Diana Bocklund, MS, LAT, ATC, FF/EMT
CERTIFIED ATHLETIC TRAINER
Eagan High School
Did you know?
Foods that are high in protein can be something other than meats!
Broccoli, spinach, avocados, peas, beans, or Brussels sprouts are just a few items to get you thinking outside of the box for foods rich in protein.
Fun Fact
You do not need to use protein powders to be able to help build muscle, you just need to add more protein to your well balanced diet.
If you want to help your body build muscle you need twice as much protein to be a high functioning athlete of what your body would need without playing football.
Your GOAL this week -
Incorporate protein at the following meal times:
- Breakfast
- Morning Snack
- Lunch
- Post-Practice/Lift
- Dinner
- Evening Snack
Protein snack ideas:
- Peanut butter with apple/banana/crackers
- Cheese stick with whole grain crackers
- Greek Yogurt with granola
- Trail mix and clementines
- PB and J
- Protein bar & grapes
- Protein shake and a banana
If you are looking for ideas about protein supplements (powders or shakes) please consider these options Kaela , our TCO Nutritionist, recommends.
Look for supplements that are NSF certified. Meaning, they go through a third-party testing process that ensures the product and its ingredients are safe.
Powders (DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS!) - NSF Certified
- Thorne Whey Protein
- BioSteel Protein Plus
- Bi-Pro Whey Protein
- Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey
- Vega Sport (plant-based, dairy free)
Ready-to-Drink (FOOD/NUTRITION LABEL!)
- Muscle Milk Genuine
- Core Power (delicious)
- Organic Valley Fuel Protein Shake
- Orgain Organic Whey Protein Shake
When our players met with Kaela, one asked about the use of Supplements for high school athletes.
The main two things mentioned about Supplements were as follows:
1) As high school students, our players are still in the development phase of life.
Their bodies will continue to grow till they are around 25 years old. If we start to add supplements to skeletal immature (meaning they are still growing) players it will not help those individuals get bigger, faster, and stronger.
2) The best thing for our players, at this age, is to develop a well balanced diet. They can get all the nutrition they need from the foods they eat!
Goal this Week:
Take 5 minutes to read through the [linked] handout Kaela provided about Supplements.
If you are looking at adding Supplements for the players it is important to understand what is in them. As I mentioned last week about protein powder, we want to make sure the supplements have been tested by a third-party.
My recommendation if you do want to put your athlete on supplements is to reach out and schedule a Nutrition appointment with Kaela Colvard at the Training Haus in Eagan. Her number is 952-456-7650 ext: 32986.
This week we are going to start a three-week series on Hydration!
Fun Fact
Your body is 60% water!
Did you know?
Keeping your body hydrated is very important. Hydration helps us regulate our internal temperature, transports nutrients through our bodies, flushes waste, and lubricates joints and muscles.
Now there are a lot of theories out there of how much water you need to consume on a daily basis. Some say you need to drink 64 oz of water a day. Some say you need to intake 0.5 – 1.0 ounces of water for each pound you weigh: if you weigh 160 pounds you would need to consume 80 – 160 ounces of water a day. Men on a daily basis get about 3.7 liters of water a day between the food and beverages they consume.
The two main things I want to point out:
- Everyone’s body is different! So it is important to base your water intake off of you personally. Find out what amount of water intake works best for you.
- When you are sweating you are decreasing your hydration levels! The more water you lose to sweating, the more water you will need to replace in your body. After big workouts or practices you should be remembering you need to replenish your water levels in your body!
Goal this Week:
First half of the week – Monday through Wednesday – start to log how much water you are drinking on a daily basis. The goal for the first part of the week is to get an idea of where you are CURRENTLY at with your water consumption. No cheating and trying to increase your water intake now that I’m asking you to track it!
Second half of the week – Thursday through Sunday – based off the tracking from the first part of the week see how you are doing with your water intake. Now your goal for the next part of the week is to try and increase your water intake. You don’t need to go over the top but actively try and make a start to increasing your intake to 64 oz of water a day. Might need more water on days you are working out.
Our goal is to build a mini habit. Maybe you want to set certain times during the day to drink water, for example I’m going to drink 8 oz of water with every meal. Or I’m going to go through my 24 oz HydroFlask by lunch. Find something that works for you and start to track your mini habit of drinking water. Keep track for two weeks and see how you are progressing!
Let’s go backwards to go forward this week.
In our last email, we talked about hydration. Keeping the body hydrated is vital for the organs and muscles of the body. If our bodies do not have enough water, muscles can be at an increased risk of injury. I mentioned the importance of drinking water. But what other ways can we help hydrate our bodies? The food we eat can not only help nourish our bodies but can also help hydrate it! A lot of the foods we eat also contains some water! Take a minute to think of some foods that might be high in water.
