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All-Day Events: Top 6 Foods to Avoid When You’re In Charge of the Team’s Snacks

  • June 1, 2020
  • Nutrition
Parents

Young white male baseball player drinking chocolate milk.As a parent of a young athlete, you’re likely going to be on snack duty at some point during the season. For some competitions or practices, this will be easier: a few granola bars, orange slices, and you’re good to go. But for longer days, like track and field meets or regional matches that involve travel, warm-ups, and post-game awards ceremonies before heading home, you may be asked to provide meals or snacks to keep athletes satiated from breakfast to dinner. Here are a few foods to avoid bringing — and what to bring instead.

 

Avoid – Only simple carbohydrates

Kids who are participating in all-day events need a steady intake of carbohydrates, as well as proteins and fats, throughout the day. Often, parents on snack duty think about energy and then bring ultra-processed gummies, granola bars, cookies, and pastries. While small amounts of low-fat versions of these can be useful in between races and in the middle of games, all-day events require snacks with proteins and fats to keep athletes satiated and avoid blood sugar spikes and drops.

Instead: Plan out the day’s meals around when athletes are going to be working the hardest. In the hour before competition, prioritize simple carbohydrates with easy-to-eat snacks like granola bars, fresh/dried fruit, or fruit juice. For track and field meets where there are multiple races throughout the day, post-race snacks should focus on carbohydrates but include protein as well. Here, chocolate milk is a great option. To properly fuel athletes a couple hours before competition or after events, try larger snacks like almond butter and jam on whole wheat bread or a yogurt parfait with granola and berries.

 

Avoid – Anything caffeinated

Teens are more sensitive to caffeine than adults, so while your cup of coffee or soda at the game may keep you awake during the slower moments, it can have a negative impact on your young athlete. Caffeine can make kids jittery, exacerbate nerves, and lead to an energy crash that impacts their performance. Caffeine can also lead to dehydration. More specifically, most energy drinks don’t contain appropriate electrolytes, so sipping one can leave your athlete depleted after a long day, especially in hot weather.

Instead: Make your own sports drink! Find a single-ingredient fruit juice and dilute it down to 50 percent water and 50 percent juice. Then add a pinch of sea salt and a small spoonful of honey for a natural sports drink that won’t have athletes crashing on the field.

 

Avoid – Fatty snacks

Pepperoni and beef jerky may sound like protein-filled, tasty treats, but on game days, these high fat and highly processed snacks are going to negatively impact your athlete. They’re hard to digest and can lead to gastric distress in athletes, especially during harder efforts, and they won’t effectively fuel athletes as their glycogen stores drop throughout the day.

Instead: Save the jerky for post-game and opt for easier to digest finger food like pretzels, granola bars, any type of fresh or dried fruit, or low-fat crackers while the competition is going on.

 

Avoid – Obvious Allergies

More than 6 million children in the U.S. have a food allergy, according to the American College of Allergies, Asthma and Immunology. A whopping 2.5 percent of children have peanut allergies, lactose intolerance is the second most common allergy for children, and gluten sensitivities are also on the rise. Ask ahead of time if any athletes have allergies and you can even check with your school or sports association since there may be some rules in place for what you can and can’t bring.

Instead: Almonds are less likely to provoke an allergic reaction, so after checking with the team, try swapping almonds for peanuts to get athletes vitamin E and iron, as well as healthy fats. If you’re bringing milk products, such as chocolate milk, make sure you have a lactose-free option.

 

Avoid – Heavy desserts

While the occasional cupcake celebration is great, it’s better to model healthier eating practices for kids after exercise. This isn’t necessarily a nutritional mandate, but it is a good way to showcase that rewards for exercise or a job well done don’t need to be food-based. Too often, parents use treats like ice cream or cake to signal that a child has done something good, which can lead to a negative relationship with food later in life.

Instead: Consider the slightly healthier option of muffins with fruit and vegetables mixed in, such as a carrot cake muffin with actual chunks of carrot, pineapple, and raisin. And skip the frosting.

 

Avoid – Anything messy

For obvious reasons, your child’s coach would prefer that you save the sloppy joes for times when athletes aren’t in uniform!

