Christmas Eatings

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Sorry about the long time between posts this time. It was kind of hard for me to do because of all my travel and  basketball. After New Year's I should be getting back into a regular swing of articles.

With Christmas dinner we can all easily fall into the pit of eating whatever is put in front of us. Tradition, family, tasty treats, and holiday spirit are all culprits. Eating these foods can hurt the waistline at an inopportune time when we all want to look pretty for family photos, New Year's, or any holiday party. Just a few reminders this holiday so that we don't lose everything we work for.

Avoid the food coma. Eat until you are full. What's nice about the holidays is that we usually get more time, leftovers, and plenty of opportunities to eat those foods we love. When you pass your own threshold in order to eat more foods you are going to hurt yourself. Side effects include sleepiness, vomiting, sweating, fatigue, etc. You should be having fun now not complaining about how full you are feeling! Pace yourself. Go back for more but do it much later, and definitely realize that food could keep on coming (don't forget dessert!).

Don't stop your typical daily activities. Instead recruit friends, family, others, etc. to do them with you! Go for a jog in the morning? Bring the sister. P90X around lunchtime? Who else wants in? Getting your blood flowing and working up an appetite will help you stay in shape while enjoying the awesome food. Who knows, maybe you'll introduce a fun new way to stay fit to your friends and family. Here's a fun exercise: shopping. Make sure it involves lots of walking, trying on clothes/shoes,  picking up objects, etc. You'll find yourself burning when you don't even realize.

Stop snacking! I know it's hard...but try not to eat anything unless it is at a meal. When we eat these big meals like this, snacking can be the real problem with too many calories being eaten in one day. The days where you know you'll be feasting (and I'm talking Grandma's house here), have a nice light breakfast and lunch and really get yourself hungry for the dinner. It will make it taste that much better I promise! I don't really recommend this style of eating all through out the year, but for these special events, it can work perfectly.

Happy Holidays again! You have been awesome readers my first year with the blog!

Increased Energy! Not Waistline...

Hey everybody!

Got a request from a fellow athlete this week, so I decided to work on it for her! This post focuses on the people who strive for more energy but don't want the extra poundage associated with more food.

Think timing. When you eat your food is extremely important when looking for boosts of energy. Eating 30 min to one hour before energy is needed is ideal. This is perfect timing because of  the time it takes for the food to be digested into usable energy. A trick I've told my teammates is to eat during activity as well. Make this food high in simple carbohydrates (raisins, gummy bears, orange slices, etc.) and you will see a similar increase in energy. This is one thing Gatorade does for us with its sugar content. If energy is a thing of need after activity, those of you who have jobs or studying, then make sure to eat 30 min to one hour after practice as well. This will help your body recover along with giving the body great fuel for the rest of your day.

The number one item to eat for your energy boost is fruit. Just think any fruit. Your favorite will work fine. If not, try any of the other. The thing about fruit is:

• High sugar content for fast acting energy
• Natural food made to be digested easily by the body
• Fiber in skins will help keep calories down while increasing "fullness"
• Easily portable (most fruits) and can be eaten at anytime
• Amazing micro-nutrient profiles mean higher focus, higher energy, and higher immunity

Convinced? Instead of going out to try out a new snack to boost your energy, just go buy a sack of oranges or apples or bananas or grapes or strawberries or...you get the idea? Fruit is so great in that it literally needs almost no preparation and no storage needs. Throw it in your bag and go. This is something I've been working on recently and my energy level is much higher in the morning after eating one banana or one orange. My hunger level during and after the workout tells me I'm not eating too much either.

So if fruit is not your thing or you just can't do it, try different methods. Here in Italy we drink cafe (espresso) when tired. It's nice because it is small and quick and provides a nice energy boost. Caffeine is good for this in small doses (like espresso). The problems come around from having large volumes of coffee or caffeine and adding a ton of additives to the drink. Try it sometime. One espresso shot with no sugar or milk. This has no calories and provides a ton of energy. Yeah its a bit bitter, but it gets the job done without any chemical-bomb drinks involved. Stay away from energy drinks. Those lead to crashing and are sometimes illegal to use according to USADA.

A final thing to try for getting your energy without the calorie boost is staying hydrated. Simply by being hydrated you can avoid headaches and injuries which can give the feeling of fatigue and sleepiness. Always keep a drink at hand, especially when your day has some heavy activity in the future.

I hope this helps! This request was awesome to get! I love hearing from my viewers if it's a request or just some positive words! I love my fanbase! You keep reading, I keep writing :) Ciao amici!

Have you ever?

I thought I'd get creative with this post and just post a bunch of "have you ever" statements to give you ideas of what to try in your diet:

Have you ever...

• switched from vegetable oil to olive oil?
• gone from 2% milk to a lower fat content?
• adding vegetables to your sandwich like peppers, cucumber, and mushrooms?
• tried cooking without a recipe? (something more complex than blank pasta...come on)
• tried not drinking soda for one week?
• gone to the farmer's market?
• made your own snack bags for work/practice/hunger moments?
• cooked something you've never eaten before only because you wanted to try it?
• gone out of your way to make sure you've eaten breakfast?
• read nutrition labels?

These are just some of the things pulsing through my mind. By looking at these questions and answering them, you could improve your diet. Give it a try!

Concerning your weight: Part 2

I am realizing that my last post was somewhat "negative." I pretty much just told people off saying don't get your hopes up, because of who you are you will weigh only a certain amount always.

I hope none of you took it this way. I want to clear up some thoughts I've had since posting before.

First of all. It is possible to change anything you want. You want tighter abs? Go for it. You want a healthier diet? Go for it. You want to lose that weight in your behind? Go for it. There are ways to do everything. What makes things difficult for the disabled population is not being able to activate certain parts of our body. Luckily there are machines that I have seen in order to move or use the muscles that are difficult to use. For example, a lot of paraplegics have trouble with abdominal exercises. There are things you can do though, and they will help. I recommend seeking a personal trainer or a team trainer when it comes to wanting to learn more about how to use parts of the body.

Another thing I wanted to mention was the importance of setting realistic goals. Sometimes coaches will get at you and say things along the line of needing to lose 5 or 10 or 20 lbs. I'm not a fan of huge goals like this unless the time frame is very long. Remember that it is unhealthy to lose more than 1-2 lbs per week when it comes to losing weight. For yourself, set a goal and keep it short. An example could be losing 5 lbs over the next month. Another good example could be always eating fruit with breakfast and eating at least one fresh vegetable with lunch and dinner. Goals can be anything but they must have a couple things: a time limit, manageable terms, realistic ideas. Don't make something your goal if you cannot afford it, don't have time to do it, or don't have the necessary items to accomplish it. Start small and grow.

Finally, when it comes to food when concerned about only weight, do not be discouraged solely by the fact that gaining/losing weight might not happen. So many things benefit from paying attention to your diet:

• Increased immune system response, aka less sick time!
• More energy: on the court, in practice, during the day
• Quicker recovery time which means you can push harder
• Happier mood: studies have shown healthy diets can decrease depression
• Saving money: eating fresh and cooking always beats the junk food...FACT
• Babes, because, idk, babes love a man who can eat and cook (same goes vice versa, love me a woman who can eat and cook)

Have I convinced you yet? So go set a nice goal and don't get upset. Seek help if you want it. Accomplish what you want to do. I HAVE EMPOWERED YOU. Now go.

Regarding Weight for Athletes with Disabilities

This is a tough subject.

I have been approached by many athletes with disabilities with either two things on their mind: I want to lose weight or I want to gain weight. I'd like to clear up the answers right now for the majority of this population.

First of all, understand you and your disability. I small athletes come to me saying help me gain weight, but it can be difficult in most cases due to the lack of body function. Gaining weight is not an impossibility, but it is more focused on lifting weights and increasing exercise. You increase your muscle mass, you increase your weight. There are many things you can do to encourage your body to build muscle like choose lean protein drinks and snacks and eat within 30 min after exercising.

Second, the bigger guys and gals need to understand the same thing. There is a weight for everyone known as the "set point" and this point is basically where the body will sit no matter how healthy you eat or how much more you exercise. When in great shape, you fluctuate around this number by 2 to 3 lbs. Once at a set point, you should become comfortable with your look and ability. Those with big bodies, but can't use the entire body functionally, can struggle to get rid of some extra poundage. The best bet here in order to help lose weight is to decrease total Caloric intake every day little by little. Facts you should know? You will be hungry at times. The weight decrease will be slow. Every dietitian will tell you to eat more fruits and vegetables. Exercising more or harder can be one of the only options.

What I'm trying to get at here is that it can be harder for some athletes with disabilities to lose that beer belly or to slim down just because only half the body is really being used. Same goes for putting on weight. My suggestion then to you? First, understand your body and the way it works. Don't get tied up with needing to be bulky or have a six pack or whatever. That has never defined athleticism. Second, concentrate and learn about your diet. Whether you are gaining or losing or just eating healthy, knowing your food and drink is 80% of the battle with the rest being fortitude and willpower to act on change.

So I hope this helps. I'm not trying to get on my soapbox and sound frustrated, but I want my readers to be happy with themselves and their outcomes. So go out and learn new things! Try new foods! Use my blog as a resource. No problem.

Feeling Full?

