Surviving the Holidays When You Are an Athlete

Holidays are a wonderful opportunity to see family and friends that you might not otherwise see during the year. But what is a holiday without rich and tantalizing foods? While it is important to enjoy the holiday season and its delicacies, it is essential that you make smart food choices as an athlete. It is very easy to lose focus and suddenly find your weight up and your performance compromised. To arrive into the New Year with only positive memories of the holiday season, here are a few nutrition tips and tricks to guide you:

 

1.      Remember - calories in vs. calories out: Unwanted weight gain is the result of eating beyond your body’s needs.  Keep this in mind over the holidays. A great practice is to be sure to exercise on days you know will be full of eating (like Christmas). Begin the day with a great workout to kick-start your metabolism and set the pace for continued healthy choices into the evening.

 

Keep Performance & Body Comp Goals in Mind this Holiday Season!

Well, it's the holiday season again...a time for family, friends, and...FOOD! Unfortunately the holiday season falls - for many athletes - in the midst of the off-season and cold outdoor temperatures. So what's an athlete to do during the holidays to emerge still on track for his/her next race when January 2nd rolls around? Here are my performance-protecting holiday tips. Note: these are in order of importance!

1. Re-assess your goals.
While I understand you may have a March or April competition planned, the holidays may not be the best time to "kick your butt into gear" or "take your training to the next level". December can be a very stressful month - and remember that stress can wreak havoc on your metabolism, digestion and sleeping patterns. If trying to continue a hard-core training plan in the midst of everything is only adding undue stress, perhaps cut back a bit, take a deep breath, and try to enjoy time spent with family and friends.

Beyond the Liver: Alcohol & Athletes

This week, enjoy a guest blog post from Carrie Aprik MS, RD, CSSD. Carrie practices as sports RD in Michigan. She can be reached at Nutrition4Motion@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @Nutri4Motion. Thanks Carrie!

Be Extraordinary, 

RDKate
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For many students, the college experience has become synonymous with binge drinking; an activity that may involve up to dozens of alcoholic drinks in a single weekend. Every weekend. Surprisingly, “excessive drinking” is classified as much less: 5 or more drinks in one bout for males, 4 or more for females.  According to the NCAA¹, though the prevalence has decreased, 46% and 33% of male and female athletes, respectively, admit to excessive drinking. Beyond the well-known threat of liver damage to the average college student, student athletes have many more alcohol-related issues to worry about.  

Save your summer training; Avoid these 3 common nutrition pitfalls

Ah summer - it's finally here! A time for revving up the outdoor training and really focusing on those competitive goals. But nothing ruins a great training season like stupid nutrition decisions. Here are 3 common pitfalls many athletes fall into when they get just a little too relaxed with their eating over the summer.

1. "It's so nice out, lets go eat/drink _______."
When the whether is finally warm after a brutal winter, it is easy to always want to be outside on a restaurant porch drinking a your favorite alcoholic concoction or out for ice cream with the kids. Set limits on this now so these habits do not get out of hand. Remember that one drink or small cup of ice cream can easily load on up to 400 Calories of very little useful nutrition. A good rule of thumb is that you are allowed to "treat" yourself twice a week. Just make sure to choose a treat that you truly enjoy. This will leave you feeling satisfied instead of wishing you didn't waste the calories. Instead of always meeting friends at the tiki bar, trying meeting at the park and going for a walk in the beautiful sunshine.

2. "It's really hot out - I must be dehydrated. I better grab a sports drink."
Sports drinks are only meant to be drunk during one activity...sports. Don't use sports drinks as a random hydration tool unless you have met with a sports RD or physician who has the specific knowledge to tell you to do so. Why? Because sports drinks offer little in terms of good nutrition when it comes to meals, snacks or even in between. They are purely created for rehydration during relatively intense activity, which doesn't include standing around outside. Too much sports drink when you don't need it is just as bad as too much pop, alcohol, ice cream, etc....just a lot of empty calories that are not helpful.

5 ways alcohol wreaks havoc on your training

While many athletes enjoy drinking for social reasons, there are certain realities about alcohol and its effect on your body. Aside from overall health effects of alcohol ingestion, many athletes are unaware that alcohol consumption affects performance and recovery too. Here is how...

1. Alcohol dehydrates
Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it increases fluid losses in the body by blocking the normal signaling cascade that tells your body to hold on to fluid. Instead your kidneys continue to produce urine. This puts athletes at risk for dehydration, heat illness and muscle cramping.

Savvy Super Bowl Swaps

The "Big Game" is often known to bring along with it a big intake of calories. From deep fried boneless wings to gooey spinach artichoke dip, there is no shortage of comfort foods. Instead of throwing up your hands and assuming there is no alternative, try some of these ingredient swaps when choosing and preparing your favorite game-winning dishes. Many of these swaps can be used when cooking or baking, so keep an eye out for all opportunities. Most swaps do not result in a significant change in the flavor of your dish, which means fans won't notice a difference- unless you divulge your secrets.

Substitutes for butter, margarine, or oil
Applesauce or low sugar jam when baking
Oil spray when cooking
Low-fat broth when cooking

Dairy product substitutes
Nonfat ricotta cheese instead of regular ricotta cheese
Nonfat cottage cheese instead of regular cottage cheese
Evaporated skim milk instead of heavy whipping cream
Nonfat cream cheese instead of regular cream cheese
Nonfat/reduced fat cheese instead of regular cheese
Skim milk instead of whole milk
Nonfat yogurt instead of regular yogurt
Nonfat sour cream instead of regular sour cream
Nonfat, plain Greek yogurt instead of regular sour cream

Meat substitutes
Skinless, lean ground turkey instead of regular ground beef
Extra lean ground beef instead of regular ground beef
Skinless chicken or turkey instead of beef, steak or breaded meats

Sauces and condiments
Nonfat salad dressing instead of regular salad dressing (or go for olive/canola-oil based dressings)
Nonfat mayo for regular mayo
Nonfat Greek yogurt for regular mayo
Salsa instead of butter or dressing

Some other tips when preparing your dish:
-Consider skipping the added salt in a recipe. Most dishes are salty enough without it.
-Substitute 1/4 cup egg white substitute or 2 egg whites for each whole egg.
-Cut the amount of sugar in half or consider a sugar substitute, such as Splenda for Baking
-Cut smaller pieces or make smaller-sized cookies

Special note: Alcohol
If you choose to drink alcohol during the game, remember to follow the guideline of 1-2 drinks for men or 1 drink for women. If you choose to drink more, know that alcohol is detrimental to athletes. It acts as a diuretic, interfering with hydration status. It also interferes with recovery and suppresses the use of fat as a fuel during exercise. It not only adds additional calories, but also acts as an appetite stimulant, which may lead to even more intake. Finally, it interferes with sleeping patterns by reducing time spent in restful, deep sleep (important for proper recovery and facilitating weight changes or weight maintenance).

Here's to a great game!

Be Extraordinary,


RDKate