Fuel, 9 of 9. From Week 9 of the Hockey IQ book.
From the locker room: Avocado toast with an egg is my rest-day breakfast and my post-game lunch. I learned the hard way that it’s not a pre-game meal: ate it at 3:00 for a 5:00 game once. Once.
The rule: Healthy fats support energy, hormones, and recovery. Eat them earlier in the day, after games, and on rest days. Not right before games, because they digest slowly.
Why: Fat is long-lasting fuel between meals, hormone production during a growth spurt, brain function, and recovery after hard games. About 20–30% of what you eat should be fat, mostly the unsaturated kind. The mistake goes both ways: avoiding fat entirely, or loading up on the wrong kind.
Best most of the time (unsaturated):
- 🟧 Avocado
- 🟧 Nuts and seeds, nut butters
- 🟧 Olive oil
- 🟧 Salmon and tuna
Limit: butter, cheese, whole milk, fatty meats. Not forbidden, just not the main source.
When: ✔ earlier in the day ✔ after games ✔ rest days ✘ not in the 2–3 hours before a game.
The whole plate, in one line: 🟨 carbs for game-time energy · 🟥 protein spread across the day · 🟧 fats for recovery, away from game time · 🟦 water all day · 🟩🟪 color for everything else.
Make it: Avocado Toast with Egg. Toast whole-grain bread. Mash half an avocado with salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon. Egg in a mug with a splash of water, microwave 50–60 sec. Avocado on the toast, egg on top, seeds or cherry tomatoes if you have them. Rest-day breakfast or post-game lunch.
Parents: the long version, with the stories, is on the Athlete Nutrition guide.
FIND. A. WAY.
