What Utah State football players eat in a day
Anyone who played sports at a competitive level knows the food you eat has a big impact on performance. Utah State University’s football players are no stranger to this idea and have to pay close attention to everything they eat. So, what exactly do USU football players eat in a day?
Breakfast is a must have, especially before morning workouts. Christopher Bartolic, a senior punter for USU football, goes for a simple protein shake followed by a meat lovers skillet at Angie’s.
USU’s long snapper, Brandon Pada, explained if the team has a morning workout he shows up early and eats “a bagel with some peanut butter just to have something in my stomach before the lift.” After the workout, Pada has a protein shake.
Connor Coles is USU’s place kicker. He gets his energy from a bowl of oatmeal 30 minutes before the team’s workout and, like Pada, drinks a protein shake after the workout.
For lunch, Bartolic likes to have a sandwich, like an Italian sandwich from Jimmy John’s.
Pada generally has an early lunch at Angie’s with the team and orders four eggs, bacon and sweet potato fries. For Coles, lunch is usually lighter. If he’s hungry, he’ll go for a bagel from the fueling station.
According to Bartolic, dinner time calls for some carbs. He generally goes for a pizza, burger or pasta. Pada has an early dinner at 5:30 p.m.
“I do like a high carb, high protein dinner. So, something like spaghetti with meatballs, or a steak and some potatoes just something that really fills my stomach,” Pada explains, “then I fast for the rest of the night.”
Coles occasionally eats with the team for dinner, but if he’s making his own dinner he loves steak and potatoes or chicken and rice.
Batrolic, Pada and Coles all have similar favorite meals: a sirloin steak with a baked potato and veggies on the side. However, each player has their own variation of the meal. Pada occasionally switches out a regular baked potato with a sweet potato and is “really big into spinach” so he adds spinach to get his greens in. Coles likes to add asparagus on the side of his steak and potato and admits that asparagus is the vegetable he feels most comfortable cooking.
Do football players have cheat meals?
Yes, yes they do. Bartolic recommends BJ’s Pizzeria in California, but in Utah he cheats with a Little Caesars pizza. Pada’s favorite cheat meal is a bacon cheeseburger with fries from Chili’s, where he also gets “all you can eat chips.”
“My cheat meal is definitely Chick-fil-A,” Coles said, “that’s my favorite. I’ve been sad they’ve been closed for the last few weeks.”
His favorite meal there is the spicy chicken sandwich or the chicken strips with waffle fries and lemonade.
Emily White is a junior studying English and broadcast journalism. She is currently serving as the senior writer for the Lifestyles section of the Statesman.
—emily.white@usu.edu