FuelU

This playbook points sound sports-nutrition principles straight at the two places you actually eat: the dining hall and your dorm's shared kitchen. You don't need to weigh food, track macros, or cook like a chef — you need a few repeatable frameworks you can run on autopilot, even after a late practice. Start with The Core, learn to build a plate anywhere, then use the fueling sections to time it around training and games.

Five habits that do 90% of the work

Forget diets. These five habits — run consistently — cover the vast majority of your results. Memorize them; everything else in this guide is just how to hit them away from home.

Your hand is your portion tool

No scale, no app. Your hand is sized to your body and travels everywhere — the dining hall, the dorm, the road. Build most meals to this template, scaled to your own hand:

A palm-sized portion is the same thickness and width as your palm (~20–30g protein each). Bigger hand, bigger portions — that's the point. As a rule of thumb, lean toward 1 of each per meal if you're smaller or on a lighter day, and 2 of each if you're bigger or training hard. Treat it as a starting point and adjust to hunger, training load, and how your body responds.

The Athlete Plate

When you can see a plate but not measure it, use this picture. Half veggies and fruit, a quarter quality protein, a quarter smart carbs, a drizzle of healthy fat, water to drink.

+ a thumb or two of healthy fat, and water or unsweetened tea to drink. On heavy training days, let the carb wedge grow.

The Dining Hall Game Plan

A buffet is a test of strategy, not willpower. Walk in with a plan and the same great plate builds itself every time.

The Dorm Shared-Kitchen Playbook

A shared kitchen means limited time and limited storage. The move is to prep once, eat several times, and keep a few no-cook options for nights you're wiped.

No-cook / microwave meals for wiped-out nights

Four fast recipes (each ~5 min, makes 1)

Two more batch-friendly staples worth learning: Chicken with Chick Peas and a simple Mediterranean Salad (cucumber, tomato, olive oil, salt) — both hold in the fridge for next-day meals.

The grocery run

Shop the perimeter of the store — produce, meat, dairy, eggs live on the edges; the sugary processed stuff hides in the center aisles. This covers a week for 1–2 people; scale up if you're feeding roommates or eating big.

Tip: the 21 superfoods further down double as a grocery list. Keep meal-sized containers on hand — storage is what makes prep possible in a shared kitchen.

Why fuel matters — the two-minute version

Your sport isn't one gear. A fast break, a sprint, a jog back to reset — your body runs three different energy systems, and each one is fed differently. Understanding this is why the timing sections that follow actually work.

Quick energy math: carbohydrate and protein carry 4 calories per gram, fat 9. Carbs are your fastest, most available fuel for high-intensity play — which is exactly why they get dialed up around training.

The 3-phase fueling window

Same food, better timing. Think of every training day in three phases — before/during, right after, and the rest of the day. Nail these and you play harder and recover faster.

Food-first is the rule here — you can hit all three phases with real meals, fruit, milk, and a basic protein powder. Before adding any performance supplement, clear it with your physician and confirm it's NCAA-eligible; the supplement aisle is where avoidable eligibility problems happen.

The hydration protocol

Even a little dehydration drops performance — fatigue, cramps, slower reactions, poor focus. Water regulates your body temperature; lose too much and everything gets harder. Here's a protocol you can actually follow (ACSM / athletic-trainer guidance).

The 21 superfoods

Build your cart and meals around these nutrient-dense staples. Aim for 3–5 servings of each across a week (skip anything you're allergic or intolerant to).

What a training day can look like

An example training day timed around an afternoon practice, portioned toward the higher end (a bigger athlete building or maintaining muscle). Every portion flexes with your hand, your hunger, and your training load — scale it to you; this is a template, not a prescription.

Cutting weight? Trim a carb handful or a fat thumb from a couple of meals. Adding size? Add a carb handful and an extra shake. Re-assess every few weeks: "How's that working for me?"

The Costco run

Bulk buying is how a student athlete eats a lot of quality protein without going broke — cost-per-gram drops hard when you buy big. Split the haul and the bill with roommates or teammates, then portion and freeze on the way home.

Most of these need zero fridge — ideal for a dorm and perfect for restocking the rescue duffle. The fridge/freezer picks are the bonus round for when you've got the space.

Fast food guard rails

Sometimes the drive-thru or the food court is the only option — a road game, a late bus, a packed day. Guard rails are simple rules that keep a fast-food stop from wrecking your day. You can build a solid meal almost anywhere if you follow these.

Go-to orders by chain

The rescue duffle bag

The best defense against a bad food day is a bag you never have to think about. Keep a duffle (or a bin, plus a stash in your gym bag) packed with shelf-stable food and hydration at all times — so when practice runs late, the bus is delayed, or you oversleep, a good choice is already in your hand.

The 90/10 rule

Pocket cheat card

Screenshot this. It's the whole playbook in a handful of questions — answer them at any meal, anywhere.