Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook Paperback – October 11, 2013

I wish I would have had this book ten or even fifteen years ago. It is a great book, and does three things really well.1) It explains in easy terms the key concepts, diets,, assessment methods, etc. Everything in the book is easy to understand.2) It gives good details. This is not a thin book, but it is not overwhelming - especially when you search for a topic. It gives you what I think is pretty much the perfect level of detail. It has subsections for different types of people and athletes. For example pregnant women, winter sport athletes, etc. Great way to give specific advice that really helps.3) Nancy has hit the trifecta with the last point - examples and visual aids. Be it a diagram of a plate, or tables of different recovery nutrients, or great recipes, this book is not just an ivory tower guide, it gives you practical and easy to understand information.Note - I received this book in exchange for my review, but I loved it so much I have purchased the Kindle edition to have on the go, that should tell you how much I love it!

I had an earlier edition of this book. It was packed with information that is presented in a clear, concise fashion. It is hard to believe there could be anything more to be added. Well that edition was lost, so I ordered this one. It is still written in the Same manner the earlier edition is. There is still more information than the earlier edition had. The book includes tons of nutritional advice. It is geared toward athletes or serious workout buffs. However the advice is good for anyone that wants to learn about proper nutrition. It also includes a section with healthy recipes that are not complex and a section with references to web sites and books on a variety of topics mentioned in the book.I loved the first edition I had and this book is even better. It is well worth the price. I will find myself going back to it over and over as a reference.

I read this book through the lens of a triple-certified personal trainer and was very impressed with some of the information presented. The diet information ranged from recommendations for the average person wanting to be healthy to sports specific diet advice. The importance of eating and eating clean was her emphasis, and her mantra ‘more calories in than burned led to weight gain’ was repeated often. Not being afraid of food , not trying crazy diets and not being sedentary was the main text.Where the text conflicts and dates itself is mentioned in many comments. Yes, she recommends cereal and energy bars and other foods that are not clean and contain preservatives. She states fat-not sugar-is the culprit to weight gain when we know if your diet contains too much of either that causes weight gain. She makes a valid and scientifically proven point that hydrogenated oil is the mother of all disease producers, yet recommends peanut butter and jelly sandwiches-two for extreme athletes-as a snack. She admits to eating them daily. Yet we know peanut butter single-handedly contains more hydrogenated oil than any other food. The reader can only presume she eats organic?Here is the take away....science always changes their recommendations. Yes, eat eggs. Whoops. No, don’t eat eggs...too much cholesterol. You can’t change your diet or work out based on the latest data. It is fluid and ever changing. Stick with tried and true methods....the classic advice that always works. If your diet is 80/20 and primarily contains real food not produced in a lab and full of preservatives and fillers, if you are eating consistently to fuel your body, if you listen to your body and stop eating when satisfied, not full (another excellent point the author makes) and if you stay active, you will be living a pretty clean, healthy lifestyle.If you want to split hairs over every word written, you will find many opportunities to do so. If you want good, general advice, you will find many examples of that, too. As with any occasion where you are listening and learning from others, you take the good and apply it and throw the bad advice out.

I've only had this book since yesterday afternoon, and pretty much have just flipped through the chapters to get an idea of its contents and am now on page 34. I can tell this is exactly what I was looking for in a nutritional guide. I'm a triathlete and know that my diet has been not un-healthy, but definitely not sufficient to help me perform like I want to. My energy for training has been lacking - even for this off-season. All the information on the internet is so confusing and probably mostly wrong.I like her no-nonsense approach and how she makes it evident how EASY it is to get your nutrition. It makes me happy to read that if I eat whole grain cereal and whole wheat bread, it's perfectly FINE if I eat normal pasta for dinner or white rice with my stir fry. I'm sorry, but nothing ruins stir-fry or a nice pasta sauce than whole grain. :)Definitely looking forward to incorporating her advice into my diet.

This book is easy to read! I love her writing style, it is addictive and hard to put down. Easy to understand and answers so many questions I have had for years about the way food works and effects our body together with exercise. Not just for athletes! Everyone should be doing some kind of exercise and her recommended amount is 1 hour per day. Well balanced information. It is so crazy how the things we hear about food, (from advertisements about diets and everywhere else) can effect our thinking about food. Nancy really sets things straight and backed with a ton of research! She is always referencing a study or a real life example. And if an idea does not have enough research to back it, she tells you there is not enough research to back this yet so for now the best bet is to..... Great book! A must read!