00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:32.820
Good afternoon everybody, this is Paige LeBleu at ninety point nine The Lion with your Fight Like a Lion podcast. We are super psyched to have a whole group of student athletes in the studio this afternoon and we’re excited to have Ms. Pam Wu Tan with us, our dietitian for the athletic department here at Southeastern, and we are gonna talk about nutrition and performance and the difference that good nutrition can make in peak performance. So super happy to have everybody here. Thank you

00:00:32.820 –> 00:00:33.780
for having us.

00:00:34.020 –> 00:00:39.940
Yeah, well, why don’t we go around and just introduce ourselves, and I’m gonna let you guys just do that. Kendall, you wanna start?

00:00:40.100 –> 00:00:44.020
Sure, my name’s Kendall Curran, I am a goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team.

00:00:45.255 –> 00:00:48.775
Hi. My name is Lorenzo Palmieri, and I’m a golf player.

00:00:49.255 –> 00:00:52.535
Hi. My name is Bryce Johnson. I’m a distance trainer here at Southeastern.

00:00:52.615 –> 00:00:55.655
Hi. My name is Makayla Hicks, and I’m on the beach volleyball team.

00:00:55.735 –> 00:00:58.615
Hi. My name is Emily Vincent, and I’m also on the beach volleyball team.

00:00:59.010 –> 00:01:03.410
And my name is Pamela Woo Tan, and I am the sports dietitian here at Southeastern.

00:01:03.650 –> 00:01:35.090
All right, so you guys were quick to volunteer to be here on this show, so I want you to be kind thinking about what are your questions that are burning in your mind and in your heart to talk about today, to ask Pam, since we have her here, right, and she’s a wealth of knowledge. So Pam, I’m going to let you start out and just tell us a little bit maybe about what you do, why you’re passionate about it, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of nutrition and performance.

00:01:35.090 –> 00:02:04.250
Okay, yeah. So a little background of me, I did my undergrad in Colorado, That is where I completed my nutrition degree. Then I went on to do my internship here at North Oaks, where I was mainly focusing on sports nutrition. So I interned most of my time at LSU where I worked with football, baseball, volleyball, all the teams there. And then as I was transitioning from there for my internship and I graduated, LSU actually opened up a full time job as a fellowship.

00:02:04.250 –> 00:02:22.295
So that was my very first job. There I went on to work with different teams. So I was working with indoor volleyball, softball, and men’s and women’s golf. So then shortly after that, I had asked my internship director, Leslie Ballard, who took over for North Oaks at the time. I asked her like, hey, is Southeastern hiring?

00:02:22.295 –> 00:02:32.830
Or are they looking for a sports dietitian? And at the time she was like, Unfortunately, they’re not. But all things worked out, now I’m here, and I’ve been here for over six months.

00:02:33.550 –> 00:02:43.545
Yeah, awesome. So I didn’t realize you worked with Leslie. Yes. So Leslie Ballard, is like my homie, she and I, she was the dietitian here at Southeastern, she kinda,

00:02:43.545 –> 00:02:43.945
as she

00:02:43.945 –> 00:02:48.105
left, created little bit of a space and then you were able to come in.

00:02:48.105 –> 00:02:48.745
Absolutely, yes.

00:02:48.745 –> 00:02:52.905
And so that was awesome. Good job, all right. CU?

00:02:53.590 –> 00:02:54.310
What was that?

00:02:54.310 –> 00:02:56.390
Were you a Buff, go Buffs?

00:02:56.390 –> 00:03:02.870
No, I was at LSU, No, go no, no. Undergrad. Undergrad, no, I did Colorado Springs.

00:03:02.870 –> 00:03:03.430
Okay, okay.

00:03:03.430 –> 00:03:04.630
Yeah, so that was a Lions.

00:03:04.630 –> 00:03:07.125
Just being curious. Like when you said Colorado, I just had

00:03:07.125 –> 00:03:07.845
to No, no.

00:03:07.845 –> 00:03:23.200
All right, just got that straight. So yeah, so when you’re talking about like working with athletes, what are some of the things that you see are the big gaps that many athletes need to address when it comes to nutrition?

00:03:23.200 –> 00:03:50.470
Absolutely, I think one of the main things would be under fueling. So every time I see athletes, one of the key things that they always say, Oh, I feel like I’m eating enough, or I feel like I’m drinking enough. But whenever they come and see me, I’ve worked with a couple of athletes that are actually sitting here. So Lorenzo and Bryce have been into my office, and they know a little bit of what that is like. But I would say most common thing that I notice is student athletes under fueling and not realizing it.

