Adding Color to Your World

When I tell athletes to "eat the rainbow" I assume they understand what I mean.  I am telling them they need to eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables because these are the foods that will give them the most vitamins and nutrients.  The other day I was caught off guard when someone told me that a Big Mac has a lot of different colors in it, did that count? 

In fairness to this athlete, there are many "colors" in a Big Mac, however colors like the beige in the bun or the brown in the burger aren't really going to provide the vitamins and nutrients like the rainbow of colors that can be found in the produce aisle.  Browns and beiges usually mean refined carbohydrates (sugars) and saturated animal fat.  Those aren't the nutrients that are going to propel you as an athlete.

Lets take a look at why the colors found in produce can make you perform you best!

Red- Red produce (tomatoes, red bell peppers, strawberries, watermelon and beets) is usually a sign of Vitamin A.  It is also a sign of lycopene which is an important cancer-fighting chemical and helps protect your eye health. 

Orange- Similar to red, orange produce (carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, cantaloupes), but the also contain larger amounts of Vitamin C.  They also have B6 and B vitamins give you energy, which is important for athletes.

Yellow-  One of the most important nutrients for athletes found in yellow produce (bananas, summer squash, yellow bell peppers) is potassium.  This nutrient is an electrolyte, which you have probably heard about in your sports drinks, and it helps keep your fluids in balance while you sweat during a workout.  That is why bananas are such a great snack to have during a workout because they provide your body with this important electrolyte.  

Green- The darker the green leafy vegetable, (kale, broccoli rabe, spinach, swiss chard) the more nutrients you are getting.  If you are a fan of salad, try eating these greens instead of iceberg or romaine lettuce to really bulk up the nutrients.  Folate and iron are two important things found in these produce picks, especially for young women who tend to be low in both.

Blue- Blueberries are probably the best thing that come to mind for this category and they are certainly a great addition to any eating plan.  They have anti-oxidants galore and are considered a superfood for all of their disease-fighting power packed into each little berry.  They are also in season still so eat them while they're at their best!

Purple- Purple produce is some of my favorite to cook with.  Ingredients like eggplant, red onions, purple potatoes are delicious and add such a fun pop of color to your plate!  They also have anthocyanins which are a powerful chemical that protect blood vessels and preserve healthy skin...who doesn't want better skin?!

White- This is often the forgotten color, but is no less important than any of the other colors.  White produce (cauliflower, potatoes, parsnips) have Vitamin C like orange produce, but they also host vitamin K which is important for wound healing and folate, which is important to female health.

These are only just some of the reasons colorful produce deserves a place on your plate! If you need help fitting more produce into your meals, email me at shelbi@cheer-360.com!

What's On Your iPod?

Music has become more and more of a staple for athletes in today’s society, and rightfully so. Music has the ability to effect our mood, attitude and can positively or negatively impact our performance. The selection of music an athlete chooses to listen to before a big competition can either delay the feelings of fatigue or push us to increase work capacity. Here are a few tips on what kind of music to select to listen to before walking out on the mat this competition season.

MyPlate

What is MyPlate: This is a graphic that aims to help anyone, especially younger children to build a meal that contains the proper amounts of certain foods.  The plate is meant to be a 9” in diameter plate.  This is important because if people are using plates that are too large, the ratio of foods can get skewed.

Components of MyPlate: MyPlate contains 5 different groups (ask the kids to give examples of something you could eat in each group)

Vegetables—The largest group. Make sure you are eating from the rainbow including a lot of colors (don’t forget white!)  The more colors that you eat, the more nutrients you will get.

Fruit- It may not seem like the easiest thing to eat at a meal like dinner, but fruit is naturally sweet and it can be delicious mixed into vegetables.

Whole Grains- Make sure starchy sides you have with dinner like pasta and rice are whole grain varieties.  Try grains you never have like quinoa, bulgur and couscous.

Lean Protein- This one is important because it is usually the one that people make too big.  We think that meat has to be the biggest part of our meal, but that actually is not the case.  Keep your meat serving the size of a deck of cards.

