Ponte Vedra High School

Over the last year, I slowly started eating worse and worse and exercising less and less.  My typical daily food intake for the summer of ’08 was a bagel sandwich for breakfast, chicken wings and fries for lunch, a bag of chips for a snack and topped off with a cheeseburger and fries for dinner. Along with drinking almost nothing but sweet tea, I gained almost twenty five pounds from the end of my sophomore year. When I started dancing again, and school, I may have lost five pounds solely from the lack of temptation. However, when I had to stop dancing all together due to knee injuries, I was not in a healthy state. The weight may have not been enough for people to generally notice due to my tall figure, but it was affecting more than my figure. I also noticed a bad attitude change and I was always tired.

Luckily, in January of the same year my parents decided that the whole family needed a lifestyle makeover. So, in an attempt to make this a healthy life makeover, they came up with outlines. We were to eat healthy and exercise to our discretion for four months and we would all have a weight loss goal. For the girls, we would need to lose fifteen pounds and for my dad, it would be twenty. In order to stay motivated, they came up with consequences and a reward. If anyone didn’t meet their weight loss goal, they would have a consequence that was designated specifically for them. Mine happened to be to wash both of my parent’s cars every weekend for a whole year. Although what motivated me the most was the reward; whoever lost the most percentage body fat would win a $200 shopping spree. With all of these in place, we began our diet on January fifth.

Because of my knee problems, I decided that my choice of fitness would be swimming.  So, for six times a week I would swim laps for 30-60 minutes and occasionally do abs workouts. The eating part of the lifestyle change was the hardest part to stay on track with. I started by counting calories and trying to keep the daily count to under 1,750. By doing this and focusing on a lot more fruits and vegetables my daily diet transformed into eating a small bowl of Special K for breakfast, half a sandwich with more meat and veggies than bread with a yogurt and a fruit for lunch, a small after school snack and finally a carb free dinner ( like a grilled chicken salad). Now I’m not going to lie and say that I never fell off the band wagon, but in order to keep myself sane, I allowed myself one “bad” meal a week along the lines of a buffalo chicken sandwich.

After four months my goal of fifteen pounds was surpassed by six pounds for a total of twenty one pounds and needless to say I saw a lot of improvements. I didn’t end up wining the reward money, but I didn’t feel upset because of all of the things I did obtain. I obviously felt lighter, but I also was a lot more positive and had tons of energy. I did get a little off track right after the end because I kept on focusing on foods that I couldn’t eat for those four months but now, two months after the diet I am maintaining a healthy weight by continuing to exercise daily and focusing on eating foods that are good for me.

If I had to give advice on starting a healthy life, I would say to start slow and don’t focus on any one side of health; you must both eat well and exercise. Exercise at first for only thirty minutes daily and slowly work your way up. For the diet side, counting calories at first until you get a general feel for what is good or what is too much.  A healthy weight is not being thin and looking good, but it is about feeling good about yourself and eating foods that better your life.

Top ten foods I live by now:

1. Nuts: almonds, peanuts, anything (the perfect snack that keeps you full!)
2. Chicken: contains protein without all of the fat that other meats have
3. Brown rice: a great alternative to white rice with almost half of the calories
4. Granola:  although high in calories, it is still really good for you
5. Grapes and Blueberries: taste as sweet as candy and easy to snack on
6. Wraps instead of bread on sandwiches: always wheat or wholegrain
7. Oatmeal: great alternative to cereal and contains more fiber
8. Eggs: contain a lot of protein to keep you from getting the munchies
9. 5 Calorie Jello: makes for the perfect dessert!
10. 100 Calorie Popcorn packs: better for you and contains more product than a bag of chips

“What and when you eat, day in and day out, will determine your body’s ability to recover, repair and grow. To really put your food to work for you, timing and combining of foods, meals and supplements will maximize mental and physical training and recovery.” …Dr. Susan M. Kleiner

I’m opening this article on Game-Day Nutrition because it is absolutely essential to understand that performance on game day is not based on what you eat on the day of the game or competition, it’s what you eat day in and day out, for weeks and months before competition, that will ultimately determine overall performance. Once you get your nutrition foundation built, what you eat on the day of the game certainly helps.

These are the key goals for your meals and snacks on competition day.

