Athletes are inundated with information on how to train and recover; they don't need the added pressure of dietary information overload. Food choices affect performance, but too often we get caught up in looking for the magic bullet and honing in on specifics only to ignore the big picture.
The truth is, the majority of people seeking fitness gains benefit from backing off a bit and getting back to basics — for example: Consuming a routine diet that includes a variety of colorful, nutritious whole foods.
1. TRACK FOR ENERGY INTAKE
Man doing karate stunts on gym
Photo by Uriel Soberanes on UnsplashEnergy intake relative to exercise energy expenditure is known as energy availability. It could be tempting to up exercise without increasing the fuel to support the effort in order to get lean. However, too many athletes succumb to over-restriction and caloric deficits, which results in the body being forced to use lean tissue as fuel. Ultimately, this hinders performance and body composition.
Instead of micromanaging macronutrient breakdown, milligrams of a specific vitamin, or supplement intake, aim to have a daily balance of calories you consume versus burn. Ensuring your overall energy needs are being met is a huge game changer in how you feel and consequently how you perform.
2. REDUCE THE JUNK
Selective focus photography of burger patty, mayonnaise, and French fries served on platter
Photo by Robin Stickel on UnsplashAll foods can fit into an overall healthy diet, however, consuming foods low in nutrient density is like loading up on the 'junk miles' in your workouts. It's fuel, but it isn't making you any better. Aim to reduce the amount of low nutrient density foods consumed day to day. The best athletes indulge occasionally, but know 80% of their intake should be high-quality calories — Think: complex carbohydrates, plant proteins, omega and unsaturated fatty acids and colorful produce — to best fuel their health and performance needs. Skipping packaged foods is the best way to start eliminating poor quality foods.
3. BUILD YOUR PLATE
Meat with vegetable on plate
Photo by Caroline Attwood on UnsplashA great place to start simplifying your diet is to focus on balance, and the plate method is a great example of how to do this. Instead of measuring or weighing your food, you can use the plate's template to add protein, carbohydrates (grains or starchy vegetables) and produce, in the designated areas. This method focuses on balance — having different food types represented — and since each food type has its place, portion control comes naturally. It also provides some structure without being overbearing or restrictive. Start with a simple meal of grilled chicken, sweet potato and a salad drizzled with vinaigrette, before exploring more adventurous meals.
4. STICK TO A ROUTINE
Yellow and white alarm clock at 10 10
Photo by Laura Chouette on UnsplashMake day-to-day eating easy by sticking to a handful of high-quality meal or ingredient staples. Many professional and elite athletes eat the same meals and reach for the same snacks repeatedly. This helps reduce decision fatigue and stress, factors that increase low level inflammation and potential weight gain — the opposite of what most athletes want.
Make a list of three meals you fall back on for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rotating the same few meals makes shopping and meal prep easy.
Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner |
---|---|---|
Oatmeal with berries and yoghurt | Chopped chicken salad | Peanut tempeh with mixed vegetables and quinoa |
Whole-grain toast with avocado and eggs | Bean burrito bowl | Steak with baked sweet potato and green beans |
Tofu scramble burrito with fruit | Turkey and hummus on whole-grain bread with an apple and yoghurt | Salmon poke bowl with brown rice |
When Winter Baxter and Kelsey Beckford, co-founders of BeckzBax Supper Club, step into a restaurant, heads turn. It's impossible to miss Winter’s close crop cut and Kelsey’s flowing braids, both with glowing smiles that radiate genuine warmth and confidence. But, it’s not just the two that cause eyes to redirect from glasses of wine and exotic dishes, it's their entire party. The Spelman sisters turned best friends are also flanked by 10 to 15 Black women when they are all escorted to their table.
To many, the concept seems simple- a group of friends out to dinner- but the experiences of the BeckzBax Supper Club are anything but ordinary. This supper club delivers everything from private dining rooms to specialty curated menus with incredible dishes prepared just for them and table visits from the chefs, all in some of New York’s most exclusive and hottest eateries. The New York-based supper club has set its sight on delivering a dining experience that seeks to thrill with its adventurous palette and return to the social aspect of dining. Crafting unabashed moments of sincerity and candidacy with the people seated right beside you and social media posting saved for later.
The founders of the supper club designed by and for Black women dished to xoNecole about the courses they serve before the waiter even places the first dish down.
xoNecole: You are both native New Yorkers, the crossroads of the globe that’s home to a diverse array of cultures and with that, a dining scene that’s unparalleled. How did your childhood fuel your passion for food?