Instead: Stick to options that come with their own wrapping, such as a paper-wrapped bean and rice burrito with minimal sauce to prevent dripping. And always bring a roll of paper towels.

 

Takeaway

Properly fueling athletes for competition, especially all-day or all-weekend events, is no easy task, but there are some basic guidelines to help make the decision-making process a little easier. In general, stick to foods with minimal ingredients and a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and some healthy fats.

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Goal-Setting Lesson Video Transcript

Hi. I’m Trevon, Trey, Jennifer. Team USA wheelchair basketball player, paralympian, and true sport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about goal setting. And there are three things that I would like you to know. First, successful athletes set goals and a planned roadmap. Second, goals should be written down, assessed over time, and changed if necessary. And third, goals need to be challenging in order to be worthwhile. As a freshmen at Edinboro University, I was a part of a team that made the national championship game. And at that time I recognized I was the low man on the totem pole, but I felt in my heart that I knew my dreams were so much bigger than winning a national title. I wanted to make Team USA. I knew what achieving my lofty goal was not going to be easy and that I would need to work hard every day.

So, as a reminder, I created a pyramid of goals that I kept right above my bed. This pyramid reminded me of the accomplishments that I was working towards and visually represented my need to create a solid foundation underneath me before reaching the top. In the bottom roll of my pyramid of goals I listed goals such as obtaining my bachelor’s degree, becoming a scholar athlete award recipient, and becoming an All-American. The middle row listed winning a national title and playing for a professional team. And at the top row, the most challenging of them all, I listed becoming a gold medalist for Team USA.

By understanding that there are smaller stepping stones to achieving my ultimate goal of being on Team USA, I was able to stay motivated and to stay focused on completing the smaller stepping stones fully before moving onto the next one. Now I’ll be the first to admit that not every goal that I listed on my pyramid was accomplished, but seeing my goals every day when I went to bed, I was able to push through the days that I felt like doing nothing in hopes of achieving the bigger picture. Remember, create a clear goal roadmap, assess your goals often, and continue to challenge yourself. I hope that you never stopped dreaming big or reaching for the stars. And I look forward to seeing where your roadmap takes you.

Body Image Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Kara Winger, Olympic javelin thrower, and true sport athlete. Today I want to talk to you about body image and I have three things I’d like you to know. First, healthy thoughts often lead to healthier bodies. Second, there are varying body types and no one’s body is exactly like another. And third, true beauty goes deeper than the skin. As a multi-time Olympian, I’ve experienced a lot of variation and progression in my training. My coaches and I adapt to my training frequently, all with the goal of supporting my long-term success and health in the sport of javelin. I’m talking to you about body image today because sometimes even with the best of intentions and a common goal in mind, the changes you make to your training habits can prove to be detrimental if made for the wrong reasons. In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic trials, I was told in order to improve my performance on the field, I should try to become a leaner, skinnier version of myself.

So I changed my diet. I went along with what I was being told to do, even though I’d had great success at a slightly heavier weight and higher body fat percentage, and became much leaner than ever before. It seemed like a successful change at first, but I didn’t have nearly the results I’d had before. And I believe becoming leaner than my body naturally wanted to be was what caused my ACL to tear. In the end, it cost me heavily going into the 2012 London games. The takeaway for me, and hopefully for you, is that it’s important to know what works for you and your body and to not compare yourself to others. You should do your research and experiment with your diet to find what makes you feel the best, rather than focusing on what you look like. Today, if I feel like having a chocolate chip cookie, I have one, just not every day.

I’ve learned what a properly balanced meal for my body looks like and I recognize food as the fuel that keeps me throwing. I hydrate and allow myself time to recover. And I listen to and communicate with my body so that I can be the best version of myself. In the end, you are in control of how you see, treat, and respond to your body. We only get one and it’s amazing to discover how many things our bodies can do. Be a true sport athlete. Love who you are in this moment and get excited for all the places your body will take you.

A Good Sport Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Izy Isaksen, Team USA, Modern Pentathlon, Olympian, US Army Sergeant, and True Sport Ambassador. Today, I want to talk to you about being a good sport. There are three things I’d like you to know. First, real winners act the same toward their opponent, whether they win or lose. Second, follow the rules and be a gracious winner and respectful loser. And third, sportsmanship reveals your true character.

