The University of Arizona
CATS Team Nutrition
Pack and Go Foods
for the Busy Student-Athlete
(and who isn’t?)
Eating for top performance as a college student isn’t easy, but it is possible. You just have to take a little
time up front, organize your nutrition “game plan,” and do some planning and gathering. Once you get the
hang of it, it will become as routine and necessary as warm up laps. Here’s some tips to help!
How to Pack a Balanced Lunch and snacks for the day
Include these five things…or take a few of them along and fill in the rest from similar choices you
can buy around campus.
1. A Fruit (canned is fine, too) or fruit juice
2. A Vegetable or vegetable juice
3. High-fiber grains like whole wheat bread, cereals, crackers, rice, or pasta.
4. A high-Protein food like peanut butter, lean meat, fish, skinless poultry, legumes –
such as beans or lentil soup, nuts, or soy products.
5. A non-fat or low-fat diary product like milk, string (or other) cheese, cottage
cheese, yogurt (Be sure to take a calcium supplement if you do not eat dairy)
Stocking Up to Make Packing Easy
Here is a grocery list to help you get organized. To increase chances that you’ll actually pack your
lunch and snacks, get things together the night before and just grab them as you go out the door in the
morning…
Supplies
lInsulated lunch bag with ice pack
Baggies, plastic wrap
Plastic utensils
Small plastic bowls with lids
Napkins or paper towels
High fiber grains
Whole wheat (or other whole grain) bread
Granola, breakfast, sports bars
Total cereals
Chex cereals
Cheerios
Other “whole grain” cereals
Frosted mini wheats
Rice Cakes
Triskets (continued – over)
Gale Begeman, RD, CSCS
[email protected]
Fruit
Any fresh (just buy a few at a time)
Applesauce
Any canned (put in a double baggie or
covered dish…or but the handy but more
expensive “fruit cups”)
Dried fruit – just a handful
100% juice cans/bottles (watch the calories
in these – note the serving size)
Vegetables
Any canned (as with fruit)
Baby carrots
Other fresh, cut up
Lite salad dressing for dip
V-8 (not “splash”), tomato, other juice
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Rye Krisp
Other “whole grain” crackers
Graham crackers
Popcorn
Pretzels
Whole grain bagels and English muffins
Pita bread
Bread sticks
Corn or flour tortillas
Rice
Pasta
Baked snack chips
High Protein
(Note-Dairy products are also good protein
sources)
Lean deli meats
Tuna/salmon, canned in water
Chicken, canned
Nuts / Seeds (use in moderation)
Soy nuts
Peanut butter (and other nut butters)
Beans, all kinds (canned work well)
Bean dip, refried beans
Soy products (read labels for protein gms)
Dairy products (no- or low-fat)
Yogurt
String cheese (or get mozzarella and cut it
yourself)
Cottage cheese
Feta, goat, Swiss, other cheese
Milk (may be easier to buy this as you go)
Parmesan cheese
Combination Foods
Soups, canned or instant:
- Broth-based for lower calories
-With beans and/or meat for more protein
-Watch salt if it is a health issue for you
Chili, Hormel Turkey and Bean is a good one
Other canned or frozen entrees (read label
for 3 gms or less fat per 100 calories)
Miscellaneous
Jelly
Honey
Ketchup
Mustard
Salsa
Lite salad dressing
Some Other Good “Packable” Ideas
• Halve and core an apple, spread each half with peanut butter. Top with raisins and nuts, if you’d
like, then press the halves together. Wrap.
• Make your own “trail mix” of any combination of nuts, sunflower seeds, dry cereal, dried fruit,
other as you like. Pack in a baggie.
• Pack a baggie of popcorn sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
• Wrap raw vegetables in a damp paper towel and put them in a baggie for freshness. Pack a low-fat
dip in a small leak-proof container.
• Take a baggie of cereal for a snack. Look for high protein cereals like “Go Lean,” “Smart Start,”
and “Soy Flakes” for staying power.
• Take a bottle of water every day, drink up and refill it.
• To prevent soggy sandwiches, pack veggie add-ons in a separate bag and put them on your
sandwich immediately before eating.
• A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a good item that doesn’t need to be refrigerated. Replace
the jelly with fresh fruit slices – apples, pears, bananas – for a change.
Ideas adapted from “Healthy Brown Bag Lunches,” Hope Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Gale Begeman, RD, CSCS
[email protected]
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