Tip of the week by Nancy Clark – Do you skip breakfast to save calories?

 Many soccer athletes, in their efforts to be light, lean and fast, think a good way to shed a few pounds of undesired  body fat is to skip breakfast. After all, they aren’t hungry when they wake up in the morning, so why not save a few calories…? Bad idea.

Soccer players who skip breakfast will undoubtedly end up being too hungry later in the day. For example, when one of my clients skipped breakfast and ate a meager salad with diet dressing for lunch, she created a 1,200-calorie deficit. Of course she ended up “blowing” her diet later in the day, as well as eating the whole box of cereal after dinner. Her body was demanding fuel!

She thought she had no will power. I explained to her that she dieted “too hard” and got too hungry. Just as a person cannot breathe normally after staying underwater for too long, a dieter cannot eat normally after having eaten too little food for too long. That’s the physiology of hunger. The body wants to overcompensate for the perceived “famine” (diet).

My words of wisdom to weight-conscious soccer players are: If you want to lose weight, enjoy a hearty breakfast and lunch, and then “diet” at the end of the day so you can lose weight when you are sleeping, not when you are trying to train and perform well.

Enjoy high energy and low body fat,

Nancy

For more information, refer to the weight reduction section in:

Food Guide for Soccer: Tips and Recipes From the Pros by Gloria Averbuch and Nancy Clark RD (Available at www.nancyclarkrd.com)

Tip of the week by Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch – Protein-Power

I recently had the pleasure of listening to a talk by exercise physiologist John Ivy, PhD of the University of Texas, Austin. Dr. Ivy has done a lot of sports nutrition research. Here are a few of his key points that might be of interest to soccer players:

• During exercise, athletes need water, carbohydrate, electrolytes, and protein. While the need for protein during exercise can be debated, consuming protein is not detrimental. Adding protein to a sports drink can lower markers of muscle damage, reduce post exercise muscle soreness and enhance recovery.

• Consuming protein before and after resistance exercise optimizes gains in muscle mass and power.

• Protein consumed during exercise helps retain water. This is one reason why chocolate milk is a good pre-exercise drink; it gets protein into your system for use during or after exercise.

• Athletes who are serious about building muscle should eat consistently throughout the day, to provide a steady infusion of carbohydrates and protein to the muscles.

• Eating breakfast is important to take the body out of a catabolic state that breaks down protein.

• Anabolic (muscle-building) activity is highest at night, so consuming a small (100-calorie) high protein snack (such as some turkey or cottage cheese) before going to bed can reduce cortisol (breaks down muscle), enhance availability of amino acids throughout the night, and protect lean body mass.

Eat wisely and feel great!

Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch

Food Guide for Soccer: Tips and Recipes from the Pros

www.nancyclarkrd.com

Tip of the week by Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch – Recipes for Soccer Players

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to find recipes to fuel you for high energy and good health, check out my new app: Nancy Clark’s Recipes for Athletes. The information will help you create meals that make you feel and perform better.

The app offers 71 recipes, searchable by calories, carbohydrate, protein, and fat. You can further sort the recipes by recommendations for what to eat pre- and post-exercise, as well as for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free recipes.

Each recipe comes with a  colorful photo of the prepared dish accompany the recipes as well as additional nutrition information for each recipe so you know the exact health value for each prepared meal.

The app also includes a quick reference listing of the most popular protein and energy bars, sports and energy drinks, and protein powders.

If you live outside the States, you can select imperial or metric measurements.

All this for only $2.99!

Eat wisely and feel great,

Nancy

Available at the App Store:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nancy-clarks-recipes-for-athletes/id429672418?mt=8&ls=1

Contents

I. Recipes

Breads and Breakfast

Pasta, Rice, and Potatoes

Vegetables and Salads

Chicken and Turkey

Fish and Seafood

Beef and Pork

Beans and Tofu

Beverages and Smoothies

Snacks and Desserts

II. Quick Find

Calories

Carbohydrates

Protein

Fat

Nutrient Timing

Special Diets

III. Advice

Sports Drinks

Electrolytes

Endurance Food Recovery Drinks

Energy Drinks

Energy Bars

Protein Bars

Protein Powders

 __

Nancy

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD
Sports Nutrition Services

www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com (home study; online workshop)
www.nancyclarkrd.com (books, handouts, CEUs)

Tip of the week by Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch – Protein for Soccer: An Update

At the 27^th annual sports nutrition conference sponsored by SCAN, the Sports and Cardiovascualr Nutritionists’ group of the American Dietetic Association, Dr. Stuart Phillips, PhD, a Professor of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Toronto, presented the following tips:

• While the US government’s current RDA of 0.8 g protein/kg body weight is deemed “adequate” to prevent protein loss in the average person, Dr. Phillips pointed out the American College of Sport Medicine, the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada agree that athletes need 1.2 to 1.7 g protein/kg to optimize muscular development. Most young men and women generally consume 1.4 g and 1.2 g protein/kg/day respectively. Hence, athelts do not need to consume “extra” protein because they generally consume more than they actually require.

• Consuming 20 grams of protein-rich food after resistance exercise is plenty to optimize the rate of muscle synthesis. Athletes should continue to eat evenly spaced protein-containing meals and snacks throughout the day.

• Both milk and meat are good sources of leucine, the amino acid that triggers protein synthesis. Cows’ milk has more leucine than soymilk, hence is more effective for stimulating muscle growth.

• The highest rate of protein synthesis is 3 to 5 hours post-exercise. This presents a question: should athletes who workout twice a day plan to avoid exercising in that time frame?

• Research with obese people on a reducing diet indicates they lost more fat and less muscle when given a high dairy diet (30% of calories from dairy protein) as compared to standard diet with low dairy (15% of calories). Both groups lost the same amount of total body weight.