00:03:50.630 –> 00:04:09.375
But rightfully so, they grew up playing a sport where everything was taken care of, food was taken care of for them. So now when they’re forced to now go into college and they’re kind of making their own decisions, so now they think, Oh, breakfast, lunch, dinner is enough to fuel me for the sport, but it’s not really the case, but yes, I would say that is the main thing for sure.

00:04:09.375 –> 00:04:32.405
Yeah, that’s interesting. That’s interesting, and I love that we have two international athletes here because I wanted to touch on the great challenges of dealing with American food, because I’ve worked with many international athletes who’ve struggled with just what is available in America and how it can be a sticky spot.

00:04:32.405 –> 00:04:54.560
Absolutely. Yeah. I think from my experience and coming from LSU, we had a lot of internationals, we had golf, tennis, most of them were coming from all over. And then working with Lorenzo too, we discovered a couple of things that he didn’t know that he was allergic to coming to America versus being in Italy. We were just actually joking about this in the locker room, I was restocking as they were waiting.

00:04:55.145 –> 00:05:15.640
He took out a cheese string, and he’s like, Pam, should I have this before our talk? And I was like, Lorenzo, know what that’s gonna make you feel like after you have dairy. But it’s funny because growing up in Italy, he has the most fresher ingredients, I’m sure. And then coming to America, yes, we have more options, but sometimes they’re a little bit more processed or we add things that they’re not used to.

00:05:15.720 –> 00:05:16.520
A little?

00:05:16.680 –> 00:05:34.895
Know. A So trying to make them understand, hey, yes, back home you were able to have dairy, but now coming here, it’s a little bit different. But luckily he’s really good at eating, he loves food, so we don’t struggle with the other foods, but dairy is like one of those things that it took him a while to realize, hey, like, okay, that makes sense.

00:05:35.210 –> 00:05:40.170
Yeah, and I think what I’ve heard from many female athletes, especially is bread.

00:05:40.570 –> 00:05:41.050
Yes.

00:05:41.050 –> 00:05:48.810
Bread is a really big struggle in America because in Europe, bread is not full of all the chemicals and preservatives that we

00:05:48.810 –> 00:05:49.370
have here.

00:05:49.905 –> 00:06:26.465
Absolutely. And I feel like even people here in America, a lot of athletes, Kendall, I feel like you can probably talk to this a little bit, but a lot of your teammates, I’ve noticed, they come to me, they’re like, Oh, I actually have a gluten intolerance, so they can’t really eat bread or anything like that. So trying to figure out ways of things that they can have and explaining how, what happens in their body when they do have gluten. Or, I have another athlete that’s from Germany, and he likes to make his own bread, because he’s like, I can tolerate better versus the bread that I buy from the grocery store that is processed, that has multiple ingredients that is not necessarily the best for me. Yes, absolutely.

00:06:26.705 –> 00:06:30.385
Kendall, let’s hear from you. Was it kind of a struggle coming?

00:06:31.440 –> 00:07:06.410
I would say so I think you were talking about maybe a couple of our girls. We have got one that’s celiac, and she came on an official last semester, and I was really uneducated in that department, and I thought I was really gonna make her sick because we planned on having a breakfast, like, yeah, just at our apartment. I was like I told my mom, was like, wiping down every surface. I was like, not gonna give this girl, like, cross contamination, like, issues and make her sick on her official. But I learned that there’s also different degrees of, like, you know, some people’s celiac, they are affected by cross contamination.

00:07:06.650 –> 00:07:35.270
But, like, the our my teammate is not specifically, but just learning about, you know, as a soccer player, she really needs carbs as well and how she can get that, like, as a celiac person as well. So and I know, like, even outside of her, like, we do have a couple people that it just, like, doesn’t sit the best, you know, sometimes gluten. So yeah. It was interesting to learn a little bit about non gluten carbohydrate sources as well. And I like the point that you make of, yes, they have celiac or

00:07:35.270 –> 00:07:52.795
a gluten intolerance, but they still need carbs. So, the most important thing when it comes to when they come and see me is coaching them like, okay, what are the differences? What kind of carbs can they have? So for example, you can’t have bread, but you can still add rice or potatoes, quinoa, things like that. But yeah, you do make for sure a good point.

00:07:53.660 –> 00:08:11.195
And Yeah. I think with the trends out there too, the keto and there are so many different crazy eating trends in the world, but when you look at certain sports and certain athletes, do you find that you struggle to try to get them on board with eating a more balanced diet?

00:08:11.835 –> 00:08:48.925
I would say, now at my other school, would say trends, the diet trends were more common, I think only because I’ve been here for six months, so I haven’t really experienced a ton of it, but one thing that is common is supplements. So, get a lot of athletes that think that supplements is the key to everything, that they’re going to make them perform their best, but I always try to coach them. Like, Hey, let’s take care of the foundation. Let’s set a good nutrition habit, and then those supplements are meant to add on to your diet or make you better or looking for those performance enhancing benefits that you’re looking for, but that’s not going to come until you take care of the nutrition

00:08:48.925 –> 00:08:51.405
first. Okay, so you brought it up, what’s a good foundation?

