noticed this list isn’t long! That is purposeful- the idea is to keep it simple. Happy fueling with healthy snacks for gymnasts!

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