• Dr. Phillips deems milk to be as effective as whey supplements. Both skim and whole milk are equally effective.

Nancy Clark is co-author with Gloria Averbuch of Food Guide for Soccer, a popular guide for parents and soccer players who want to eat to win. Available at www.nancyclarkrd.com

Tip of the week by Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch – Go nuts and eat “plantifully”

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a state-of-the-art sports nutrition conference sponsored by SCAN, the Sports and Cardiovascular Nutrition practice group of the American Dietetic Association. The meeting included an excellent array of speakers who presented information on vegetarian diets, nuts, and the newly released dietary guidelines. Here are a few of the key messages:

• The American Diet has changed dramatically from the 1950s to the present. We now eat more calories— increasing from 1,900 calories in 1950 to 2,660 calories in 2008. Most of those additional calories come from refined grains and fats (such as muffins, donuts, cakes and baked goods).

• less than 1% of Americans consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, and only 60% of Americans consumes adequate calcium.

• The SAD (Standard American Diet) lacks the bioactive phytochemicals and antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and legumes. These health protective compounds reduce our risk of heart disease.

* Eating a plant-based diet can correct those deficiencies. For example, nuts reduce inflammation, a contributor of heart disease. People who eat nuts more than 5 times a week have 50% less heart disease. Consuming 2 ounces (two big handfuls—or four average handfuls) of nuts a day can reduce blood cholesterol by 5%.

• The more nuts you eat, the better response you will get, as long as you stay within your calorie budget.

• To add years to your life: eat less meat (and more plant protein), exercise more, eat nuts, maintain a good weight, and drink five glasses of water a day.

Eat wisely and stay well,

Nancy Clark

 For more information:

www.nutstudies.org

Food Guide for Soccer: Tips and Recipes from the Pros.

Tip of the week by Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch – Does a pre-exercise quick fix do any good?

Nancy, if I eat a banana five minutes before I play soccer, will the banana have time to boost my energy and get used for fuel?

Answer: Yes! Despite popular belief, eating a carbohydrate-based snack such as an banana, energy bar, handful of pretzels, or an apple, just 5 minutes before a workout can boost your energy. It might help you be as much as 10% to 20% stronger at the end of a one-hour soccer session. Eating 15 minutes before you exercise has been shown to be as effective as eating an hour beforehand.

Your body can digest food while you exercise and use it to enhance your workout, as long as you are exercising at a pace that you can maintain for more than half an hour. Because soccer is a stop and start sport, digestion will slow while you are sprinting, but will resume during the less active times. Because each person’s body is different, you need to learn what fueling patterns work for you—and what ones don’t.

Most athletes train at a moderate pace, hence they can benefit from a pre-exercise energy booster. If you’ll be doing an intense workout, you might want to eat an hour or two pre-exercise, so the food has more time to empty from your stomach. Your best bet is to experiment with different pre-soccer snacks, to determine when you can eat them without causing distress, and which ones settle best and help you perform at your best.

Eat wisely and be well,

Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch

Food Guide for Soccer: Tips and Recipes From the Pros

www.nancyclarkrd.com

Tip of the week by Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch – Pancakes: soccer fuel!

 

Whether you want to recover from an early morning practice or an afternoon game, pancakes are a fun source of carbs to refuel your muscles.

To make pancakes into a balanced sports meal, enjoy them with a poached egg or a tub of Greek yogurt (for a protein boost) plus some fruit salad or glass of juice. 

Here’s a recipe for light and fluffy prizewinners.

Oatmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup uncooked oats (quick or old fashioned)

1/2 cup plain yogurt, buttermilk (or milk mixed with 1/2 tsp vinegar)

1/2 to 3/4 cup milk

1 egg or 2 egg whites, beaten

1 tablespoon oil, preferably canola

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt, as desired

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup flour, preferably half whole-wheat and half white

Optional: dash cinnamon

1. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, yogurt, and milk. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to let the oatmeal soften.

2. When the oatmeal is through soaking, beat in the egg and oil and mix well. Add the sugar, salt (and cinnamon). Stir the baking powder into the flour; then add and stir until just moistened. For best results, let the batter stand for 5 minutes before cooking.

3. Heat a lightly oiled or nonstick griddle over medium-high heat.

4. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle. Turn when the tops are covered with bubbles and the edges look cooked. Turn only once.

5. Serve with syrup, honey, applesauce, yogurt, or other topping of your choice.

Yield: six 6-inch pancakes                                         Total calories: 1,000

Calories/serving (2 pancakes): 330               57 g Carb; 10 g Pro; 7 g Fat

This is just one of many recipes in Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 4^th Edition

Manya Makoski’s Snickerdoodle Pancakes

This recipe is from soccer pro Manya Makoski. Manya’s addition of yogurt and strawberries makes this a complete and healthful meal.

2 eggs

¼ cup (35 g) sugar

2 teaspoons (10 g) baking powder

1/4 teaspoon (1 g) salt

2 teaspoons (10 g) vanilla extract

2 teaspoons (2 g)  ground cinnamon

2 cups (250 g)flour (preferably half whole wheat)

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

1. Beat eggs and sugar together with a whisk.

2. Add in the baking powder, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Stir in the flour and milk until the batter is mixed well.

3. Heat the frying pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour batter into small circles on the frying pan.  Flip when small bubbles reach the surface of the batter and the edges of the pancakes are dry.

4. Enjoy with vanilla yogurt and strawberries.

Yield: 4 servings

Total Calories: 1,200 (without toppings)

Calories per serving: 300

60 g Carbohydrate

9 g Protein

3 g Fat

From: Food Guide for Soccer: Tips and Recipes from the Pros by Nancy Clark and Gloria Averbuch.