00:08:51.645 –> 00:09:34.930
A good foundation, yes. So a good foundation may look like, Bryce, you know this because you’ve been in my office several times, we actually met before this, but good foundation will be eating in a schedule, so timing and schedule of your meals is important, so I would say eat every three to four hours between your meals, so let’s say you’re having breakfast at 8AM, aim to eat closer to eleven or twelve because think of your body as a battery. If you go from eating breakfast from 8AM and then you don’t have anything to eat, let’s say at 5PM, your battery is basically running out low, so that’s why I always emphasize eating between three to four hours in between meals. And then I always emphasize aim for at least five to six meals a day. Now that seems like a lot for a regular person, but for an athlete, you are using your body a lot more.

00:09:35.170 –> 00:10:23.930
So that requires more fuel. So after you take care of that, what a good balanced plate would look like is aiming to add a good protein source. I always aim for leaner options, it could be like chicken, turkey, leaner options of ground beef if that’s what you like, fish is always a good one, things like that, and then you look at adding whole grains, so you can think of anything like oatmeal, whole wheat bread, rice is a good one, potatoes, sweet potatoes, anything like that, and then I also emphasize adding color, And I always say color because we have a lot of athletes that don’t like vegetables. So if they don’t, I always emphasize incorporating fruit, so that way you can add those antioxidants and all those benefits that come from eating those. And then we have our healthy fats, which we need a little bit less of, but nonetheless, we still look for those healthier fats.

00:10:24.010 –> 00:10:33.850
So those healthier fats would include like fatty fish would be a good one, olive oil is a good one, avocados, nuts and seeds, and things like that, and then butter if you wanted to as well.

00:10:34.065 –> 00:10:35.825
I could live on just the fats.

00:10:35.825 –> 00:10:38.625
I know, those are so yummy. Fats and carbs.

00:10:38.625 –> 00:10:39.105
Yes, for

00:10:39.105 –> 00:10:39.985
sure. Lots of bread,

00:10:39.985 –> 00:10:50.420
for Absolutely. So Bryce, you’ve been kind of like, mention, mention, mention, I wanna hear from you. What has this journey been like for you, and tell me kind of like what you’ve learned.

00:10:50.740 –> 00:11:25.100
So, the process for me is a little bit different than normal because I’ve been dealing with a heart injury lately, and seeing Pam has really helped me a bunch, like with the guidance of eating because I would have a window where I would eat at 08:00 and then I would have lunch at eleven. But the problem with me was is I wasn’t eating from 11:00 till it’s like almost 06:00. So we made that balance. We’re having like a snack, so I’m not having that six hour window of not eating anything. And she mentions your battery’s running low, so I feel like my energy was a lot different.

00:11:25.100 –> 00:11:34.860
I was feeling groggy, I was sluggish, and now that I made that switch and change, it’s like I see a big difference in my energy, and I feel more energized throughout the day.

00:11:34.905 –> 00:11:39.305
That’s awesome. And do you notice a difference even in being able to focus, like in class?

00:11:39.305 –> 00:11:40.025
Yes, of course.

00:11:40.025 –> 00:11:50.665
Most definitely. Yeah. Because I mean, we have to remember your brain also needs fuel, and so it’s not just your muscles and the other parts of your body. Anybody in here ever get hangry?

00:11:51.970 –> 00:11:53.250
Yes, all the time.

00:11:53.250 –> 00:11:58.770
All the well do y’all want to talk about that? And why do you think it happens?

00:11:58.850 –> 00:12:43.185
Honestly, I don’t, like, because we wake up so early, like we have weights at 6AM and then practice at seven, And I mean, that’s like four hours of like three hours. Like three to four hours. Yeah. Three to four hours of like just like constant like moving, lifting weights, practicing, running, jumping. And so, I mean, before in the mornings, like, always try to get, like, the breakfast sandwiches that you just throw in the microwave, which is probably not the healthiest, but it’s just something easy because I personally don’t like eating breakfast in the morning, but I know I’m going to like just not be awake or have energy at practice at all if I don’t eat anything.

00:12:43.185 –> 00:13:03.385
And you can like definitely tell and especially like not just energy but like my mood too. Waking up that early every day, like, I do not wanna be there, but, like, obviously, like, food makes me happy, so it helps. For me, it has definitely been challenging trying to find something to eat in the

00:13:03.385 –> 00:13:20.800
morning just because I wake up and I’m like, well, it’s 05:30, like I’m not hungry. And so sometimes I will go to weights like without eating. And one time I went to practice without eating too and it was definitely shown in the way that I played. Like I was out of breath. I was very tired, and my coach is like, hey, Mac.