Have you had a lot to eat? Pants not fitting? Can barely walk because of the sheer force applied around your waistline? Let me help.

Post Thanksgiving can hurt! Everyone gets sleepy and it can be tough to get around and back on the regular eating schedule. Real quick, here's some tips in order to fix your ailments:

1. Drink tons of fluids, this will help the natural digestion of the food through your body. Try choosing water and tea over things like soda, alcohol, and juice as those can add more Calories to your already full belly.
2. Eat something when you wake up! This will start up your metabolism and get your body to start burning the fuel it has available. This is simple. Just eat an apple or a banana or a granola bar. It can be really small, but as long as you eat something it should help "wake your body up" and start moving those pie slices.
3. Choose fiber-full meals. For lunch today, try just a big salad. Dress it up with some leftover turkey or vegetables from yesterday. The more fiber you add the better. Try adding peppers, spinach, carrots, corn, and cucumber (with the skin still on!).
4. Avoid the fatty desires. The fats, especially the saturated fats, will only make the tummy rumblings worse. Try just for today to eat as little fat as possible; I'm sure we all got enough of it yesterday :)
5. Move around! Go play basketball, go for a walk, go shopping (BLACK FRIDAY!), clean up yesterday's mess, put up Christmas lights, clean the pets, idk, get creative and move.

These are just my tips, what are yours?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Take the time to really enjoy yourself, your family, and your food. Remember that this is a time of celebration and that it is OK to let the belt loose a little bit. I've always believed that diet should not be torture, so don't ruin your holiday thinking this way! Eat your traditional family foods and try not to worry that the green bean casserole is pretty fatty or that you need to try all 3 of Grandma's pies. This is what the holidays are for!

If you want a great way to keep control of your diet while still enjoying the feast, treat the big dinner or even the big day as a very large dessert. Over the next week, go further with your diet by removing the sweet or the dessert at the meals. It could be easy to make awesome meals without desserts too because of all the leftovers!

So my one piece of advice on this glorious holiday? Enjoy!

Salty Temptations

Salt is a main component to many snacky foods across the globe. It works pretty well in making you want to eat more of the snack, because we crave that salty sensation, and also grab the nearest drink, usually soda, in order to quench the thirst.

What is one to do when teased by the salty temptations?! There are a couple of things to know about salt before attacking it though...

First of all, athletes, for the most part, unless you have a health condition or hypertension, salt will not hurt you. In fact, for the most part, it will help you replenish the electrolytes lost in sweat. There is salt in sports drinks for a reason. This is also why salted pretzels are great to munch on before working out. As an athlete, over consumption of salt will not hurt your game. Most people are different when it comes to salt tolerance levels, but this is only in reference to hypertension. Just remember to wash down that salt with some water!

From my own opinion, the Recommended Daily Allowance for Sodium is next to impossible to accomplish everyday. We are surrounded by salt in every food we eat. Unless you are focusing deeply on no added salt or eating a majority of your food from the garden and not from the can or bag, you will struggle here. For the most part, one hot dog alone with no ketchup and no bun will give you more than half the recommended salt for one day...ridiculous. There are increased health benefits for increasing potassium intake and decreasing salt intake, see DASH diet, but for the most part, this is difficult and requires much more time/money/energy. Overall, I don't like even paying attention to salt in my diet. It doesn't concern me and my athletic lifestyle acts for that.

Upon saying these two things, let me explain how to squash your salty snack problems. First, control the food around you. Basically, look at your environment and don't put snacks there. Second, check out the "healthier" salty options: peanuts, almonds, pretzels, popcorn, etc. Or, what you could do is replace your snacks around you completely with fruit, vegetable snack bags, or nothing at all! Finally, when snacking salty, never follow up with anything but water. Make it one of your rules. "If I eat salty, I drink only water." No problem.

For me when it comes to salty foods, in order to stop the urge, I imagine just salt. Literally I imagine eating like a block of salt alone. It's disgusting sounding. When I realize this is what I'm craving, I no longer need salt and have more control over what I pick. I don't want a salt block, I want a peanut butter and jelly. I don't know, but it works for me!

In the end, I want you all to snack. If done properly (see my other posts), you can eat less through out the total day. For this post specifically, just don't let salt alone be the reason you continue to munch! Ciao amici!

Clearing Up a Common Misconception

So I have begun working with my fellow Italian athletes with their diet. Most of them want to slim down, increase muscle, etc. While I am trying my best to speak with them in the beautiful Italian language (still not amazing at it, but getting there!) I have found out that they do not understand a simple concept to me.

Body weight is directly correlated to total amount of Calories consumed/used.


A lot of people mistake gaining weight with eating too much fat, junky foods, desserts, sugars, etc. Unfortunately, this is not the answer. If you need to, or want to, lose weight, you must decrease total calorie consumption per day. Another option is to increase calorie usage per day by exercising or exercising more/longer. A combination of the two can speed things up, but losing more than 2 lbs per week can tend to be unhealthy for your body.

On average, decreasing the diet per day by 500 Calories will help you lose about 1 lb per week. Understand that different bodies react differently. So this number could be too small or too big depending. Also, 500 Calories per day can be a lot to do right away. Try easing yourself down to a comfortable level where you are not starving but also losing weight.

It can be really hard to use numbers or calculate out every darn thing you eat, so to give you an example of what 500 calories can be:

• One Big Mac from McDonald's - 540 Calories
• Small French Fries from McDonald's - 250 Calories
• Triple Chocolate Cookie from Mrs. Field's - 220 Calories
• Corn Chips single serve bag - average: 160 Calories
• Pretzels single serve bag - average: 110 Calories
• 100% Orange Juice 16 oz - 220 Calories
• Sugary soda 16 oz - average: 240-260 Calories

So depending on how things are working out for you, it can be easy to out out the 500 Calories. This plan doesn't work if you are grossly gaining weight though. If this is your case, you should seek a dietitian to gain more direct help specific to yourself! It's a great way to increase your overall health.

If you really need a snack or are having trouble with hunger, check out my post on snacks in my archive! There are some great choices for you waiting there...

My Thoughts on an Italian Diet so far

There is a small concern with athletes here in Italy over the content of their diet and whether or not it is good for them to lose weight or gain muscle. I'll quickly go over some basic areas of foods here in order to clear any confusion.

First, pasta is never bad. This is going to be high quality carbohydrates perfectly suited to give energy for activities. The more whole the wheat, the better it will be for long lasting energy and for losing weight due to a higher fiber count. Stick with tomato based sauces over fattier oils and sauces and you are looking at a great meal. Try adding veggies to the pasta. Just pan fry some of your favorites (mushrooms, peppers, onion, zucchini, etc.) and add them to the pasta at the end. Adding a bit of liquid can get all the tasty cooked bits in the pan adding flavor to your pasta.

Second, pizza seems to be pretty bad in some people's minds over here. I would agree only slightly. Pizza is going to be high in fat, but it also provides a good source of dairy (vitamin D, Calcium) and vegetables (depends on what you gt on top). If you pay attention to what is going on the pizza, you can make a healthy option instead of a greasy gut-buster. Ways to make the pizza a little healthier for losing weight would be to use napkins to blot away the fat sitting on top of the pizza. Try a pizza with seafood on it to get some high quality protein.

Third, cafe! It is delicious over here, and I am starting to absolutely love it! It is in a nice small amount so it doesn't fill up the stomach too much. Plus it provides a nice concentrated amount of caffeine. With cafe you need to be careful about a couple things. Don't add too much sugar, try to cut back. When adding cream, add only a small amount as well because this is really just fat. Also, as a reminder, caffeine can increase your appetite. Be careful because it may make you want to eat more because of caffeine's effect on the body. Stick with cafe after the meal is over and you should be just fine!

I hope this clears up a couple of things for my Italian friends. Also, take the information to heart back home in the states! Color up your pasta, add some fun and healthy options to that pizza, and give espresso a shot instead of coffee next time!

Reader Request: Milk

Milk is a great drink. We've been over this. High protein, high vitamins, high minerals. If chosen correctly, it can also be low in saturated fat. But what about the other "milks?" To be honest, I didn't know a lot about these guys, so I decided to do some research.

There are a ton of different alternative milks: almond, soy, rice, coconut, and more. For the most part, these milks are made by mixing water with grounded up ingredient. For the most part, these milks can replace cow's milk in recipes and in diet. The thing that you need to look out for with these special milks is the added benefits. Milk is an amazing provider of calcium, B12, and riboflavin, all crucial for strength and energy usage. When looking at which milk to buy, look for these fortifications. The easiest thing you could do is compare the alternative milk to cow's milk.

The thing to consider with these milks is 2 fold. First, these milks are going to be expensive. You might have to really hunt to get a good deal on some milk. Second, alternative milk is going to lose a lot of its protein value. If you are looking solely at protein availability, you cannot beat cow's milk. If that is not an option for you, then choose soy milk. Its nutrient profile is closest to cow's milk because soy is a complete protein.

For the most part, choosing these alternative milks means you cannot drink lactose containing beverages easily or have another allergy. Keep this in mind. If you have no problem with cow's milk, I wouldn't look elsewhere unless you cannot stand the flavor. From my experience with these milks, the alternative ones lack a lot of flavor, are too expensive, and feel less filling (more like water).