• Hydrate and fuel during exercise
• Boost mental focus and energy
• Recover, build and refuel after exercise
• Minimize muscle damage and soreness

Before your game, fluids are essential:

• Drink throughout the day
• 2 cups immediately prior to exercise

Among your fluids include water, nonfat/lowfat milk, and 100% juice (4-8 ounce servings).

Your pre-game meal should be 3-4 hours before competition, but this is somewhat flexible based on individual adaptability. In other words, test it out and see what you’re comfortable with. Everyone is different.

• Pre-game Meal
  • Protein, carbohydrate, healthy fats, fluids
• Example foods:
  • Grilled fish/chicken, wild rice/potato, whole grain roll, sautéed green beans, salad, olives, fruit, milk, water

If there is time, you should have a pre-game snack within 60-90 minutes prior to your event. The amount of food and timing is very individualized. Test this out before a game. Don’t ever experiment or do anything new on game day!

• Pre-game Snack:
  • Carbohydrate + protein + fluid (minimal fat)
• Example foods:
  • Yogurt+Fruit+Honey (or pre-sweetened yogurt)
  • Cereal+Fruit +Milk
  • Turkey Sandwich
  • Crackers/pretzels + Apple + Low fat mozzarella cheese
  • PB&J + milk
  • Sports drink + whey protein
  • Protein-energy bar/shake

During your game or event, the goal is to stay well-hydrated:

• Fluids!
  • 4-8 oz. every 15-20 minutes
  • Sports drinks are a good choice on game-day

When the game is over, these are your immediate goals:

• Rehydrate
• Repair
• Refuel
• Grow

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, DRINK YOUR RECOVERY SHAKE!!

No shake? Drink chocolate milk. It is a great convenient way to rehydrate and recover.

Then shower and eat a meal.

This recipe is adapted from my book, Power Eating, Third Edition. You can use it as one serving if you can use all the calories. Cut it in half of make it two servings for a smaller portion. Many more smoothie recipes are available in the book, available at www.powereating.com.

**Kleiner’s Muscle Building Formula PLUS**

24 g isolated whey protein

1 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries

1 medium banana

1 cup nonfat vanilla soy milk fortified with calcium, vitamins A & D

1 cup orange juice fortified with calcium and vitamin C

Blend for 60 seconds until smooth.

One serving contains:

Nutrients Food Group Servings

436 calories 4 fruit servings

86 grams carbohydrate

27 grams protein 1 nonfat milk serving

0 grams fat 3 very lean protein serving

8 grams dietary fiber 3 tsp added sugar

]]> http://nutritionsg.com/game-day-meal/feed/ 0 http://nutritionsg.com/how-to-eat-for-an-early-competition/ http://nutritionsg.com/how-to-eat-for-an-early-competition/#comments Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:48:05 +0000 admin http://nutritionsg.com/?p=22 Any of us that have had an early game or workout know that it is often difficult to decide what to eat and when to eat before a contest like that. Experts will all tell us that in order to get the most out of your body you want to eat 3-4 hours before the game or workout. I don’t know about you, but there is no way that I am going to get up and eat at 5AM when I have a game at 9AM and there is no way that a young kid is going to do that. Maybe the fact that I was not willing to make that commitment is the reason that I am no longer in the NFL but am now writing this blog! Olympic athletes that Dr. Susan Kleiner has worked with will actually get up 4-5 hours before their meet or event have their meal and then go back to sleep!!! But what about those of us that are not going to do that in a million years, what can we do to be effective and have energy for that early morning workout, game or event? In this interview Dr. Kleiner covers this exact topic in her weekly podcast with sportsgist.com

To hear Dr. Kliener’s entire interview click here

Click here for the entire interview with Dr. Kleiner

]]> http://nutritionsg.com/understanding-calories/feed/ 0 00:01:01 One of the most difficult things as an athlete is determining what your caloric intake should be. There are so many factors that can go ... One of the most difficult things as an athlete is determining what your caloric intake should be. There are so many factors that can go into the calorie equation and everywhere you turn someone is telling you something different. Luckily sports nutritionist Dr. Susan Kleiner has tackled this issue first hand for sportsgist.com and has been able to shed some light and give guidance to those of us who have been struggling with the calorie dilemma. Click here for the entire interview with Dr. Kleiner calories,,diet,,nutrition,,performance,,weight,gain,,weight,loss kit.latham@gmail.com no No