00:13:20.800 –> 00:13:53.060
Like, are you okay? And I was like, actually, I didn’t eat. And so she made me go, like, grab a snack, that was fine. But I think just finding, like, when can we eat or, like, what should we eat? And so sometimes like I’ll grab a cutie like when we lift and do goss and hopefully I hope that that’ll get me like through the practice and I know it probably won’t but at least I know like I’m putting something in my body but I also know like that the meal before, like, dinner, like, the night before, it also, like, plays a huge role into, like, how we perform the next day.

00:13:53.060 –> 00:14:03.515
So, like, sometimes I’ll try to, like, like, we had, like, four weeks where we just, like, made salmon. Like, that’s really, like, all we made. And it was super good asparagus. Salmon rice and asparagus. I love it.

00:14:03.915 –> 00:14:05.035
Balance poached.

00:14:05.035 –> 00:14:05.675
I love it.

00:14:05.675 –> 00:14:25.380
I think it’s just been very challenging because we wake up so early and then it’s like our practice ends at nine and then I have class at 09:30. So I’m rushing home, have to shower. So I’m all sandy and then like trying to rush to class. So I don’t really eat until like eleven, like we’ll try to go to the caf or something, so I think just trying to find a time where we can like eat.

00:14:25.380 –> 00:14:52.400
And Pam, maybe you can like give tips on what are good, cause I’m always talking to students about like put stuff in your book sack, put it in your backpack because you’re not gonna have time, and we hear this all the time with student athletes on just about every topic, talk about the issue of time, right? Your time is so precious and you don’t have a whole lot of it. And so what would be some good things that they could carry with them that would be really helpful?

00:14:52.400 –> 00:15:15.210
Absolutely, first of all, I would like to say kudos to both of you ladies. One, you guys notice that you should be eating something before practice, And also, that’s one common trend that I always hear, like we start practice really early, so what should I be eating? Another thing that you guys mentioned, Oh, I’m not hungry, but I know I need to eat. So that’s huge. Every time I have athletes come into my office, sometimes they just don’t realize that they need food.

00:15:15.210 –> 00:15:48.920
They just say, I’m not hungry, I’m not going to eat. But it’s like, you are about to go waste all of your energy playing your sport, but you went into it with no battery going into it. So the fact that you guys realize that is huge. And then to answer to the one thing that you brought up, the breakfast sandwiches that are frozen. One thing that I always say to my athletes is sometimes it’s not realistic to make a homemade meal, because you guys are athletes, you guys are full time students, you still play a sport, you have practices, school you have to worry about, treatment that you have to go to, so many things.

00:15:48.920 –> 00:15:57.725
So if that frozen sandwich helps you out, I say go for it. Yeah. You can balance it by adding maybe fruits or vegetables if you wanted to on the side but I think that’s a great breakfast.

00:15:57.725 –> 00:15:57.885
Yeah

00:15:57.885 –> 00:16:13.470
and usually, like, what helps the most is like, after weights in between that like short period of time of going from weights to practice, my first thing that I grab is the oranges or the fruit cups that are in the weight room. Absolutely. Or like a banana.

00:16:13.870 –> 00:16:32.435
So making sure that you’re actually eating something after the fact. But yes, I do love your little techniques that you guys use. But Ms. Paige, to answer your question, some of the snacks that you can travel with is always think of something that can travel well. So you can do like a, we can, like a beef jerky is always a good one.

00:16:32.850 –> 00:17:08.000
Salty snacks are always great like pretzels, Cheez Its, anything that has salt and some carbs to it, because when you think about it with salt, it’s adding a little bit more electrolytes, and then when you think about the beef jerky, it’s adding some protein, and then obviously from the chips you’re getting the carbs. So I always like to pair a protein and a carb if you’re just going throughout your day, so that way your energy levels are kind of steady. Now, if we’re talking about a snack that you’re trying to pack before practice, so let’s say you have an hour before practice, right? During that time, you want to focus mainly on carbs, so something that provides you quick energy. So what does that look like?

00:17:08.000 –> 00:17:30.495
You can get a cutie, that’s easy. You can get a banana, so any fresh fruit really is good. You can get a salty snack, so like pretzels or a Nutri Green bar, anything like that, that will provide you quick energy for your sports. That way it’s not setting too heavy in your stomach and you’re just not like, Oh, I’m about to throw up. And then after, so recovery is important after you have practice or lifts.

00:17:31.370 –> 00:18:02.720
So what you want to focus on is having a little bit of protein and a little bit of carbs. The reason for it, now I know you mentioned after practice, like to have an orange, right? So in order to make it a little bit more balanced, I would say maybe add, if you’re at the weight room, can do a protein shake, that way it has some protein in it and some carbs. You can get your protein from the milk, the protein powder, then you can add some banana to add in your carbs. The reason why that is important is because when you think about when you’re going through practices or lifts, your muscles are breaking down.