I hope this post helps some of you out there. Your best bet is to just buy smaller versions of these milks and try them to see if you like them. Make sure you look at that nutrition label too, it will tell you if what you are drinking is worth it. And remember, if you don't know what the label should look like, compare it to regular milk! Easy.

Speaking of milk, it is not the same over here in Italy! It's one of my favorites, as you all know, and I am struggling to find the real good stuff here! Any input would gladly be appreciated.

Flu Season!

Sorry everyone about the lack of posts...I'm having some trouble with Internet over here in Italy...

Let's talk about everyone getting sick! It always happens, and it seems to happen to everyone. Some are able to fight the power, while others can do whatever they can to stop it but watch it slowly crush them. As an athlete, being sick severely affects our game because we will miss practice/games/lifting or cannot perform at a high enough level. Let's discuss what you can do to help out.

1. Cleanliness

Shower after lifts and exercise, especially if you sweat a lot. Once done with the shower, don't wait around to get dressed; keep warm quickly in order to not freeze out your system. Also, wash your hands more frequently. Got some downtime? Like one minute of downtime? Just go wash. Hot water. Little soap. Dry it off. Done.

2. Hydration

The weather out there is a'changing and you need to keep hydrated. For the most part, the weather gets dry and the cold weather can make it worse, especially when skin cracks and sores get open. Staying hydrated will automatically keep your body's system flushing out toxins. Basically you will be able to pee out a lot of the sickness, and when you are not sick, it's still great to increase the amount you are drinking in order to increase the productivity of your body's ability to filter what's in there. Also, for you athletes and your hands, make sure you are taking care of them with lotion. A lot of germs are spread through the hands, and when they are cracked open, you increase the chances of infection.

3. Mono and Poly Unsaturated Fats

These "positive" fats will help keep your white blood cells active and boost your immune system. One of the best fats you can is the Omega-3's from fish like salmon, tuna, and trout. These have been shown to increase airflow, lower bad cholesterol levels, and increase the body's response to foreign toxins. Hooray! Nuts contain a ton of the right fats plus have awesome micro-nutrients (specifically zinc, magnesium, and selenium) that have a direct effect on boosting your immune system's productivity.

4. Super-disease-fighting-awesome-sauce-delicious-tasting Foods

That got out of hand. Check out this article from RD Tonia Reinhard that showcases these foods (which include those that I just mentioned). To keep things simple, these snacks and foods will do their best, and much better than other junky foods, to boost specifically our immune system. The micro-nutrients and antioxidants will help you find off the influenza. Hooray x 2!

Alright that about does it for me. I'm going to go blow my nose. Literally.

Brown Bag It

How to pack a lunch! Doesn't matter if you are going to school, work, on a bus, or you just think you'll be starving on the way to that thing you have to do for whatever reason, but you don't want to do it, but you have to...

Ok first step. Pick an adequately sized bag. Make it just big enough to fit everything and roll up the top. This way you won't be tempted to stuff more things into the sack. If you are a reusable guy or gal, use the same strategy here. Smaller can, but not always, be better!

Aim for three different types of foods in your bag. For example: protein, bread, and a fruit, or soup, salad, and a fruit. It is really easy. Plus if you throw something like a sandwich in the bag, you'll be less likely to throw the crackers or chips in. The sandwich can be the most filling item in the lunch. Take advantage of this. Go lean with turkey, tomato, and lettuce, or go for a more sustainable fullness feeling with a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

When attacked with the idea of what to drink with this meal, try and think about where your Calories are at. Aim for your goal and place your beverage around that. Kick the sodas and grab the tea, water, and juices. Watching your weight? Always go water. Don't wimp out and go for that soda! Come on. If this is when you need your one soda per day (not bad in my eyes) go for it! I still want the meal to be enjoyable.

Leftovers from dinner have an amazing effect on next day to go lunches. If it is home-made, you will find the food to be very wholesome and tasty. Having these kinds of foods at lunch in larger portions feeds the minds need to "know whats for dinner." This way you can go home and say "I think I'll just have a bowl of cereal for dinner." For the athletes, this is the best way to pack in more nutrient dense foods into your meals of the day. Having a "dinner" for lunch is one way to pack on the extra Calories needed for sport. Next time you make your favorite dinner at home, make a little more for the next day(s).

On a final note, pack absolutely everything you need into the lunch bag. This saves you trips to the teasing soda machine/vending machine, coffee area, fast food stops, etc. The best way to control your diet is to plan it out this way.

Next post: how to deal with others stealing your awesome sack lunch!

Get Nutty

Another request! Pretty simple too. What are the best nuts to eat? I'll let you know a bit about nuts and then give you my top 5.

Nuts are high in fat, in case you didn't know. But this is a good thing, not a bad. These types of fats are in the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated group, a.k.a. the good fats. Mind you, you should still control the amount of fat in your diet; you should just attempt to make more of the fats these types of fats. Nuts contain protein, folic acid, niacin, magnesium, selenium, zinc, and other micro-nutrients depending on the nut. This makes nuts a nutrient dense food. Most of those vitamins I just mentioned play a role in unlocking energy of foods and making them available to the body (B vitamins: folic acid, niacin; magnesium). Selenium and zinc have in some cases shown to boost immune system function too. The only thing to look out for here is how many nuts you're downing. For example 18 pecans or 8 walnuts can contain anywhere from 160-200 Calories. This can be good (need a quick handful of energy) or bad (trying to watch the Calorie intake). Either way, nuts are the way to go to snack before meals (like my last post on snacking!)

For athletes, especially those with small stomachs or trouble with digestion, nuts can be a source of quick energy for you. Remember that fat supplies more Calories per gram than carbohydrate or protein. Therefore nuts can be that go to weapon before workouts/practices/games. Salted versions can add a helping hand when re-hydrating.

My top 5 nuts:

5. Walnuts. These may be the most delicious in my opinion. They are pretty high in unsaturated fats so watch out. Recent studies have shown having a couple walnuts (just a couple!) promotes oxidation of fats in the body, or in other words promotes breaking down fatty stores in the body.

4. Pecans. Another great choice and has about half the omega-6's (unsaturated fats!). Pecans have a high protein count making them great for athletes to snack on. The plant sterols (the good kind of cholesterol) in pecans have been shown in studies to help reduce cholesterol levels (lower LDL levels).

3. Peanuts. These are pretty basic but get the job done. Also, these taste really great in peanut butter form! Look for the lowest amount of ingredients in the peanut butter for increased benefit (also means more expensive, sorry :-P). Even high in protein count here, plus you will get a nice boost of niacin, which should contribute to brain health and blood flow.

2. Pistachios. This belongs at the 2 spot for a specific reason. The pistachio effect (shout out to Prof. James Painter from E. Illinois University): The requirement of de-shelling pistachios in order to eat them makes us slow down and feel more full after eating less of the food. Good point man! Make sure to grab the shelled pistachios.

1. Almonds. This is a super food. And they are taaasty. Add them to anything! They are high in fiber, vitamin E and B, and monounsaturated fats. Still high in protein and plant sterols, these guys can help with heart health by raising good cholesterol and lowering bad cholesterol. I carried around a resealable bag of unsalted almonds all the time when I was in college. Perfect on the go.

There you have it. Except for you all with nut and tree nut allergies...sorry! Try mixing them up! Why not buy all 5 and mix them together in a resealable bag? Remember, variation is part of an awesome diet!

Bulk Up Smoothie

Found this recipe for a smoothie that I have done before, so I figured I could share it with you guys. I have always been on the side where I need to gain weight. Many of you athletes are also in my category. So whether you need to gain weight or muscle, give this smoothie a try.

In a blender, blend until smooth:

• 2 cups milk (low or nonfat)
• 1/2 cup powdered milk
• 1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4-1/2 cup chocolate syrup

This shake should be used close to after lifting or other intense workouts. This smoothie is very tasty and very high in calories (up to 1500) When I would use this smoothie, I would replace the powdered milk with whey protein instead. Just one scoop because there is a lot of protein in the milk. If you want, add a banana in there and subtract a bit of chocolate syrup. With this smoothie, you'll be able to recover much quicker due to the high protein and carbohydrate count. As a warning, try not to choose this option instead of a meal or right before a meal. I believe it's much better to vary your meals with multiple items, not one smoothie, or one bowl of noodles. Make it fit in with your schedule. This is perfect for those 2 or 3 o'clock heavy workouts that demand sustenance to hold you over until dinner.

Try it out!

Practicing Self-Control: Secrets Revealed

I have been asked to cover the everlasting problem of self-control. (Keep up with the recommendations!)Lots of people who are trying to fix their diet suffer from this problem, and many of those have no idea where to start in order to fix it. I'll let you in on some secrets:

It has been shown in studies that if we let ourselves get too hungry, we tend to really crave very fatty and very sugary foods. This is because these foods are most calorie dense. Our brain is simple, right? Get real hungry, and it automatically picks foods with more Calories/energy. This can also explain why after practice we can get so hungry and grab whatever's close and convenient to eat.

The way to attack this phenomena is to not let yourself get too hungry. I know, I know..."I should eat more often in order to eat less food? That doesn't make sense..." Let me explain. Snacks throughout the day will curb these cravings. Hit that 3:30 spot and want a muffin? Just munch of some pistachios or grab an apple/banana/orange. This is also why breakfast is so important. Lots of people don't eat it in the morning and end up being waaaay to hungry for lunch and after for dinner too. Because we are practicing self control for this post, I will help you with this idea. Try these 3 strategies that I have seen work from my own experience trying them.

