There are some common eating behaviors or habits that can actually impair performance. If you are "guilty" of any of these, you may want to try to change your habits to ensure that your food choices and eating behaviors complement and enhance exercise.
As an athlete it pays to be informed and educated when it comes to nutrition information. Think of this not just as food, but as the " edge" to help you be optimally prepared for practices and games. If you train hard, doesn't it make sense to pay attention to the other side of the equation? What you put into your body really does affect your ability to perform.
Although we all need to eat to survive, as a student athlete, your needs for nutrition are above and beyond the needs of your friends, classmates, and family members who are not as active.
It is very important to realize that there are things about our bodies over which we have no control, or what we cannot change. On the other hand, there are variables that you can change, but the goal here is to positively affect performance and health. For instance, someone might want to decrease body fat, but if one does not eat enough, and calories expended in exercise are too high, the end result may be a decrease in muscle mass in addition to body fat, which may result in a decrease in strength, speed and endurance.