00:18:03.040 –> 00:18:16.975
So after the activity, you need to focus on rebuilding. So how are you going to rebuild that? With some protein and some carbs, and that is the key. A lot of athletes think that protein is going to do the trick. No, your muscles also need carbs and protein.

00:18:17.295 –> 00:18:34.890
So those are some things that you can do. Ritz crackers are also a good snack to have. There’s a variety of snacks that you can pack with. An easy one, a PB and J. If you know you’re not gonna have time to have lunch or breakfast, just pack a PB and J after, and then maybe grab a chocolate milk if you can from the fueling station.

00:18:35.050 –> 00:18:37.130
But yes, those are some quick little tips.

00:18:38.650 –> 00:19:06.740
All right, I see some wheels turning, wheels turning. So what are some specific questions that you guys may have for Pam? Like I know a couple of you are working with her already, but anything specific that you think, or for those of you that are working already, like what would you want other athletes to know, like maybe other fellow members of the track team or the golf team?

00:19:08.415 –> 00:19:09.135
Hugo?

00:19:09.135 –> 00:19:45.285
Yeah. I can add on to what she was saying before with bringing snacks. So we usually, like, on speed work days, on Tuesdays and Fridays, we have practice at 5AM. And so usually I would get up at, 03:30 and then try to get there about 04:30 to start stretching and warming up before I actually start my two mile warm up. And after that, I would have an 8AM swim class and Pam mentioned that, you know, I should have something after that by big just because losing so many calories throughout the workout and just having that source of energy after I swim too because that’s like it’s almost like a double workout.

00:19:45.285 –> 00:20:03.110
So Yeah. Having, like, that guidance of, hey, bring a PB and J, do that. It really helps because, like, it gives me the energy I need for my next class. And then it pulls me off to lunch. And running, like, 50 to 70 miles a week, it’s really hard because if you don’t feel how you’re gonna get better and how your muscles are gonna regrow,

00:20:03.110 –> 00:20:03.270
like,

00:20:03.270 –> 00:20:07.115
how they’re gonna perform better. And, yeah, I just take that as that.

00:20:07.515 –> 00:20:08.635
Yeah. Thank you.

00:20:10.235 –> 00:21:22.390
I have a like, I start to work with PALM after my first tournament, and we play we usually play 36 souls, so two rounds in the the first day, and we stay out for, like, ten hours in the golf course. And I played a very good round the first one, and it was, like, T10 after the first round and after that I skipped my I skipped my meal, I didn’t hit nothing and I was tired but my body wasn’t tired but my mind was And after that, we started to work with Pam about finding a schedule for eight meals in in the in the tournaments and off tournaments, And I improved my game. Also, I feel better after two rounds. And we have also a schedule for all the days, and I have to eat, like, six meals in one day. And I have like two out I had two snacks and we are trying to gain weight and I gained like two two two point five kilograms.

00:21:22.550 –> 00:21:35.275
I don’t know how much pounds are but yeah, I mean it was so important and I advised to work with a nutritionist or with a professionalist because it’s so important.

00:21:36.075 –> 00:22:03.105
And I would like to add to working with Lorenzo, I think golf has become one of my favorite sports because I feel like with the level of activity that they have, it’s so different from if you would with track. You’re exerting a lot of energy because you’re running a lot. And then if you were to think about outdoor beach volleyball, you guys are constantly moving and diving for the ball, jumping, whatever it is. You’re exerting a lot of energy. So it’s a lot of heavy movement very quickly.

00:22:03.105 –> 00:22:19.960
And then if you think of soccer, you’re constantly running. If you’re a goalie, you’re constantly reaching for the ball, whatever it may be. But with golf, it’s a little bit different because it’s a slower sport. But nonetheless, it still requires a lot of energy. And I think that’s what golf quickly realized after I met with them.

00:22:19.960 –> 00:22:41.320
So it’s funny. Lorenzo met with me first, and I feel like he noticed the small little changes. And then it’s their coach, Coach Lawrence reached out to me and he said, Hey, Pam, I don’t think we did so great our first tournament. I would really love it if you would come out and talk to the team because I do believe it was nutrition related. I think the guys put in the work, they’re good on the field whenever we’re practicing.

00:22:41.480 –> 00:23:01.275
However, with the tournament, I kind of noticed that their energy started to decrease, which caused us our tournament. And then when I started meeting with them, I started talking to them about, Hey, whenever you have a tournament, you guys are walking majority of the tournament, which that’s what, maybe three plus miles? I couldn’t tell you, but maybe Lorenzo knows the answer to that.