BeckzBax: When you're a city kid in New York, you really learn that going out to dinner or lunch is the thing to do. It's our culture to try out new food in restaurants. So since we were children, we saw how the restaurants and many neighborhoods were changed due to gentrification and how we lost a lot of authentic New York folks, whether they were Senegalese, Italian, Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, [or] African-American. Now a lot of the neighborhoods are just whitewashed and toned down.
So now there are restaurants that are bringing back culture, and we want to experience that.
xoN: How did BeckzBax make it from the group chat to a now highly sought-after event?
BeckzBax: Last summer in 2022, we were out at Moko, which is our favorite Omakase restaurant in the city. We had a 15-course meal, and we loved it. It was such a cool experience. But we looked around and realized we were the only two Black women in the space. We thought it would be more fun and a more fulfilling experience if we can dine in bigger groups.
I feel like a lot of people are trying to rediscover how they want to be social, definitely because of lockdown and just getting older. We have friends who are now sober, friends who don't like going out to clubs, and everybody is doing brunch. So we asked ourselves, “What else is there to do?” We came up with the supper club and focused on dinner because you always need to eat!
xoN: In just a year you have carved out a very unique identity for your supper club. Why do you think so many Black women gravitate toward your events?
BeckzBax: This is not a girl-boss event. This is really just, 'Hey, it's Tuesday night. Are you alone in the city? Do you need company? Do you need a sister? Do you need a friend, even if it’s just for a couple of hours?' We have seen how it really helps people feel like they are safe and supported.
We really appreciate that people give us that honor and privilege of coming to our events by themselves because they feel safe enough that they'll be received and treated with honesty and respect.
xoN: What is it like being a group of Black women occupying restaurant spaces that typically caters to a different crowd?
BeckzBax: We are here to disrupt the hospitality industry in the way that it operates because right now, there are a lot of things that people are not talking about. People are not being transparent about when it comes to having a good time out at dinner at some of these fine dining restaurants.
The treatment from the door is very different. If they don't know that we are the supper club that's booked for the private dinner, they assume that it's not us.
xoN: What ideas are you trying to dismantle with your supper club?
BeckzBax: The gatekeeping! There’s no gatekeeping food. It's food, it's an ingredient whether it's a tomato or a truffle. Everyone deserves to try and have new things.
xoN: What has surprised you the most about the restaurants since you’ve started?
BeckzBax: Our attendees are really shocked to find out that a Black woman is behind the menu and has curated this entire experience in a number of upscale restaurants.
That's what we want to highlight: we are the ones behind the success of a lot of these restaurants. Whether or not we are in the room… we are in the kitchen, and nobody talks about that. We're in the kitchen, so we deserve to be in this space just as much as everybody else does.
xoN: Wow! So how do the chefs react when they see your group in their restaurants, especially when you both don’t reflect the makeup of the restaurants you attend?
BeckzBax: We’ve been told it's liberating for the chefs. They don't often get to flex their own muscles very much. They're restricted to their menu and what their clients want. BeckzBax Supper Club allows them the space and freedom to really show what they're capable of.
Instead of repeatedly making the same ten dishes, they can offer seasonal options, and the chef is really allowed to show the fullness of what they can do.
xoN: What about the people that say, “Hey, I can go out to dinner with friends on my own.” What is it that BeckzBax brings to the table… literally?
BeckzBax: You are not going to have the same experience solo that we are able to curate for you. It’s impossible because we take the time to build relationships with chefs, owners, and general managers to provide a very specific experience for our members.
What sets BeckzBax apart is the point of breaking bread together. We've lost the art of socializing without it being for a reason like a birthday or networking. We’re not about a certain aesthetic. Everyone is there because they actually want to come, sit down, have dinner, and have real conversations. They want to get candid and share their life. Whatever you need, and it happens over food.
xoN: How can xoNecole readers join the supper club? Are you all accepting new members?
BeckzBax: Yes! If you’re interested in joining, email us at beckzbax@gmail.com. We’ll send you a welcome email and explain the full process of joining, including how the club works and membership fees and dues. If you want to do a trial run before joining, we also have mini-series events that are usually cocktail hours so you can get to know us and meet current members.
xoN: Do you have any plans to expand BeckzBaz outside of New York?
BeckzBax: We’re going international! Japan is at the top of the list, and our goal is to do world tours, with the food being the basis of it all. This summer we’re also expanding domestically, if you’re in D.C., Philly, California, or Atlanta, keep your eyes open!
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Featured image courtesy of BeckzBax Supper Club
The Great Report
2020 Global Report Sheet