Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

It is all about balance my friends

5 Nov 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:07

In this coaching segment, Coach Kelsey outlines a simple nutrition framework for athletes based on three food categories and an 85/15 rule. She defines "sometimes foods" (e.g., pizza, fast food, candy, ice cream) as indulgent items that should make up roughly 15% of total intake, emphasizing that they don’t need to be eliminated entirely. The core 85% consists of "F1 fuel" foods—nutrient‑dense, whole‑food options such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, meat, potatoes, and oats—that provide the essential nutrients for optimal performance. Finally, she introduces "quick energy" foods meant for consumption before or during training (e.g., dried fruit, granola bars, applesauce, fruit snacks, crackers, sports drinks, honey sticks) to sustain energy levels. The overall message is that balanced, purposeful eating supports athletic performance while still allowing occasional treats.

Chapters

Coach Kelsey, is it okay for me to eat pizza? Is it okay for me to get fast food sometimes? Is it okay for me to eat ice cream? There's 3 types of foods, guys. There's sometimes foods, there's F1 fuel foods, and then there's quick energy foods. I have something called the 85/15 rule. 85% of the time I want you eating the F1 fuel foods. The other 15% of the time it's okay to eat the sometimes foods. As you can see, the sometimes foods, the foods that you're going to be eating 15% of the time, are the chips and the candy and the fast food and the sweets and the pizza. Those are sometimes foods. I'm not going to tell you to cut them out all the way. The 85% of the time foods is F1 race car fuel. This is our premium fuel that will give your body the fuel and the nutrients that it needs to perform at its best. This is going to be your fruits, your vegetables, your potatoes, your whole grains, your rice, your dairy, your oats, your meat. It's going to be all of the good foods that God has put on this earth. And then we have our quick energy foods. These are the foods that you're going to be having before and during games and practices that will give you quick energy and quick fuel to keep your body going and to keep your gas tank full. So examples of those will be dried fruit, granola bars, applesauce, fruit snacks, crackers, sports drinks, and honey sticks. Okay, All of this is going to give you energy before and during your training.