Low-fat dairy- Whether it is a glass of low-fat milk on the side of any meal, some low-fat yogurt with fruit as your after dinner dessert, or a piece of low-fat cheese in your sandwich, dairy gives you calcium which you need for strong bones.

Why Can't We Just Eat Healthy?

Whether it is on the magazine stands, on television shows, on the news or on commercials, you are most likely always being bombarded by the next big diet craze.  Even worse, when your friends or family are constantly talking about the latest diet they're participating in trying to lecture you on how great is.  From strict calorie cutting, to cutting out entire food groups to supplements and pills, you never know where the next diet craze will lead you.

The other day I was telling one of my clients about the newest version of the Atkins diet that people seem to be trying out.  By putting themselves on this diet, they are missing out on eating fruits, several higher carbohydrate vegetables, and fiber and B vitamin filled whole grains.  This is incredibly unsafe to the body, especially the athlete, but some have argued that being placed on this structure has helped them eat healthier than ever.  My client than asked me a very interesting question, "Why can't they just eat healthy?"

It seems so simple.  Just eat healthy.  It doesn't imply cutting anything out, just eating foods deemed "bad for you" in moderation and trying to focus on eating foods in their natural state like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low fat dairy.  It also doesn't imply taking crazy pills like raspberry ketones, because if you are eating a balanced diet, you are providing the body with the nutrients it needs without the need to supplement.

Sadly we live in a culture of convenience.  It is the reason "fast food" has sky-rocketed and it is also the reason we are obsessed with dieting.  People want the "magic bullet."  That special solution that will make them lose weight fast and for good.  Unfortunately most of these trends do not give you the latter.  You may lose weight fast, but the minute you "go off" the diet, the weight goes on.  You also potential tortured yourself for no reason because what was the point of the diet if you put the weight back on?

The moral of the story is don't be fooled.  Most diets are not long-term solution and in fact they can long-term problems with either your metabolism or increased difficulty to lose weight.  Start practicing a healthy lifestyle in which you have balance, moderation and exercise, and you'll have a body and a lifestyle that you can be proud of, without worrying about what you'll have to give up eating on Monday!

A parents guide to tryouts and what to do if your child doesn't make the team.

If your child has not already went through the tryout process for this years team I am sure it is quickly approaching. With this impending loom of “will I” or “won’t I” make this team there are some important guidelines to follow as the parent of an aspiring athlete.

When your child decides he or she wants to tryout for a team the biggest thing to remember is that ENCOURAGEMENT is key! You want your athlete to know that you support them in whatever they choose to do. Support them by being their biggest fan, not a second coach. The last thing your athlete wants or needs is someone to tell them that they are doing things wrong. Don’t be a PUSHER- a pusher parent makes their child feel like that have to tryout for a particular sport because the parent loves it or played it at some point in their life. Just because you loved participating in a sport does not mean that your child will as well.

So now your child going into tryouts confident and eager to please the coach. They put in 100% of their energy and effort, give it all that they have got and they don’t make the team. What now? What do you do as a parent in this situation? The way that you react is crucial so be sure to remember the following.

1. Let your child EXPERIENCE THEIR FEELINGS- While I know you want to take the pain and hurt away from your child at that exact moment that they tell you, let them have their feelings. In order to grow from this experience they must work through how they are feeling to move past it.
2. LISTEN DON’T SPEAK when your child wants to talk about what happened- Let your child explain how they are feelings and how tryouts went from their perspective. You do not want to put words in their mouth by letting your feelings about tryouts overshadow theirs.
3. BE EMPATHETIC- Telling your child that you are sorry that they are feeling sad and disappointed and that you are there for them if they want to talk is the best thing to do. This is not the time to give advice on what they should have or could have done.
4. TURN A NEGATIVE INTO A POSITIVE- While your child may not have received the news that they wanted to hear, it is your job to help them understand that not making a team does not make him or her a failure. Everyone fails, it is a large part of the learning process. Use this negative experience to form a positive one. When your child is ready find out what skills they need to work on to improve their chances of making the team next year, or maybe this allows an opportunity to explore a different sport that they may have never tried.

