Monday, September 27, 2010

Tip of the week by Gloria Averbuch and Nancy Clark – No Sweets? - No Way!


Some players love their sweets and treats, and others feel that a good soccer or sports diets means no sweets whatsoever. The truth is a good sports diet can include a reasonable amount of treats. Below is some advice on how to balance sweets and treats in your sports diet. The information is taken from Food Guide for Soccer: Tips and Recipes From the Pros by Nancy Clark RD and Gloria Averbuch.

Although nutritionists recommend eating a wholesome diet based on grains, fruits, and vegetables, some soccer athletes eat a diet with too many sweets and treats. If you have a junk-food diet, you may be able to easily correct this imbalance by eating more wholesome foods before you get too hungry. Athletes who get too hungry (or who avoid carbohydrates) tend to refuel with too many sugary, fatty foods (such as apple pie, instead of apples).

A simple solution to the junk-food diet is to prevent hunger by eating heartier portions of wholesome foods at meals. And once you replace sweets with more wholesome choices (including whole grain carbs), your craving for sweets will diminish.

Take note: You need not eat a "perfect diet" (no fats, no sugar) to have a good diet. Nothing is nutritionally wrong with having something sweet, such as a cookie, for dessert after having eaten a sandwich, milk, and fruit for lunch. But a lot is wrong with eating cookies for lunch and skipping the sandwich. That's when both nutrition and performance problems arise.

The key to balancing fats and sugars appropriately in your diet is to abide the following guidelines:
• 10% of your calories can appropriately come from refined sugar.
(about 200-300 calories from sugar per day for most soccer players)
• 25% of your calories can appropriately come from (preferably
healthful) fat. (about 450-750 calories from fat per day, or roughly 50-85 grams of fat per day)

Hence, moderate amounts of chips, cookies, and ice cream can fit into an overall healthful food plan, if desired.


Need Some Help Shaping Up Your Diet?

If you want personalized dietary advice, Nancy Clark recommends you seek professional advice from a registered dietitian (RD) who specializes in sports nutrition and, ideally, is Board Certified as a Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD). To find a sports nutritionist in your area, use the referral networks at the American Dietetic Association's website (www.eatright.org) or the website of ADA's practice group of sports dietitians (www.SCANdpg.org). Or try googling "sports nutritionist, your city." You'll be glad you did! This personal nutrition coach can help you win with good nutrition. Better yet, consider doing this on a teamwide basis, and get group nutrition analysis and education.

Excerpted from Food Guide for Soccer-Tips and Recipes From the Pros, with Women's Professional Soccer, by Gloria Averbuch and Nancy Clark, RD. Available on www.amazon.com or www.nancyclarkrd.com

Gloria Averbuch/Sky Blue FC
Director, Marketing & Public Relations
Phone: 732-271-7700 x307 | Cell: 973-449-8880 Fax: 732-271-7735
80 Cottontail Lane | Suite 400 | Somerset, NJ 08873
www.SkyBlueFC.com
www.Facebook.com/SkyBlueFC
www.Twitter.com/SkyBlueFC

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD
Sports Nutrition Services LLC
www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com
www.nancyclarkrd.com (books, handouts, CEUs)
Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 4th Edition
Food Guide for Soccer: Tips and Recipes from the Pros
Healthworks, 1300 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill MA 02467
Phone:  617.795.1875 Twitter.com/nclarkrd
"Helping active people win with good nutrition."

Friday, September 10, 2010

Tip of the week by Gloria Averbuch – How much should you weigh?


Being on the "inside" of any female athlete’s life, whether soccer or otherwise, the obsession with weight and body image just gets stronger, despite all efforts to combat it. The beauty of soccer, however, is that the pleasure and success derived from the game are completely contrary to the obsession with thinness. In other words, good appetites and healthful eating contribute to the strong bodies that will prevail in the rigors of the game. Good coaches, parents and players are wisely on the lookout for any behavior that  contradicts this fact.

Body consciousness, however, is not a bad thing in and of itself. People often wonder: how much should I weigh?  Below are some general guidelines on weight from Food Guide for Soccer.

Target Weights
Although only nature knows the best weight for your body, the following guidelines offer a very general method to estimate a healthy weight range. Add or subtract 10%, according to your body frame and musculature. (Note: These guidelines do not work for very muscular soccer players.)

Women:100 pounds (45 kg) for the first 5 feet (1.52 m) of height;
5 pounds (2.3 kg) per inch (2.5 cm) thereafter
Example: A woman who is 5'6" could appropriately weigh 130 lbs, or 117 lbs at the lower end if she is petite or 143 lbs if she is muscular. (1.7 m; 59 kg, 53-65 kg)

Men: 106 pounds (48 kg) for the first 5 feet (1.52 m) of height;
6 pounds (2.7 kg) per inch (2.5 cm) thereafter
Example: A man who is 5'10" could appropriately weigh 166 lbs, or 150 lbs at the lower end if he is petite or 182 lbs if he is muscular. (1.8 m; 75.5 kg, 68-83 kg)

If you are striving to weigh significantly less than the weight estimated by these general guidelines, think again. Remember: in addition to skill, soccer is a game of strength, endurance and power. In addition to the genetic design for your body, if you are a serious player, your soccer training, as well as the conditioning (including weights) is meant to increase performance and prevent injury. It is also likely to create a muscular body. The best weight goal is the weight that makes you feel strong and powerful. That's the "body beautiful," and the body for performance and health!

Excerpted from Food Guide for Soccer-Tips & Recipes From the Pros, with Women's Professional Soccer, by Gloria Averbuch and Nancy Clark, RD. Available on www.amazon.com or www.nancyclarkrd.com


Congratulations to FC Gold Pride that locked up the regular season league championship title, and thus earned the right to host the WPS Championship presented by Citi. Most of the teams are still statistically in the playoff hunt, which ensures an exciting finish to the final games in the regular season. Stay tuned to the action on www.womensprosoccer.com.

Gloria Averbuch/Sky Blue FC
Director, Marketing & Public Relations
Phone: 732-271-7700 x307 | Cell: 973-449-8880 Fax: 732-271-7735
80 Cottontail Lane | Suite 400 | Somerset, NJ 08873

www.SkyBlueFC.com
www.Facebook.com/SkyBlueFC
www.Twitter.com/SkyBlueFC