00:23:01.275 –> 00:23:05.915
Yeah. I don’t use miles, but it’s like six kilometers.

00:23:05.995 –> 00:23:06.315
Okay.

00:23:07.170 –> 00:23:20.450
Yeah, and after in that tournament, after the first round, the team was first. And in the after the second round, we were like t eight, and we were we lost all the positions.

00:23:20.450 –> 00:23:20.690
Mhmm.

00:23:20.985 –> 00:23:27.865
We were, like, three strokes ahead the second the second team, and we lost everything after the the second round.

00:23:28.265 –> 00:23:48.440
Absolutely. And then I can imagine to them, it might have seemed like, hey, I was not performing well. Maybe I didn’t practice enough or whatever it may be. But luckily, their coach was able to realize, Hey, I know that it’s because of their energy and what they need. So finally, I was able to meet with them and I set up a schedule of when it comes to the first hole, that’s when you should be hydrated.

00:23:48.440 –> 00:24:05.235
When it comes to the second hole, this is maybe a good time to add in a snack to recharge that battery that we had talked about earlier, and so on. So that way they can visually see when they should be fueling, and now they get it in their mind like, ‘Hey, I should be eating.’ And then I remember the coach saying, oh, they were skipping lunch.’

00:24:05.610 –> 00:24:07.450
Well, that’s part of the issue.

00:24:07.450 –> 00:24:24.385
We should be having lunch. I know the adrenaline is running really high, and maybe your appetite is not there. So let’s look for other solutions. For example, one of the main concerns that the team brought up was, Hey, we’re always eating sandwiches whenever we go to the tournament, or sometimes the food is not great. So then that’s when the coach asked me.

00:24:24.385 –> 00:24:43.680
He’s like, Hey, Pam, what do think we should do? And then that’s when I told him, Hey, maybe you should pack, maybe set up a sandwich station where the team can build their own sandwich, and they can put ham, cheese, whatever they want, and they can make it their own, or let’s just do a PB and J, which is my favorite. So I think little things like that that helps them makes a huge difference.

00:24:44.615 –> 00:24:51.575
Yeah. So I have a question. So this kind of has made me realize that we we have a tournament this weekend and we probably should have been preparing

00:24:51.655 –> 00:24:52.935
a little differently than

00:24:52.935 –> 00:25:12.870
what we have been. But I know that our eating habits should be something that we’re doing like throughout season. But as far as, like, when we’re gonna be competing, like, how like, prior to that, like, how much should we be, like, preparing for that or, like, like, hydrating and, like, making sure we get enough, like, electrolytes and all that kind of stuff.

00:25:12.870 –> 00:25:31.730
Yes. Well, I’m glad that you’re asking that question now. I actually did plan on setting up a team talk to talk to you guys on Friday, but nonetheless, we’re here now. So yes, to your point, it does matter what you do leading up to a tournament, right? So making sure, one, let’s cover every there’s a couple of steps to follow.

00:25:31.730 –> 00:25:43.970
So the first one is going to be sleep. We need to make sure that we’re sleepy enough. So what does that look like? Now, a lot of people say, Just make sure you get plenty of sleep. I’m here to tell you a little bit more numbers, so that way it can help you.

00:25:44.475 –> 00:26:04.250
Because if you can put a number on it, you can improve it, right? So with that being said, I always say aim for eight to nine hours of sleep every Now, with athletes, you guys are busy all the time, right? Sometimes you guys have practices, you have to wake up early, whatever it may be. So if you can’t aim for eight to nine hours at night, then you can maybe fit in a nap in between. An hour a nap would be ideal.

00:26:04.250 –> 00:26:23.105
Now, some athletes struggle falling asleep during the day. So I would say maybe just wind down a little bit, maybe just sit there in a dark room and just try to rest your body. That will do a lot more versus you going, Go, go, go, and just only getting four hours of sleep. And trust me, if you get eight to nine hours of sleep, you will notice a difference. Bryce can speak to that.

00:26:24.145 –> 00:26:26.065
And then, yeah, you want to say something to that?

00:26:26.065 –> 00:26:46.815
Well, and I’m going to jump into that too. Sorry, but we talked about, we had a whole podcast on the importance of sleep and performance, and so you’re kind of like reiterating a lot of what we talked about, but also let’s talk about nutrition and sleep after Bryce kind of has some input.

00:26:46.815 –> 00:27:17.065
I can relate to the sleep because there was a lot of, I would say back to back weeks where I was just getting four hours of sleep, five hours of sleep, because I was taking 16 and, you know, this it’s been hard studying and staying up all night and and as well as trying to balance practice and everything else. And I had a question for Ken. Was like, how does it feel like have you ever had a practice where, like, you felt like you had good hydration and like, did it feel compared to you not hydrating enough in practice? Like, did you feel a difference or like, how was it?

