How To Feed A Young Athlete Who Hates “Healthy”

You want to fuel a young athlete, but every “healthy” meal turns into a standoff. We’ve been there—and we found a simple way through it by turning control into collaboration. Instead of forcing clean plates, we start by asking our kids what they actually want to eat and what they’re training for, then invite them to help find recipes online. That small shift—from dictating to involving—changes everything. When they choose, they try. When they try, they learn. And when they learn, better food becomes part of their identity, not a rule to dodge.

We break down a practical system you can use tonight: swap juice for whole fruit so fiber can slow the sugar rush and support gut health; keep oranges, strawberries, melon, and carrots on repeat because they’re hydrating, portable, and kid-approved; and build meals around clean proteins that cut down on unnecessary additives and antibiotics. If your family eats meat, choosing grass-fed or organic where possible can improve flavor and texture while supporting recovery. We stick to familiar formats—tacos, bowls, sheet-pan dinners—so nutrition fits your schedule, not the other way around.

Cost and consistency matter, too. We talk through buying fruit in bulk, shopping seasonal produce, using less but better meat, and reducing packaged snacks that drain budgets and energy. Most importantly, we show how engagement is the secret performance enhancer: have your child pick one new recipe each week and help prep, then track simple signals like practice energy, focus after school, and hunger patterns. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s a repeatable routine that your kid actually likes. If you’re ready to turn picky eating into purposeful fueling, press play—then tell us what recipe your athlete wants to try next. Subscribe, share with a fellow sports parent, and leave a review to help more families build smart, kid-powered nutrition.

• framing the picky athlete challenge
• involving kids in choosing and researching recipes
• cutting obvious junk and spotting real taste preferences
• prioritising whole fruit for fiber and vitamin C
• go-to options: oranges, strawberries, melon, carrots
• selecting higher-quality meats to reduce additives and antibiotics
• balancing cost with preventative benefits and consistency

About This Podcast

It takes a village to raise a pro athlete.

For the first time ever this channel takes you behind the athlete’s ‘unspoken’ road what it really takes to raise athletes. 

What to expect when you listen:

Real, Raw Truth

Laughter

The Struggles & Successes

ABOUT YOUR HOST:

Marina Kuperman Villatoro, a mama who is on a mission to help her sons reach their athletic (rock climbing) goals and dreams. 

Connect and be Part of the Strategic Village

SIGN UP FOR THE LATEST UNCENSORED HACKS and TIPS

https://raisingproathletes.com/sign-up/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/raisingproathletes/ 

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@raisingproathletes 

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@raisingproathletes 

Website - https://raisingproathletes.com/ 

Transcript

Framing The Picky Athlete Problem

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What to feed your kid athlete, especially if they are picky eaters. My son is an incredibly picky eater, so it's not that easy for us to just come up and whip something what I would call high performance healthy because chances are he will not like it. So what do I do to fix that? First of all, I have him tell me exactly what he wants to do and eat. So I also asked him to go online and look at different recipes. And once he obviously shows me, and you know, we cut out all the junk food because a lot of times there's a lot of crap in there, we could kind of narrow down what his tastes are, and then I go and look for the highest possible quality ingredients. So the best suggestion is ask them, make them look up the recipes. A lot of times when they are engaged and they are actually doing it, you'll be surprised how fun it could be for them. And on top of that, it's nutritious and high performance food. Oranges is a big favorite for my son. And I usually buy a huge like five, six kilos at once because we eat the actual orange. When you eat the orange, it's not like orange juice. You get the fiber, you get the vitamin C from the actual source. Remember, orange juice has a lot of sugar, and you want to cut that out. You want to capture the fiber as well as the vitamin C. Also, strawberries, melon, these are all things that I first asked my son before going to the store and shopping for them. Also, carrots. Big, big, big favorite of my child. So, of course, I'm gonna go and shop those as well. So find out what they really like. Never a shortage of beautiful ingredients. Also, when you are buying actual different ingredients, for instance, if you use a meat eater or she, you it's really important to get grass fed or organic or whatever it is that is extra healthy for to get rid of the antibiotics. You want to have as few bad additives as possible. Yes, it's a little bit more costly, but not really. It's preventative, right? And also it's just healthier for the child.