Kristen Perri is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Mental Fitness.  She holds a masters degree in Sport Psychology, is a certified Mental Game Coach, Sport Hypnotist and Personal Trainer.  With over 8 years of cheer coaching experience, Kristen has coached all skill levels including middle school and junior varsity. Currently, Kristen is the Head Varsity Coach of a major Long Island Cheerleading Program. 

Go Slow When Making Fro-yo

First it was the cupcake craze and now the latest culinary confection that is sweeping the nation seems to be frozen yogurt shops.  Instead of just being a behind the scenes option at ice cream stores, now they have entire stores devoted just to them.  With tons of flavors and even more topping options, it can be easy to get lost in making the dessert of your dreams.

Now I have asked many of the young, female athletes I've spoken with about their love of this frozen dessert, and not surprisingly the majority of them have confessed to making not the healthiest of treats.  And even some of things you are topping with that you think are healthy aren't always the best.  For example, I always encourage peanut butter as a part of a healthy diet.  However when a young girl asked me if peanut butter topping was healthy, sadly the answer is no.  Peanut butter topping is loaded with sugar and syrups to make it taste more sweet, so it is not as healthy as it's spreadable counterpart.  These are the kind of things that make building the perfect frozen yogurt difficult.

Another problem is the size.  Some places offer one size container and they charge by weight.  Even though you maybe wanted a small and go into the process with the intention of making a reasonably sized dessert, it is our nature to want to fill the container.  Don't feel obligated to fill the whole container.  If there are size options, stick with a small.  The standard serving size for ice cream type desserts is a half cup or the size of a half of a tennis ball.

When it comes to choosing flavors it can also be tricky.  Sometimes flavors are non-fat, which doesn't always make them healthy.  A lot of non-fat flavors are higher in sugar to make up for flavor lost taking out the fat.  The plainer flavors will almost always contain less sugar and fat, but if you eat richer flavors in smaller, more manageable servings, then it is just as good to eat those flavors than the plainer ones.  Also the richer the flavor, the less toppings you may put on whereas with the plain varieties you might put more toppings to make up for lack of flavor.

Now to toppings.  I am a realist.  I know it is hard to go to one of these stores and only put fruit and nuts on your plain yogurt.  When there are so many delicious and different options to choose from it can be very hard to control yourself.  The best advice when it comes to toppings is portion control.  Just like with richer flavors, less is more.  With candy pieces, hot fudge, caramel and other such toppings, a little bit can go a long way.  You can get your favorite toppings, just don't drown your frozen yogurt in them.

Especially in the summer, a trip to your favorite frozen yogurt is tasty treat that you look forward to.  As long as you build your fro-yo with moderation in mind and don't go overboard, you can grab a spoon and enjoy!

Heart of a Champion

You hear it from your coaches, choreographers, and your teammates but do you really have the heart of a true champion? “Heart” is a quality that you either have or you don’t, there is no in-between. So how do you define “heart”? I like to think of it being directly connected to your motivation. Because motivation is really at the center of everything in athletics.

Motivation is the drive that we have to achieve our goals and it has two different forms, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is motivation that you have from within you. It is your drive and desire to succeed and perform well. Extrinsic motivation is motivation that you get from an outside source. These outside sources could be tangible rewards (medal, trophy, money) or intangible rewards (praise or recognition by a coach, parent, or organization).

While extrinsic motivation is a nice drive your intrinsic motivation is where your true heart shines. When you enjoy and find satisfaction in playing your sport you focus more on your improvement and growth. Athletes who are intrinsically motivated have better focus, have less ups and downs in their motivation, they are less stressed when things do not go exactly how they had planned, they are less distracted, and they have greater satisfaction when they achieve their goals.

Take a close look at what motivates you, are you more intrinsically or extrinsically motivated? Do you think you have the heart of a champion?

Kristen Perri is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Mental Fitness.  She holds a masters degree in Sport Psychology, is a certified Mental Game Coach, Sport Hypnotist and Personal Trainer.  With over 8 years of cheer coaching experience, Kristen has coached all skill levels including middle school and junior varsity. Currently, Kristen is the Head Varsity Coach of a major Long Island Cheerleading Program.