Raw fruits and vegetables have a LOT of water in them! Let’s take a look at some foods that have a high water content:
- Cucumbers are 96% water
- Tomatoes are 95% water
- Spinach is 93% water
- Mushrooms are 92% water
- Watermelon is 91% water
- Broccoli is 90% water
- Brussel Sprouts are 88% water
- Oranges are 86% water
- Apples are 85% water
- Blueberries are 84% water
I know from speaking to some of the athletes that they struggle to drink enough water on a daily basis. Take a mental note of some of the foods listed above that your athlete enjoys eating and try and keep them stocked at the house. That way you can help encourage hydration even if they aren’t drinking water!
Over the last two posts, we have started to track our water intake and develop a better understanding of hydration. We learned our bodies can get hydrated not only from the liquids we drink but by the foods we consume!
Hydration is a very important because it helps our organs and muscles function at their best levels.
What happens when we do not provide our bodies with enough hydration? It’s called dehydration. Dehydration means we are losing more water than we are taking in. I’m sure you have all seen it happen during a game, when an individual starts having their muscles cramp during activity! Muscle cramping can be a result of dehydration or from strenuous exercise. The muscle is depleted of water and energy and starts to voluntarily contract on its own causing that individual some discomfort!
Now I know tracking hydration by the amount of water you consume can get boring, so what other options do we have to track our levels? Another way we can track hydration level is through the color of our urine! Yep I know it sounds kind of gross but it is your body’s way of communicating. The color can help you identify if you are or are not hydrated. The goal is to be in the light yellow color. A darker color means that you are dehydrated and should be drinking more water. Your body might also tell you it’s dehydrated by making you feel thirsty. Going off of your thirst level is not a good idea, because if your body has to tell you it’s thirsty you are very behind on your hydration levels!
Goals this Week:
First Goal: Throughout the week use the hydration chart to track your hydration levels. Yes, I want you to take the time to check your urine color! If you are on the darker side you need to increase your hydration levels. If you are on the light side you are on the right track with hydration!
Second Goal: Throughout each day and the week keep a count of the number of times you feel thirsty. This will be your second reminder to yourself to make an active change to your hydration levels.
The off-season is a great time to start making active changes not only in strength and conditioning but also with health and nutrition!
Local food assistance programs
Dist 196 : Food and Nutrition Services
The Food and Nutrition Services Department supports academic achievement by providing students with nutritious meals and exceptional customer service. Any student who is approved for free or reduced-price school meals will receive breakfast and lunch at no charge. A new application must be submitted each year, unless you already received a letter from District 196 indicating that all of your child(ren) have been approved for the current school year.
The Open Door Pantry
The Open Door is a hunger relief organization dedicated to ending local hunger through access to healthy food. Through its collective programs, The Open Door serves more than 6,000 Dakota County residents each month, and distributes over 1 million pounds of food annually, 70% of which is fresh and/or perishable. Clients are able to access healthy food choices through a fixed-site food pantry in Eagan, multiple Mobile Pantry sites, the Mobile Lunch Box, and the Garden To Table program.
The Food Group : fare for all
Fare For All is a low-cost, mobile grocery purchase program. Shopping with Fare for All is a great way to save money on quality, nutritious food. We buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and frozen meat in bulk to save you up to 40% off typical grocery prices. We select the best food from our shipments, pre-packaging it to give you the best deals. It’s community-supported and open to everyone- there are no qualifications to participate and no pre-registration. By following a co-op model, the more people who shop Fare for All sales, the better the value becomes for everyone. ** Eagan location: Easter (by the Lake) Lutheran Church.
Second Harvest Heartland
There is more than enough food to end hunger, and Second Harvest Heartland is working hard to provide access to provide fresh fruits and vegetables in supporting a balanced diet and overall health. Second Harvest Heartland’s Fresh Produce Initiative provides a full picture of sourcing fresh produce, providing client access, leadership and advocacy. By partnering with leaders and local community members, Second Harvest Heartland finds ways to rescue more food that would have otherwise gone to waste and use it to feed more people.
360 Communities
Our network of five food shelves provides immediate food and resources to individuals and families to bridge them through difficult times. We engage our food shelf customers to provide workable solutions that will stabilize them and offer hope for the future. We have food shelves in Burnsville, Rosemount, Lakeville, Apple Valley, and Farmington. These five shelves serve individuals from the surrounding communities as well as the greater south metro. All are welcome to receive food support services from 360 Communities.
Eagan High School
4185 Braddock Trail • Eagan, MN 55123
Tel: 651-683-6900 • Fax: 651-683-6910