1. Portion controlled items. Tons of supermarkets are selling these now. Little packs of Cheeze-Its, single serving yogurt or cheese, single packs of trail mix. They all work. The strategy here is to put the big bag of them somewhere safe and only grab one at a time and throw it into your backpack/bag/purse. This way when you go for a quick burger and fries or ice cream, you can stay in your bag and go for the most convenient option with the already in front of you, portion out, picked to be healthy option. Make sure this is something you like. Everything is OK in moderation. If it needs to be potato chips, pick out a handful and put them in a ziplock bag. That's all you get. Quench the salty thirstiness with water.
2. Smaller plates. I know we are talking snacks, but for meals it can be as simple as small plates in order to curb your self control problems. My parents practice this constantly and it always works. Don't use huge 10" dinner plates. Go for a 7 or 6" plate and fill that up. Automatically less food taken. To try this, buy some small disposable plates and see if it works. If it does maybe buy some nice ones to show off.
3. Crave-smashing foods. It has been shown that certain foods will do a better job of keeping you satisfied with smaller amounts. The three areas I look for when considering this are protein, fiber, and poly or monounsaturated fats. Snacking on just a little bit of these foods will do a much better job than the sweets and the fats. Here's some ideas:

• Nuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios
• Trail mix, a granola bar, dried fruit
• Saltines, popcorn, pretzels, and low fat, baked crackers
• Veggies like carrots, celery (w/ peanut butter!), cherry tomatoes, peppers
• Fruits like all of them :)
• Yogurt, cheese sticks, one glass of milk/choc. milk (skim!)

The italics words are my favorites and what I consider some of the best options on the list. When shopping for these snacks make sure you eat before hand! Going to the grocery store hungry is the most dangerous thing you can do. Your cart will be filled with tons of salt, sugar, and fat. Trust me.

I hope that helped you Tracey! Let me know if my strategies work for you!

Let's get Groceries: Frozen Food

Well, I know most people knock this category of food, but I can't. After finishing up 4 years at a university as an athlete, I depended on this section some days. It's quick, cheap, and filling. Unfortunately, this section can also be home to the worst, but easiest, food in the market. Let's talk.

I want you all to use frozen food to your benefit. This food was made to be convenient, so treat it that way. Laziness should not be an excuse for throwing in the Hot Pocket. Neither should boredom! When running to the frozen food, you should be doing just that: running! Perfect for quick lunches or on the go snacks.

The material of the frozen food is also important to pay attention to. As athletes, we should be looking for low fat (sat. fat especially) and high protein content. I always aim for meals/packages with less than 30% of calories from fat and at least 15 grams of protein. It is doable! Just look at the nutritional information. For percent calories from fat, do a quick conversion of (calories from fat) over (total calories).

You can actually find some great material here in frozen foods. Frozen fruit and vegetables can actually contain a lot of the nutrients found in fresh ones (usually better than canned). Also, frozen yogurt has proven to be a great snack and alternative to ice cream, especially when combined with fruit. Here is also where you can find the bulk meats. You can save a lot of buck when you buy family packs of chicken breasts frozen. Finally, my favorite trick in this section involves frozen pizza. Most say it isn't good for you, but I say it can be! First check for the low fat and high protein as mentioned before. Then make your way to the produce section and pick out your favorite pizza toppings fresh! Who says you can't add that on top of the pizza before throwing it in the oven? Now you've got a solid meal in front of you!

My biggest peeve with frozen food is the pictures on the outside of the less than healthy foods. They never look that way! Seriously! Keep the box and compare it to the finished product. It's bad. For this reason, I say cook what the box shows you your own way whenever possible! Yeah it will cost you time and money, but 1. It will taste way better, 2. It will look way better, and 3. The nutritional value will at least triple. I like using the single item frozen foods to add to certain areas of my meals. Chicken patties from frozen but with corn on the cob and baked beans on the side. Or you can try the frozen potatoes or bread options to complete your meal of steak and green beans. When your freezer has more food than the fridge, you could see some problems.

Stock it up!

• Lean meats and veggie burgers
• Whole grain waffles and pancakes
• Low fat burritos, pizzas, and other prepared foods
• Healthy Choice Lemon Pepper Fish
• Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Honey Roasted Pork
• Uncle Ben's Parmesan Shrimp Penne Pasta Bowl
• Amy's Santa Fe Enchilada Bowl
• Frozen fruit (for smoothies and ice cream/yogurt)
• Frozen vegetables and other vegetable sides
• Frozen yogurt or ice cream

Because I am in Italy, I could not update this list any better since the last time I checked out the frozen food section...so post your favorite frozen food options below!

Thanks for tuning into my grocery shopping themed posts this past week and a half. If you have ideas for other posts let me know!

Let's get Groceries: Dry Foods

This part of the series is a bit larger than the rest. But I still feel that it belongs as one category instead of being split up. There was a bigger emphasis on the fresher foods (produce, meat, and dairy) because these foods can be way more nutritionally dense than other foods.

Dry foods are easy to shop for because they are long lasting. For this reason, do not feel uncomfortable getting larger sizes to save money. When I think of dry foods, the first thing that comes to mind is pastas, rice, noodles, and breads. With the grain based dry foods, try as hard as you can do get whole grains. Make sure in the ingredients it says whole grain. These pastas and whatnot will add a ton more fiber and longer lasting energy than their counterpart the enriched processed noodle. My problem when it comes to this area is that too many people push whole wheat everything too often. Yes it is healthier than the white/enriched/processed noodles, but from an athlete's perspective pasta is great in many types. For all purposes, you could do half and half whole grain and enriched. A good way to increase your fiber intake! All I'm saying is don't only buy the whole grains and not like the taste/texture/whatever. Normal white rice, white pastas, and white breads are still alright and healthier than other options like chips.

This can look convenient, and even be convenient, but try to avoid the "meal in a box" type foods in dry foods. Look at what it is and ask yourself how hard would this be to make from "scratch?" If the answer to this is so incredibly difficult, then I would look towards the frozen foods isle first before buying a dry meal. A lot of those highly processed meals lose a ton of quality micro-nutrients. Add some fresh veggies at least for me.

When I look at sauces it can be overwhelming. There seems to be too many to choose from. What is nice about this isle is that we have developed quite a few "lower calorie" or "organic" or "lower fat" substitutes for our favorite condiments. Try them out! Or try out healthier options like Italian dressing instead of Ranch or A1 Sauce instead of thick BBQ sauce. Either way you go, remember that hidden saturated fats are everywhere in sauces. So don't find yourself slathering too much on.

In this department is where you will find your snacks: the toughest area of the market. This aisle is specifically designed to drag you in to impulse buying. Knowing this can help you. Snacking is so important for us athletes because we need to keep our energy level high, especially when we have multiple games/practices. On an obvious note, I will say try to avoid chips as much as possible. They really don't provide much and there are other similar tasting options. Go for popcorn or salted nuts instead. With these two you get some high quality fats and some whole grain type energy. Stock up on granola bars and sports bars too. You all know these are great for you; try to find the ones with lower amounts of sugar and higher amounts of fiber, but make it something you would want to eat right before/during/after practice. Dried fruit of all kinds is a plus along with most fruit snacks (find the ones made with real fruit at least!).

Short and sweet: soda doesn't help the athlete. Water is an ingredient, but soda and its makeup do not help much in quenching thirst and replenishing lost nutrients in sweat or daily activities. Most sodas are built around the idea to make you drink more. This is easily the best place to cut calories if you need. Also replacing soda with milk can be the right answer in needing to bulk up. If you must must must have your caffeine/soda/sugar fix...please keep it small. One can a day or switch to a "healthier" choice like diet or tea.

Let's stock up on these!

• Rice, pasta, couscous, quinoa, noodles, oatmeal, cereals, etc.
• Chicken noodle soup, vegetable soup, low sodium options
• Salsa, marinara, hummus, applesauce, Italian dressing, olive oil
• Popcorn, crackers, baked chips, trail mixes, nuts, pita chips
• Canned veggies,beans, and fruit (single serve or not)
• Raisins, fiber one bars, nutty granola bars, fruit snacks
• Gatorade, Propel, tea, 100% juices
• Powerbars, Special K bars, whey protein, Muscle Milk (and other similar products)

I could go into detail on many of these areas. I only haven't because this has gotten lengthy already. My solution? Ask me anything you want. Any product, and I'll tell you my thoughts. I can be brutally honest :)

Next section! Frozen foods!

Let's get Groceries: Dairy

Dairy is by far my favorite section in the grocery store. It's got some tasty treats.

For the athlete, this area provides amazing snacks and recovery items. Most of the foods and drinks in this area have tons of protein and vitamins and minerals. You will find great sources of calcium, potassium, vitamin D, vitamin C, selenium, riboflavin, etc. Milk, I call this the athlete's beverage, is by far the best thing to have in the fridge. It's got milk sugars for energy, protein to recover and build muscle, and tons of added bonuses like calcium, vitamin D, and lactoglobulins (milk proteins) that boost immune function. On top of that, the proteins found in milk (whey protein, see my other post) are most readily absorbed by your muscles to recover and repair even faster than other proteins. Wow, we have a winner.