I started competing in Modern Pentathlon eight years after my older sister and three-time Olympian, Margaux Isaksen, began competing. I soon realized that people often compared the two of us. I would overhear spectators and teammates asking, “Who’s the better athlete,” and “Who’s going to beat the other.” Instead of letting outside pressures create a negative experience for us, I chose to practice winning and losing with grace and respect. I know that it would have been easy to let our hyper competitive mindset affect our relationship, but instead we decided to support and cheer for each other, regardless of our own performance. My experience of competing against and being compared to my older sister, taught me to focus on how to perform at my best, rather than putting wasted energy into wishing for others to fail.

I believe that sportsmanship reveals true character. So, no matter what situation I encounter during competition, I know it’s important to always treat people with respect and be a good sport. Remember, be a fierce competitor, find grace in all your victories and losses. And I hope to see you out there.

What Kind of Coach Do You Want to Be? Video Transcript

Edwin Moses: You’re a coach. Maybe what you want is very simple, for everyone to just run in the right direction, score for their own team, to try and try again and again. Maybe you want your athletes to become all stars. You want them to earn trophies, medals, win titles. You want them to reach the highest height their sport allows. And wanting all of that, of course, that’s good. But as every great coach discovers, developing a great athlete means nurturing, nurturing the even greater person within. Truth is, you have even more influence than you know.

You have the ability to affect even deeper change, to take what’s in your hands and do something even more extraordinary. You can be both the coach who provides the skills needed to win the game and the coach who helps them learn and succeed beyond the sport, to become all stars wherever they land in the future, and to enjoy their lives more now, because the confidence and courage they find working with you will stay with them when they need it the most. There are games to be won, lives to change. Coaches have the power to do both.

I’m Edwin Moses, and the lessons I’ve learned through sport have challenged me, guided me, and shaped my life forever. What kind of coach do you want to be?

THE SIMPLE TRUTH: DECODING THE SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

At first glance, dietary supplements look the same. They seem safe and healthy, but just because the label says a product is a dietary supplement, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Unfortunately, you can’t tell whether a product is safe or not just by looking at the label. Most vitamins, minerals, fish oil, and other supplements containing nutrients are probably just fine, but supplements are not evaluated or approved by FDA before they are sold. Although it is rare for vitamins or minerals to be contaminated with drugs, there has been at least one case of a vitamin containing an anabolic steroid.

At the other extreme are products that contain drugs, stimulants, anabolic steroids, or other hormones. Even though these are not technically dietary supplements, many of them are labeled as supplements. For example, body-building products sometimes contain anabolic steroids or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, known as SARMs, or other hormones. Some pre-workout or energy products contain illegal stimulants like DMAA, ephedra, or other amphetamine-like stimulants. Weight loss products might contain prescription drugs like sibutramine, or hormones, like human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG. All natural or herbal sexual enhancement products might contain hormones or Viagra-like drugs. Products like these can harm your health and career, but they’re for sale online, in some nutrition stores, and they’re labeled as dietary supplements.

When you pick up a supplement, especially one that promises performance enhancement, you don’t know if it belongs in the “Mostly O.K.” pile or in the “Dangerous” pile. After all, two products might look the same, but one might contain just amino acids and other legitimate ingredients, while the other also contains anabolic steroids. Because of this, FDA has issued a warning about certain categories of supplements: body building products, weight loss products, and sexual enhancement products. Be extremely careful when considering a supplement in one of these categories. We strongly recommend that you avoid products in these categories.

Even when FDA tests supplements and finds dangerous ingredients, companies sometimes refuse to recall them. Sometimes, they simply repackage their product and continue selling it under a new name. Just because a product is on a store shelf doesn’t mean it is safe. You need to do your research and be an informed consumer. The dietary supplement industry is enormous. Supplements that appear to be safe could actually be dangerous products in disguise. If you use dietary supplements without doing your research, you may be taking serious risks with your health and your career. Please visit USADA’s Supplement 411 for more information about dietary supplements.