A goal-den diet

“The body can lose a lot of water while playing football,and thus it becomes very important to drink a lot of water,” says Paresh Shivalkar,a professional footballer who plies his trade with Pune FC. “Football is not just about the 90 minutes on the field; we also spend two to three hours on match days,just warming up. On an average,I drink six to eight litres of water a day,” he adds.

A footballer needs to have a high protein diet,according to Shivalkar,and all the meals should be eaten at fixed times. “There is a very small window,which comes about three times a day,when the body knows exactly how much to eat. At all other times,one either over-eats or eats too little,and an athlete cannot afford to do either,” says the midfielder.

Shivalkar’s day typically consists of a heavy breakfast and light lunch,followed by a heavy dinner. “For breakfast,I generally have a glass of watermelon or orange juice,followed by a glass of milk and a couple of eggs. I,then,have a few rotis or slices of bread,with a light layer of butter on them. Lunch is usually light because of our practice shedule. Sometimes,I have a fruit as an evening snack,but that’s rare,” he says,adding that he eats citrous fruits that are high on Vitamin C. Dinner is a big meal for Shivalkar. “I eat lots of non-vegetarian food because of its high protein content. And I usually eat rotis and tend to avoid rice as it is fattening,” the 29-year-old says.

However,this pattern changes before a match. “On a pre-match day,I have a heavy meal,but on the day of the match,my meals are light. A heavy meal in the stomach can cause a stitch in the side (intense stabbing pain under the lower edge of the ribcage),but an empty stomach can cause giddiness. Thus,a light meal is good,” says Shivalkar.

However,this is the off-season when Shivalkar is not playing matches,at least not competitive ones. So how does he keep in shape? “It is very easy to fall into the trap of eating anything during the off-season and gaining weight. Even the well-paid athletes of Europe fall prey to it. But during the off-season,I try to avoid potato and rice as much as possible because they are weight-gaining agents,” he says. However,he is not a complete health junkie. “I eat both boiled and fried food,” he admits,adding,“But I do keep the fried food to a minimum!”