Other great ideas coming from the dairy depot is cheese, yogurt, eggs, and orange juice (not dairy, but in the section). Cheese is basically concentrated milk. Some cheeses are pretty high in fat so watch out, but if you are getting hungry on the road, I say grab some cheese sticks and munch: high protein and calcium. Yogurt is great for the upset stomach due to the active cultures (otherwise known as happy bacteria that loves helping your gut work), plus it usually comes in convenient little serving sizes. Win-win. Eggs I've already talked about before, I love em. Just check out my other post. And finally orange juice. If you have lactose intolerance, orange juice can be a great replacement. Go for the ones fortified with calcium and vitamin D. You won't get as much protein from it, but still have the same effect at replenishing electrolytes. For all of these items, try your best to go unprocessed as possible, this makes everything in the food more easily digested.

Stock that cart!

• Eggs or egg substitute
• Low fat milk, chocolate milk, soy milk, etc.
• 100% OJ with added calcium/vit D
• Mozzarella cheese sticks
• Cheddar slices, shredded low fat cheese, cottage cheese, other real cheeses
• Single serve yogurt, larger quantity for smoothies if you are able to make them

On a final note! Cramming tons and tons of dairy into every meal can upset the stomach due to lactose overload. Keep it simple. For example: to absorb the same amount of calcium in milk, you need to eat 3 cups of broccoli or 8 cups of pinto beans, or 6 cups sesame seeds, aaaaand you get the idea. Dairy products work great in their small portions. Using too much can also lead to high amounts of saturated fats, which is why I opted for the low fat cheeses and milks. Just watch what you are eating! But you already do that right? Why else would you be reading my blog? :)

Next week we resume with dried foods! Might be a long one.

Let's get Groceries: Meat

Moving from the produce to the meat! Like most groceries normally to do.

A lot of us like the idea of meat. It's packed with protein and can be extremely tasty depending on cooking ability. The unfortunate thought of most buyers is that meat is almost all protein. The problem here is that yes, it does pack the protein punch, but it also loves hiding saturated fats (why do you think tender cuts of steak are so tasty?). Understanding that almost every food has some minuscule amount of protein in it. Sometimes it requires the combination of foods to become a complete protein (contains all amino acid profiles not made by the body naturally). An example of this is peanuts or peanut butter and bread. Gotta love that PB&J. What I am trying to get at is this: if your meal doesn't have a piece of meat with it, it doesn't mean that it has no protein source. On the contrary, a meatless meal can contain a ton of protein if made correctly. But this is not what we are talking about today. Let's talk meat.

First things first, always choose the lean meat options. These options include turkey, chicken, 93/7 beef, pork, and fish. These are leaner cuts because they contain less fat than other options, but you knew that. Occasional treats to yourself should be tender steak cuts (the more expensive guys), hot dogs and bratwurst, pepperoni, and ribs. Most items should label how much fat you're looking at, especially ground beef. Like before, 93/7 means 7% fat content, making it pretty dang lean. With lunch meats you can see on the package what you're dealing with.

Second, try and get at some fish. Two reasons: high quality fats (promote that pumping heart) and high protein content. Salmon, tilapia, shrimp, cod, tuna, halibut, etc. You can't go too wrong with fish. Some are fattier than others, but these fats are of higher quality (this is what everybody says about omega-3s and that kind of goodness). Don't know how to cook fish? It couldn't be simpler. Place the skin side down and grill or broil it for literally 5 min. It will flake away from a fork is put in it and twisted. Still too confused? Spray a pan with oil, slap the fish on the pan and cook on medium high heat, probably 10 minutes max. You can do it, I believe in you.

Finally, if money is a concern, there is nothing wrong with getting the "family sized" bags of frozen meats. It takes a little more planning to thaw the meat out: place the meat on a small plate and cover it with saran wrap and put in the fridge overnight. Thawing under warm water can prove some safety concerns. Microwaves can cook the product while thawing. The fridge is the way to go.

Here's what you should look for:

• Lean ground beef (try turkey or chicken too)
• Pork tenderloin and chicken breast
• Tuna steaks and salmon filets (among other fish)
• Veggie burgers
• Frozen hamburger patties (watch for fat content)
• Frozen chicken breasts

Vegetarian? Don't like meat? Good because next post covers dairy. My favorite section (Wisconsin love)

Let's get Groceries: Produce

Over the next couple of posts I am going to "hold your hand" and help you do your grocery shopping. First I'll let you know about the section of the grocery store. Then, I will provide you with the list of items one should stock up on in the fridge or pantry.

Produce should be the heart of every meal. I know a lot of people like to build around their entree or meat, but history and science has shown us that at least 50% of our meal should come from the land, or in the form or fruits and vegetables. Why is this? These guys are packed with the most nutrients you can find. When eaten in raw form (not cooked, frozen, canned, etc.) fruits and vegetables provide the greatest source of natural micro-nutrients, or the little guys known as vitamins and minerals. When in its purest form, e.g. organic, the food is in the most accurate form our body is ready for. This means that the vitamins and minerals are more easily usable and absorbed. So take that information to heart. More veggies, more fruit, more raw.

A thing I love to tell athletes is that fruit is like a natural energy source, a Gatorade in every bite. It's got the similar electrolytes found in sports drinks and the sugars and carbohydrates necessary to fuel activity. For this reason, I think it is great to bring portable fruits to practice such as grapes, raisins, baby carrots, apples, bananas, etc. Eat a handful of whatever during the water break.

OK, so when you hit that beautiful produce section of the mart I want you to think of a couple of things. First, colors. Look how many there are! Your cart should match that look. Yellows, reds, greens, dark greens, whites, oranges, purples, blues, you get the idea. Next, smell. This is usually the best way to tell ripeness. The more it smells good like you want to eat it, the more ripe it usually is. Mind you, it's OK to buy unripe food. You just might have to wait a bit. It's a good technique to practice so you don't waste. E.g. buy 4 ripe bananas and 3 unripe bananas and you've got enough bananas for the week! Third, get used to the season. When you see fruits or veggies ridiculously marked down, that's because this is the time of year to enjoy! Take advantage of these times.

Here's what I like to have in mia casa:

o   Whole or pre-cut fresh vegetables

o   Pre made salad mix, with dark lettuces (romaine, spinach)

o   Baby carrots, peppers, green beans, edamame

o   Grapes, oranges, grapefruit, apples, and strawberries

o   Bananas, pineapple,  mango, kiwi

o   Potatoes, onions, garlic

o   Mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus, cucumber, broccoli

Next post we get to discuss meat! Don't forget, I love getting comments and questions below!

What To Do While Eating: An Evaluation

So the poll is up. And you guys are telling me this:

Watch TV : 70%
Read: 30%
Talk with others: 40%
Nothing: 10%
Work/Study: 30%
Other: 10%

The percentages are high because you could vote for more than one item.

So why did I even ask this question? Because what you do while eating influences your eating habits a lot more than you think. I shall go through each category.

Watching TV
In my opinion, watching TV is an American tradition it seems, but an unhealthy activity while eating food. I'm sure some of you have heard that you eat more when you watch TV while eating. This is partly true. What happens is we get distracted by the TV and end up increasing or portions either because we are not paying attention to the amount of food eaten or to our body's "I am full" sensations. This can be deadly. So how to fight this? Simply turn off the TV. If that is not an option (Gotta watch my Packers play), portion out your food and put away the food source. For example, if you are eating some chips, place a handful into a bowl, close the bag up, and put that bag away into the pantry. It's funny how simple it is to go get seconds but we won't do it because of our TV show or our own laziness (I'm guilty too).

Reading
This is not as bad as TV in my opinion, but it reminds me of when my mom wouldn't let dad read at the dining table. It's a good practice because once again it distracts you away from the food. My recommendation is the same as the TV, put away the newspaper/book/magazine for 15 minutes, then once the main bits of food are gone (just a drink left or some nibbles) you can go back to the reading.

Talk with others
My favorite option! Not only does this require to be social, something that should be present for most meals, but everyone is focused and having fun. I know what you're thinking; I don't need to be focused to eat food. This is true, but you don't want to be distracted, so on some level you should be focused. Remember that whatever anyone says, people eat differently. So if your friends give you a hard time for eating too little/too much/weird food/etc. just remember that no one knows their own body better than them self.

Nothing
A pretty good option. Why? Because you have realized that food is important and doesn't take more than 15-20 min to cook and eat, unless you're thinking fancy. Maybe next time you can ask that cute neighbor to join you for your homemade lasagna. If there's something I've learned about food, it is that both men and women love when the opposite sex cooks for them.

Work/Study
This is understandable. We got to get work done. My only request here is that you don't let work take full priority around food times. In other words, go ahead and work while eating, but take the time and stop working while cooking in order to make yourself something great. Careful, don't get stains on that report.

So there you have it. Common activities while eating explained. Next time you catch yourself distracted, take charge and give food some real personal time...awwwww yeah...

Cheaper To Eat Out? Try Again...

Read This Article:

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html

Some very important points are made concerning eating out. Many believe that eating out is cheaper, faster, more convenient, and the only option.