00:27:17.065 –> 00:27:32.670
Yeah, we talked about that actually. That was going to be one of my questions I was thinking about. Miss Pam came to chat with us about electrolytes and I thought it was cool. You know, now that we’re talking about nutrition like you don’t you have to just drink your electrolytes. It’s also in your snacks and meals too.

00:27:32.670 –> 00:27:44.615
So, that’s something that like came, you know, came to mind that you can focus on as well while you’re eating. So, I thought that was super helpful, especially for like, you know, when we’re outside in July and it’s hot. Yeah,

00:27:45.015 –> 00:27:46.055
super helpful. So

00:27:50.215 –> 00:28:05.420
maybe kind of like, let’s circle around back to the idea of sleep and looking at nutrition that could be connected to sleep, like are there certain nutrients that are helpful in helping one to get sleepy or to stay asleep?

00:28:05.675 –> 00:28:24.040
Absolutely. So I think one, let’s start with sleep and what that does when you’re not getting enough sleep, because a lot of people think, what happens if I don’t sleep? Like they don’t realize the trickle effects that that plays. Now, of course, I’m here talking about nutrition, so we’re going to talk about that component. Now I’m going to get a little bit science y.

00:28:24.040 –> 00:28:50.830
I’ll do my best to explain it, but if you have any questions, please chime in. So whenever someone is not getting enough sleep, when you think of a hormone called ghrelin, so think of GRRR, your stomach is hungry. So that is a hormone that tells your brain, Hey, I am hungry. So whenever we’re not getting enough sleep, that hormone goes up. So let’s say the night before we just had four hours of sleep, The next day, that hormone is going to be really high, which means you’re going be hungry all the time.

00:28:51.470 –> 00:29:10.465
Now, in turn, now we know that that hormone is going up. There’s another hormone called leptin. That hormone is also responsible for telling you when you’re full. That leptin level is going to be down whenever you don’t get enough sleep. So the next day, if you go on throughout your day, you only get four hours, the leptin hormone is going to be low.

00:29:10.545 –> 00:29:23.730
So then it’s not going to tell you when you’re hungry or anything like that. So those two play a huge role. Hormones play a role, is why I wanted to bring those up. Now, Ms. Paige asked what nutrients are important to add on.

00:29:23.890 –> 00:29:45.460
First, let’s talk about the nutrients that your body is depleted whenever you don’t get enough sleep, right? Some of the key ones could be B vitamins. So the B vitamins are responsible for creating energy. So whenever we have enough B vitamins in our diet, then that is what’s helping us turn it into energy. So those get depleted whenever you guys are not sleeping enough.

00:29:46.100 –> 00:30:23.460
Now, some of the nutrients that do help with sleep though, for example, I have a couple athletes that can’t sleep at night. So that is when we emphasize including foods that contain magnesium, because that helps with muscle relaxation and relaxing your nervous system, so your brain, so helps you stay relaxed. So I always emphasize getting it through food. So you can get it through nuts and seeds, you can get it through a variety of other foods, or you can supplement with it, up to you. The next thing that you can try to incorporate could be tart cherry, which the nutrient that is in tart cherry is tryptophan.

00:30:23.460 –> 00:30:54.320
Tryptophan, you can find it in Turkey, you can find it in tart cherry, like I mentioned, that is a nutrient that helps your body to be able to go to sleep. So those are the two that I always recommend, tart cherry, magnesium. I might be missing a few, but those are like the key ones that I always emphasize. And then other things to pay attention if you’re not able to sleep when it comes to nutrition is pay attention to how much caffeine you’re drinking. And if you’re a caffeine drinker, then maybe stop drinking caffeine a little bit earlier on.

00:30:54.400 –> 00:31:19.240
Nothing against caffeine, but the timing does matter. So if we’re drinking coffee about 5PM, it takes your body to fully digest caffeine about three to five ish hours, so that window is pretty big. So keeping that in mind, maybe stopping drinking coffee by 3PM and no later than that. For me, I know no later than 2PM, because if not, I will stay up all night. Other things can affect that, that can affect that could be alcohol.

00:31:19.240 –> 00:31:45.170
So if you drink alcohol, that can affect your sleep, your REM sleep in particular, which is the good sleep. And then the other ones can be timing of your meal. So a lot of people say try not to eat before bed. I don’t fully agree with it because as athletes, sometimes nighttime is the only time that you guys can eat, especially if you’re studying. So what I say to that is try not to eat fast food because that’s going be higher in fat and it’s going to make you feel really heavy.

00:31:45.170 –> 00:31:54.105
So then after when you go to bed, it’s going be harder for you to go to bed. So being smart about what you’re eating, but also paying attention to the timing of it. Hopefully that answers your question.

