LeCharles Bentley has successfully built himself into one of the premier voices in offensive line play out there. He has a training facility geared toward the training, development and education of offensive lineman, and his Twitter account (@OLWord65) is a virtual treasure trove of information about offensive line play.
Bentley's platform comes from being a two-time Pro Bowler in the NFL during a career with the Browns and Saints, a First-team All-Big Ten selection and consensus All-American, and the winner of the prestigious Dave Rimington Award while at Ohio State.
Earlier today, Bentley's website posted a piece titled the "Top 3 Fast Food Choices for Offensive Line Athletes." In it, Bentley lists Wendy's and Chipotle as the top two places to grab a healthy, quick bite to eat. The third one you probably wouldn't guess.
Bentley on Wendy's:
"In terms of being served a quality beef patty, Wendy’s is on point. They also provide baked potatoes."
"At least Wendy’s is going to provide you a clean carbohydrate option. If you’re looking to gain weight, a triple without the bun and a baked potato is a great supplemental meal."
Bentley on Chipotle:
"Here’s what I appreciate about Chipotle, they’re committed to providing you great tasting food sourced from high level distributors."
"Chipotle provides clean carbohydrate sources between white rice, brown rice, pinto beans, and black beans (awesome). They also serve fresh guacamole that’s ideal for quality weight gain. The player looking to drop some weight doesn’t have to sacrifice flavor for convenience. A bowl with double steak, fajita onions, extra cheese, sour cream, and guacamole is a low carb/high fat homerun."
After reading Bentley's piece, we thought it would be a good idea to compile a list of some national chain healthy options where coaches could grab a quick, nutritious bite while out on the road recruiting. Here are our top five.
Subway (menu nutritional info can be found here)
A six-inch turkey breast sub on wheat with swiss, banana peppers, cucumbers, green peppers, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes and avacado runs just shy of 400 calories, and includes 23 grams of protein. Let's be honest, no coach orders a six-inch sub, so just do the math and double those numbers for a foot-long.
Since the menus and options at QDoba and Chipotle are very, very similar, many of the things that Bentley pointed out for Chipotle also ring true for Qdoba.
Starbucks (menu nutritional info can be found here):
Chances are good you'll already be there fueling up on caffeine, so might as well take advantage of some of the healthy snack/lunch options the coffee chain provides. Help yourself to one of their protein boxes that include grapes, apples, pita chips, some cheese and hummus and a hard boiled egg for 380 calories and 13 grams of protein, or the edamame hummus wrap with 490 calories and 12 grams of protein, or just grab a fruit or other snack they normally have conveniently located by the register.
Panera Bread (nutritional info from menu included here)
Panera has an impressive selection of salads, for those into that kind of thing, and while this is probably the favorite option for most of our wives and significant others, there's plenty of healthy options including the Mediterranean egg white sandwich on ciabatta (420 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 12 grams of protein) to steel cut oatmeal with a variety of fruit and nut options that hover about the 340 calorie, 6 grams of protein mark with anywhere from 8-14 grams of fat.
Chick-fil-A (menu nutritional info can be found here)
Stick with the grilled chicken wrap or sandwich and you're only looking at between 320-350 calories, and a solid 30-40 grams of protein. Chick-fil-A also has the unique option of grilled chicken nuggets that pair great with their honey mustard that has the perfect amount of kick.
Eating healthy while spending days and weeks on the road recruiting is a super-sized order, but if you can find a way to order healthy and stick to these suggestions, your wives/girlfriends and waistlines will thank us.