An important question to ask yourself is, "Am I being lazy about what I eat?" With dollar menus and quick fixes at less than 5 minutes away, this becomes an easy go-to food source. It is unfortunate that we live in a country where there are more than 3 times the amount of restaurants and fast food joints than there are groceries.

And another thing, if you think that eating organic or through a farmer's market is the only way to be truly healthy, then you have set the bar way to high. All beliefs aside, you can be the healthiest on the block eating from generic brand groceries. And it will be cheaper to eat this way in the long run. Nice to hear that huh?

What this takes is a plan. If you are strapped for cash, look into your groceries for the long shelf life foods that are also nutritious (canned goods, beans, rice, pasta, frozen fruits and veggies). If you are not strapped for cash, spend the extra money on better food (whether it's farmer's market or a leaner cut of meat). In other words, choose quality of quantity.

I think this article can benefit everyone. Please read it. And check out the comments to the article! They opened my eyes to the comparisons of European ideals to our ideals. Get educated.

Smaller Tastes Better

I want to build on the concept of eating smaller portions more often during the day. Doing this gives us more long lasting, sustainable energy. It's a great cure for feeling very up and down throughout the day due to big meals or long periods of no food.

Today while I was at the shopping center we got some food, and then continued to shop. After shopping, I decided a snack or a little something could hold me over. I looked up and saw the most beautiful ice cream, or gelato, in the world. Most would say, ice cream? Isn't that just fat and sugar? To me this isn't bad at all especially because of the portion of gelato I received.

So my theory goes like this: Make the food taste as good as you want. If that means real butter, heavy cream, cheese, oil, sugar, or whatever, then that is fine. My mother always taught me, if you don't like the taste, don't waste the calories. This is probably why I do not like frozen yogurt. I want my ice cream because it tastes delicious. I don't want a complete bowlful of half the ice cream carton because honestly, after two scoops of the stuff, I've gotten the taste, I've enjoyed myself, and now I'd like to stop feasting or enjoy another food or drink.

This can be hard to practice, especially if we are used to grabbing the huge portions or have eyes that are bigger than our stomachs (my problem). Also, a lot of the time products are sold in portions meant to be shared or bigger than for one person. This is difficult, but after tossing out old fashioned laziness, this can be fixed with a chip clip, plastic ziploc, or other canister method (I prefer the roll up and set on its side method).

So next time you are eating one of your guilty pleasures, after a couple bites stop and ask yourself, how much more do I need to eat here in order to be satisfied? You'll find yourself being able to portion food a lot better.

Using this thought targeted approach to eating should help athletes or anyone lose weight or curb their snacky habits. It also forces us to try new foods just to quench curiosity.

Made it to Italy

Ciao! I made it to Italy this last Tuesday. I just wanted to update all my listeners and readers about the direction of my blog from here on out.

First, I plan to post pretty regularly on my blog. I've brought along some reading for myself in order to keep up to date on certain areas of sports nutrition. Some posts will be informative, while others will be fun (maybe some updates on how my trip is going).

Second, I would love to hear more from my listeners. I like to help out others. I believe that in the case of the athlete with a disability we must all look at our diet differently; I need to answer more specific questions and situations. I can do this more easily if I get questions through email, blog, or Facebook. Things I'd like to know is if you guys and gals like when I get on my soapbox and give an opinion, or if you all just want to be lectured and given recipes. Just let me know!

I am still getting my bearings here in Cantu, so forgive me if my posts are a little apart from each other. And as a thought for all of you concerning your diet, have any of you considered the quality of your groceries? Remember, what you are investing in is more than food; it's what builds your body.

Another article with great protein snacks!

Just saw this article supported by Registered Dietitian Renee Cooper. It's got some really great combos for snacking!

Healthy eating: the power of the protein-carb combo

Use it!

Why I Like Eggs

I like eggs, and I'm sure a lot of you guys do too. But just because, I'm going to tell you why I think eggs are better than most.

First, eggs are tasty. You can cook eggs in so many ways and eat it in so many other ways. Want a sandwich? Add an egg. Want a burger? Add an egg! Salad, rice, soup? Add an egg! Because they are so simple its usually a staple in everyone's kitchen. Some might say, "but hold on, isn't there a lot of cholesterol in an egg?" Yes there is. Almost your full day's amount. But it's easy to make egg whites too! All you have to do is:

1. Crack the egg as close to the middle as possible. Don't let the insides out yet.
2. Complete the break with one egg shell empty and one with the inside.
3. Pass the egg back and forth over the pan until all you have left in the shells is the yolk.
4. Throw away shells and yolk.

Now you have your egg whites super fast! Mind you they  cook way faster than the whole egg.

Second, is the egg's nutritional background. For 70 Calories a piece, you get almost 7 grams of the highest quality proteins possible along with vitamins and minerals. They've got some fat, but only 1 gram of saturated fat. When you eliminate the yolk, you also eliminate the fat, cholesterol, at only the price of about half the protein value (and the calorie count goes down to 16!). Unfortunately, you lose almost all the vitamin and mineral profile except for sodium and potassium. My view on it is, if cholesterol is not a major concern for you (i.e. heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.) eat that yolk whether it is sunny side up or hard boiled. For a more precise chart go here. All these values promote a high recovery and muscle building breakfast. Crack two eggs and make some toast and you're looking at the easiest breakfast with minimal clean up and tasty value.

Third, is the price of eggs. Literally my favorite part. One egg will be less than 15 cents and every grocery store will have eggs. So that breakfast I mentioned before? Probably will cost you 50 cents in the end. On top of all of this, eggs last forever. I always go by the 3 week rule. Once I buy the eggs, they will last 3 weeks. They could probably last longer with proper refrigeration, but I play it safe. So what about cage free? organic? What I've found with these eggs, and you can see too by looking at the labels, is that they have an almost identical nutrient profile but taste way better. How do you tell the quality of the egg? After cracking, how tall is the yolk? That's how.

I'm hungry...I can only talk about food for so long without needing some myself. Questions below!

How to Break Those Habits

So, what habits do you have? Snack too much? Dine out too much? Not enough fruits and veggies? Too much alcohol? Nearly everybody has a habit they would like to kick, but most have no idea how to or lack the will power to do so.

I say it's not too hard to kick the habits. But you do need a couple of things:

• Attack Plan
• Motivation
• Help

So first, get an attack plan. Write out or just think about how you can accomplish a task. This could be buying more fruits and veggies when you go to the grocery store or trying 1 new recipe per week. Make sure to start slow. We aren't trying to kick habits cold turkey. It's a very difficult method to try. For example, if you want to try going vegetarian, try first having meat at only one meal per day. Then, transfer to being a pescatarian (eating only fish meat when eating meat). Then, from there you can decide to go full blown vegetarian or not. Another example would be to dining out not more than 5 times per week, then decrease that slowly by week until you are comfortable. As long as you are thinking this plan through and starting slow, your plan will work.

It's really hard to accomplish any  task without motivation. So think of what motivates you to change your habits. This could be to improve health, gain/lose weight, compete at a higher level, reduce headaches, save money, etc. What's important here is finding out what's most important to you! A good trick to use if the habit is a real tough one is to tack a post it note in key places like the fridge, car, or other problem place that says your motivation. For example: writing "championship effort" on a note and tacking it right next to the fridge or pantry door will remind you to take the extra step to eat or drink healthy.

Finally, get help! It's proven that working together on a goal is much easier than tackling it alone. So use your teammates or roommates to either help you accomplish your goal or let them on the bus and you can both tackle the habit you both have. If they don't want in on the habit-breaking, then explain to them what you are trying to accomplish so that they know how to help you or not tease you with your goal. Remember! Don't force your new strategies on anyone else...that's not nice.

I believe that these three things can help anyone kick any habit. It's tough! But having an attack plan, motivation, and help will be the best method for accomplishing your new healthy life choice!

Long Term Energy Bars

So some family friends just came into town and brought with them some absolutely delicious granola bars. I felt like the recipe needed to be shared, so this one is for you Mrs. Smith!

These granola bars are awesomely delicious and extremely easy to customize. I looked on the itnerwebs and found that they have a pretty good nutritional profile too! They have a great ratio of sugars (short term energy) and grains (long term energy) and if the right goodies are added in, such as protein sources like nuts, then these could also be great recovery bars! Here's the recipe:

• 5 cups Rice Krispies
• 4 cups quick oats
• 1 1/3 cups brown sugar
• 2/3 cup corn syrup (or light corn syrup)
• 2/3 cup honey
• 16 oz peanut butter
• 2 cups of anything to add in

1. Mix the Rice Krispies and the oats in a large bowl.
2. Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a medium saucepan and bring just to a boil.
3. Take the pot off the heat and add the peanut butter.
4. Add the mixture to the Krispies and oats bowl and mix in your own 2 cups of anything.
5. Mix everything together then press into a 9x13 pan.

There you have it! No cooking necessary (besides the boiling, but you can boil right?). This makes about 18 thick granola chunks, perfect for on the go or just as a snack. The best part is, they are real low in fat and can easily substitute a dessert because they are so tasty. My recommendations for the add ins would be almonds, chocolate, soy nuts, cranberries, raisins, or any pre-made blend of nuts and dried fruit. They keep at room temperature and all you have to do is cover them with tin foil or saran wrap. If I haven't convinced you yet to make these, here's the pic:

So let me know what you think, or if you have any questions or recommendations yourself just comment below!

