With a change in season comes a change in eating. In the winter, most of us crave heartier, warmer meals, like soups and stews, oatmeal, or roasted potatoes. “If you live somewhere cold, you naturally want to eat a little heavier in the winter,” says Jessica LaRoche, a sports nutritionist who works with elite athletes at U.S. Ski and Snowboard. “But if you’re doing winter sports, you still want to fuel your body well for that.”
Top athletes who train throughout the winter months need to refresh their diets this time of year to accommodate for higher intensity training, colder temperatures, and what’s available when traveling to far-off locations.
LaRoche encourages her athletes to try to eat seasonally, even when they’re on the road. “You’re probably not going to eat a ton of tomatoes in the middle of December,” she says. “Frozen produce is great because they pick it at its prime and freeze it right away.” She recommends making smoothies with frozen fruit and stir-fries with frozen vegetables.
Warm drinks, like broth, tea, or cider, can help you stay hydrated if you’re not eager to guzzle chilled water in colder temperatures. Baked goods might be more appealing than ever during the winter, but LaRoche encourages her athletes to look for ones packed with healthy ingredients, like carrots or butternut squash for vitamins and fiber, or ground flax for added protein.
We called up some of LaRoche’s charges, plus a few other elite outdoor athletes, to ask them exactly how they fuel for success during the wintertime.