The Inappropriate BMI

I got a beef...with the BMI, or more commonly known as the Body Mass Index. (Shameless plug to vote on my poll to the left!)

The BMI is what is being used today to measure a person's health. The BMI is measured by a very simple equation:

mass (kg)/height^2 (m)

Basically, your weight over your height squared. How can this be a way to measure health? Let me explain. A Belgian mathematician by the name of Adolphe Quetelet created this equation as a way to measure growth for a population. This is fine by my standards. But, in 1972, the Journal of Chronic Diseases decided they need a way to measure the obesity problems they could see happening in Western cultures (that's us). As a population, not individually, they decided the BMI is a good measure for body fat percentage. This was adopted to the norm and was used. Unfortunately today, due to simplicity, the BMI is used on an individual scale for body fat percentage. See the problem? History lesson over.


So where do you lie? Here is a chart for BMI classifications:


<18.5 - Underweight
18.5 - 24.9 - Normal
25 - 30 - Overweight
30 - 35 - Obese Class 1
35 - 40 - Obese Class 2
etc. etc. etc.


Why am I telling all of you this? Because I think the BMI is the worst thing to consider when regarding health. There are 3 categories that specifically the BMI is terrible for: children, elderly, and athletes.The equation is so simple it does not build in for muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat! I dare you to calculate the BMI of any NFL star or NBA center. Clay Matthews, linebacker for the Green Bay Packers, has a BMI of almost 32! That would make him obese class 1. Just in case you don't know who this is or what he looks like, check this out. So instead of using the BMI to check out our healthiness as athletes, let's use something else. Try getting your fat percentage checked, which can be done by multiple devices. An impedance test will take 1 minute and give u a fair calculation of about how much fat you have. 


My disclaimer here, is that the BMI can be great to diagnose weight problems when they do actually exist. I am not trying to throw it all out the window. I just don't want our population to get to fixed on having a bad BMI when in reality it is a terrible number representation.


So ultimately what I'm trying to say here is do not get tripped up by some doctor or website or equation is telling you. We are athletes and the BMI doesn't apply to us whether it is high or low (like it is for me, I'm missing part of my leg). 

Welcome Back to School!

Got some downtime, figured I would welcome you all back to school, those of you who are still in school.

For most of you out there getting lunch can be a struggle. I implore all of you to be the one in charge of making the lunch happen. By this I mean don't let someone else throw together your meal and don't let the easy and tempting food destroy your meal. I got a couple of scenarios:

Scenario 1:
Running around from class to class is very time consuming and can completely block out a proper time to sit down and eat a meal.

This scenario can easily by combating by always having a large bag of trail mix or granola bars, or nuts in your backpack. Always having a liquid on hand (water, gatorade, juice) helps too. Another thought is to eat meals beforehand that are a little larger and can hold you over a little nicer. Whatever you do, try not to skip meals. Make sure to eat something. Sometimes this takes planning ahead.

Scenario 2:
My friends want to eat out somewhere and I have no clue what's good for me to eat at a reasonable price.

This one is tough. Sometimes the restaurant of everyone else's choice is not exactly the healthiest option. If you can't throw in your own suggestions for a better choice, there shouldn't be too much of a problem going to get your own sub sandwich or noodle bowl to go from another shop and eating it with your buddies wherever that may be. Food courts are great for this reason. Now, if you are stuck at a restaurant, no outside food allowed in, understand that every now and then it is OK to "splurge" and get something that is more or less "bad" for you. There is usually some other options on every menu that are of the healthier options, but it can take a lot of willpower to not choose the cheaper fattier option. Some common menu items that are usually cheaper than the rest: simple sandwiches (turkey, ham, tuna), salads (side, garden, fruit), chicken (tacos, grilled), and pasta (red sauces, pesto, loaded with veggies).

Scenario 3:
I'm making my lunch to go for tomorrow, and I have no idea what to put in it.

This one can be real easy. Just think about it! First of all, think about where you'll be eating it and how much time you'll have to do so. From there you know how much to pack and how extravagant the food can be (microwave, oven, drinks available). Now, build your lunch around the entree item. Is it a sandwich? microwaveable soup? Leftovers? Go from there and think of something that is tasty for the side. Speaking of sides, always aim for one fruit and one vegetable to add in there. The cool part about this is you can sneak into the lunch and grab the apple when you are getting hungry before meal time. Ideas for this part include: baby carrots, sliced bell pepper, orange, apple, banana, grapes, celery sticks with peanut butter, edamame, sugar snap peas. Finally, choose a drink that can only add something beneficial to your meal. If you can't think of anything, choose the water option. I like to drink gatorade, juice, and sometimes a smoothie. Soda can dehydrate, but I understand the caffeine purposes. Maybe try tea if you really need the caffeine.

So there you have it. I hope these tips have given you some insight so that you all can start of the semester on a good note. Got any questions or want some further knowledge? Don't hesitate to email me or comment on this post!

Quick Thoughts on Multivitamins

When I bring up that I studied food science to my family and friends, I usually get asked tons of questions about diets. One question that pops up a lot is whether or not to use a multivitamin.

Using a multivitamin can be very beneficial. The way it works is the vitamin manufacturer takes a whole bunch of compounds of different vitamins and minerals and smashes them together into one pill. When the pill goes down, the body will break apart the pill form into the useful vitamin and mineral forms. And there you go, vitamin power.

The thing about vitamins is if we are eating a balanced meal as most perfectly outlined by MyPyramid, then we do not need to add these vitamins to our diet because we are already getting our vitamins and minerals from more natural sources. The percentages on the back of food labels and whatnot are designed to reach 100% or more when consuming a "perfect diet." The problem with this is it's pretty tough to eat the perfect diet!

In the end, it doesn't hurt to take a multivitamin. Most of the unusable stuff you will pee out anyway. Here's my pro tip for you all: do not take multivitamins first thing in the morning or on an empty stomach. Multivitamins work and get absorbed much better when taken with food. While the food is being broken down, so is the multivitamin, so the body can use the food as almost a vehicle for being used in the body. I take my multivitamin usually in the afternoon, right after lunch. If I forget, then I take it with dinner.

So go ahead and try a multivitamin, they aren't threatening. You still want to get most of your vitamins and minerals from natural sources, but like stated before, this isn't the easiest thing to do. I know there are probably tons more of specific questions out there, so ask away!

Alcohol for Athletes

Sorry about the long times between posts, I don't plan to be like this for a while, but I am on vacation. I'm still hoping to get 2-3 posts per week.

Because it's Summer vacation let's talk relaxing and having fun! Let's talk alcohol!

Alcohol is a very prevalent part of the athlete's social network. When most athletes are in their prime, it is also at a time when alcohol not only becomes legal, but when athletes are experimenting with different alcohols in different amounts. There are a few tips to understand in order to not damage all the hard work but still enjoy a nice beer.

First, because we are athletes, we will have a lower tolerance towards alcohol, this is mainly because of how dehydrated we can be and how empty our stomach is (usually due to high metabolism). It's important to know  your limits and at what time things start going overboard. I'm not saying you can't go overboard, but being in control of your situation is crucial. In order to recognize when this limit is, take a look at alcoholic content in your drinks. Servings are as follows:

• Beer - 12 oz, or one bottle
• Wine - 5 oz, or a little less than the size of one yogurt
• Liquor (~35%) - 1.5 oz, or one standard shot glass

So just find your number of drinks and what drinks you like and you'll be fine. Understand that you should measure out mixed drinks and check alcohol content on beers (the higher the percent, the less beer per serving). Remember, the classic red solo cups? 2 servings of beer can go in there, and a whopping 4 servings of wine could fit in there.

You guys and gals in chairs? We will be sitting down when we drink most likely. This causes the body to be able to drink more just because you aren't moving. The scary part about this is you won't realize how much you've drank, and it will hit you like a brick wall. To answer this, make sure to move around a bit, get out of your chair, dance, etc.

My next tip is to re-hydrate. For athletes, this is the biggest problem (usually occurring the next day) regarding performance. A good tip to follow is to drink about one water bottle/pint glass of water per serving of alcohol. I know a lot of you are thinking that this would kill the vibe and the buzz, but this will stop hangovers and will keep you hydrated. Alternating the water and booze is the most efficient way of doing this, but if that's not in the game plan, drink as much water as possible before going to bed or moving on to other activities. Before practices later, drink some Gatorade too.

My final tip is to never drink on an empty stomach. This will get you uncomfortable intoxicated sooner than normal and can also get you very sick. A lot of you have probably already heard this tip. If you are to throw up at any point in the night, drink as much water or Gatorade as possible, and drink as much Gatorade over the next 24 hours as you can. This goes for anytime you yak.

So enjoy yourself! Go out and have fun, understand your limits, and enjoy the best of both worlds! It's completely possible to perform at a high level and also have a thriving social life/night life.

Everything in Moderation

Hey everybody! I'm baaaaack.....

After my long trip through Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota, I have thought about a couple things, so I guess I'll let you in on my thoughts.

When I have talked to anyone considering nutrition (athlete or not) certain foods get brought up. Normally it's comments like "But I love Taco Bell, how am I supposed to give that up?" or "I really don't like these super healthy foods...salad? That tastes nasty." Usually these kinds of comments come alone or without me asking a question about it! Most people get hooked into believing in two categories: good food and bad food. Good food is like, I don't know, fruits and veggies and stuff; you know, rabbit food. And bad food is of course every fast food and all those sugary sodas and fatty desserts. Well I've come here to tell you all that you can have the best of both worlds as long as foods are enjoyed in moderation.

"Everything in moderation." I bet a lot of you have heard this before, but let me explain the purpose. Our diet needs to be varied and contain a whole bunch of different foods. When we don't moderate or control portions of foods, we end up eating too much of a couple benefits and miss out on a ton of good tasting food, extra vitamins and minerals, sustained energy, and decreased stomach problems. For example, the person that loves Pizza Hut pizza and stops by 2 to 3 times per week has made pizza a very large part of the diet. Now, depending on what he or she is ordering every time, this person is getting the same flavors, same nutrients, same fats, same feelings, and on and on and on...I want this person to have their pizza! It's their favorite food! What I want this person to do, though, is control when and how much pizza is eaten. Bring the pizza home and enjoy it slowly, not 4 or 5 slices at once. Have 1 or 2 slices with a side salad of your choice, and drink lots of water or maybe some skim milk. Now there's a full meal! Plus the salad will cleanse the palate and make each bite of pizza after get even more taste.

What about the other way? All these nutritionists telling you to eat those superfoods, and drink these teas and juices, and don't forget yogurt! It can be supremely frustrating, especially because lots of the super healthy foods unfortunately don't taste good to everyone. When it comes to trying out these healthy foods and incorporating them into the diet, start slow! Nobody should tell you or attack you for trying new foods, and no one likes people that scoff at your diet just because you eat this or don't eat that. Recently, I have been trying to eat more raw vegetables. It's tough. All I can think of to eat is a salad (which will need dressing) or adding a bit of lettuce and tomato to a sandwich. At first I was like "Ugh, this is tough and annoying," but now I'm looking at it as a success because at least I am already eating more raw veggies! I plan to try out more foods soon too as today is grocery shopping day.

So what am I getting at? Moderation in the diet can lead to a couple of things:

• Eating the foods you love
• Eating foods that benefit you
• Satisfied stomach instead of painfully stuffed
• Eating foods that are inexpensive
• Learning what foods you like and when

Of course there are more, but you all are probably sick of reading already. So next time you go to McDonald's, try out the Dollar Menu, but keep it small and simple! Or maybe try that new salad they have or the fruit smoothie. And the next grocery trip? Get smaller sized snacks one at a time and see how it goes: mixed nuts, baby carrots, celery stalks, different yogurts.

I'm going to be gone for a bit

Hey guys, I will be taking a small break because I am driving back home from Marquette, MI. I've packed up my stuff and I am moving on! One step closer to my trip to Italy. I will try to get on my blog briefly through this next week.

Before I go, here's a quick tip. We lost a lot of the vitamins and minerals in vegetables because we  cook them. Try adding raw vegetables to your diet like a salad, carrot and celery sticks, or lettuce and tomato slices on your sandwich.

The Importance of Timing

After yesterday's talk about whey protein and an earlier talk about breakfast, I think it's important to explain when and where we should eat meals. It's a long post, so get comfy.

As athletes, it is recommended to eat more, smaller meals throughout the day. This way we have a more constant level of energy instead of looping back and forth from super energetic to about to pass out. So then when do we eat 5-6 meals every day? Hold on baby birds, I'll feed you...

First there's breakfast. I recommend this meal be one of the first things you do every day. This isn't always comfortable or doable. I did not eat breakfast before practice my entire 4 year college stint. This was because I did not have time to digest my food all the way down to a comfortable level before getting on the court. For this meal, I recommend giving yourself 30-40 min before activity to digest.

The next important time to eat is after any sort of practice. This includes lifting and competition. In order to properly recover and build muscle, dietitians are recommending to eat within 30 min after exercising in a ratio of 3:1 carbs:protein. As I've stated in other posts, this ratio is to first replenish the fuel for our body and then rebuild our muscles. Ideas for this recovery meal include: Gatorade, whey protein mixes, milk, granola bars, a lean sandwich, or cereal. Remember, eat small portions. We aren't trying to "get full," we are trying to refuel. This takes practice and willpower.

Lunch is necessary. It's also my favorite meal of the day. It should be timed to be around the middle of the day. I'm not going to get specific into what foods should go into a lunch. You guys know what you do and don't eat and what you should and shouldn't eat. My tip is, look ahead through your day and see when you probably will get hungry. Don't get stuck having to eat real quick and get a greasy fast food meal. Pack a lunch or give yourself enough time to hunt down the healthier option.

I think of dinner as a preparatory meal. This meal is usually after the day is done and there are no more practices to worry about (I know this isn't always the case so plan accordingly). I like to fill my plate with half veggies and then another half carbohydrate source with a little protein mixed in. Examples include: Linguine with a chicken breast on top in red sauce with a salad on the side, or rice, cooked salmon, and asparagus. The reasoning behind your choices here is to give your body something nice and well made to fuel the beginning of the day tomorrow (or to fuel you for the game that night). A lot of time athletes skip breakfast, eat a small lunch and then double up on a gigantic dinner. This is unhealthy in that it forces your body into an uncomfortable metabolism. Plus, it only hurts your recovery time more by not spreading meals out.

Snacks before bed are actually encouraged. Especially if you are like me and can't eat before practice. This gives you a great time to fill up on something that will be there in the morning. Ideas here include healthy fat foods like peanuts, trail mix, or popcorn.

Where you eat your food is a minor note, but try not to eat in front of the television as this leads to overeating. Also, don't distract yourself from eating. I understand being in a rush, but give food its respect and time of day too.

Now, I think I should tell you that we all have different Calorie needs everyday. It can depend upon our sport, our age, our size, our disability, etc. For this reason, start to understand your body. Keep mental notes on how foods make you feel 30 min later. If Taco Bell makes you feel crappy for 2 hours after eating it, I wouldn't recommend it before exercise or games. I would choose a different option or a smaller portion. Also, I think that our population of athletes with disabilities have very different levels of metabolism. You must consider this in timing your foods, e.g. some of you with lower metabolisms (digest food slowly) need to add more time after meals before you start exercising hardcore.

So please don't wait to eat after exercise (30 min!), and please try to fuel up on awesome food throughout the day. As this article states, “Establish eating habits and patterns first. The quality of the food can be changed later."

Whey it out

So at a overwhelming vote win of 2 to 1, you guys have voted to learn more about whey protein. Next time let's get some more people voting :)

So whey protein. It's cool stuff. Essentially it's the lactoglobulins (milk proteins), so all milk naturally has whey protein (as long as its from an animal source). A lot of people use a dry whey supplement when they want to "bulk up." It's nice because the stuff is packed with protein and other good stuff. What whey protein is mostly good for is:

• Easily digestible protein (unless lactose intolerant)
• Immune function boost
• Quick muscle recovery
• Muscle growth

Let's start at the top. Whey is easily digestible because of its source, milk. It's made of the branched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) have been researched to discover that they are more easily digested and also target muscle groups specifically.

Whey gives an immune system boost because of the globulins in the proteins. Globulins basically are protein structures but are shown to be used by our immune system and made in our immune system. They are present in our mother's milk but also in a cow's milk. Moral of the story, these proteins can help boost your immune system response to sickness, allergies, and foreign items. Cool!

Now for what a lot of you are curious about; the muscles. This is what whey protein is great for. The BCAAs, and specifically leucine, are awesome amino acids to fuel muscles and activate protein synthesis. They can be fuel because our muscles love to pick these guys up and because they can be transformed into fuel like glucose through a couple metabolic steps. Their real role is to stimulate protein synthesis at these spots. In simpler terms, these proteins start up the metabolic steps to produce more proteins that speed up muscle recovery and adaptation to stress.

So now that you guys know what's going on with whey, there are some tips you should know about using it. First, when you are buying whey, make sure that you find a high quality source with a great amino acid profile (has a lot of leucine, isoleucine, and valine) and no additives. A lot of us have USADA to worry about but if not, you still don't want to pump your body with "extras" as this can lead to unhealthy results. Always read up online on products and find people who have used the product before. Next, what you add it to can be anything technically. I love adding it to milk and blending it to make sure I'm not drinking a whole bunch of globs of the stuff. I smooth it out. Some use water, which would be somewhat interesting to taste...but others add it to smoothies. It's up to you. The final thing to remember is that to digest this much protein at times, we need to add a little more hydration to the process, so after drinking up some whey, drink some water after too.

I have used the EAS brand whey protein over the last few years, and I must say that it is really great for muscle recovery. I would add one full scoop to about 10 fl. oz (little less than a soda can) of milk. This way I was "doubling up" the protein by adding milk to milk. Blending it was essential and made it taste like a milkshake. Yum. I could significantly tell that my muscles were more ready the next day for practice or lifting. I could not tell much of a difference in muscle growth though. I was only using the product for about 2 days/week after lifting, 3 at most. Chocolate was my favorite flavor, but vanilla is great for smoothies.

Do I recommend whey protein? Sure! Especially if you are having trouble with recovery. It can tend to make people gassy (because of the milk) but it's a great method to try. Let me know if you guys have any more questions about this! It's one of my favorite topics.