00:31:54.105 –> 00:32:24.775
Yeah, no, that’s great and actually it was Leslie who put me onto the tart cherry and I’ll just for you guys, if you are a tart cherry fan, actually had a basketball, women’s basketball player last year and she, we talked about the tart cherry, we talked about the importance of sleep, all the things and she literally brought it with her on the road, like she made sure, so when you think about going to tournaments or whatever, if there’s something that’s really important to you, make sure you have it with you.

00:32:25.095 –> 00:32:51.295
And it’s one of those things where it’s natural too. It’s like you can drink it, I always swear by it, especially with inflammation, it also helps with inflammation. So as athletes, you guys are experiencing a lot of inflammation, and then you guys are always constantly on the road, working out, lifting. So in order to recover faster, tart cherry helps with that too. So I always recommend drinking it at night, so it helps your muscles fully recover, and then you also get better sleep.

00:32:51.295 –> 00:32:54.495
So I always swear by it. I love tart cherry. It is very tart.

00:32:55.775 –> 00:33:14.920
So you talked earlier, Pam, about supplements, right? And to me, one of the things I hear athletes talking about supplementing are things like protein powders and creatine and just certain, are there certain things that you are kind of like, yeah, that’s okay if you do it, but don’t forget to eat.

00:33:14.920 –> 00:33:15.240
Absolutely.

00:33:15.755 –> 00:33:18.395
Are there other things that you’re kind of like, don’t do that?

00:33:18.715 –> 00:33:53.115
Yes, so I would say there’s a few that I am okay with them taking, for example, protein powders is a good one, however, I always recommend going with a third party tested brand or something that has NSF sports, which some of you have talked to about, or mainly third party tested. That way you know the ingredients on it are true of what they say on the label. The next one could be a creatine powder. There is a lot of research behind it to support muscle recovery and cognitive health. So I am okay with supplementing with that.

00:33:53.355 –> 00:34:42.465
Collagen, it would depend, mostly for someone that is experiencing like a joint or ligament injury or a little bit more, I would say more specific to their concern, but not for everybody else to take. But yes, creatine, collagen, protein powder, omega-3s, I would always, always recommend healthy fat sources, helps with inflammation. What about BCAAs? BCAAs, I don’t really see the benefit for athletes. I would see the benefit in a different setting, but not really for athletes, especially if you I would rather you have an actual protein source and a carb source after your workout or whatever it is, or actually protein versus BCAA BCAAs.

00:34:42.465 –> 00:34:49.440
Plus, they’re really expensive. Why would you spend your money on that when you can get it from actual food? So I don’t really see the benefit of it.

00:34:49.440 –> 00:35:09.965
I’m not sure if you’re familiar with like line nutrition. And so a lot of us will get like the loaded teas and stuff because they have like protein and caffeine and well, to us, it sounds like it’s the perfect combination. So, is that okay? I honestly don’t even know what’s in it, but it said protein and caffeine, so I said yes.

00:35:10.045 –> 00:35:22.980
Yeah, great question. And I think that’s really popular in today’s culture. Like, for example, I’ve noticed Starbucks, they have a drink that’s high in protein. Okay, well, let’s look at how much sugar that has. That also can’t be good.

00:35:22.980 –> 00:35:39.705
Yes, it has protein, but it has a lot of sugar too. So to your point, with the loaded teas, I’m not too sure what ingredients they have, but let’s think about the components that it does have that you mentioned. For example, it has protein. Okay, it has protein, but let’s look at what kind of protein? Is it third party tested?

00:35:39.945 –> 00:35:55.890
Am I safe to take it? Because when we’re thinking about NCAA compliance, what if it has something that I can’t be taking? And what if I get drug tested and then I fail that test? Because I didn’t know what was in those, in the loaded teas. Now let’s look at the caffeine content.

00:35:56.565 –> 00:36:28.595
When you drink coffee, yes, it provides energy, but that is not actual real energy that’s coming from food. It’s just a hormone that’s communicating with your brain telling you like, Hey, I’m alert. So with that being said, when you drink coffee, it’s also a appetite suppressant. So it’s going to tell your body, Hey, I’m not hungry. So if we rely on just these drinks alone as a meal or as energy, I don’t think that’s the best way to put it, especially if you’re just having it as a meal replacement, which I would absolutely not recommend.

00:36:28.835 –> 00:36:41.550
I’m okay with you having a tea. That’s just tea. But I wouldn’t I haven’t looked at the ingredients, but that’s absolutely something I can do and maybe talk about a little bit more into detail. Yeah. But again

00:36:41.790 –> 00:36:50.350
Yeah. I just know, like, a lot of our teammates, like, we’ll just go because it’s close and it’s convenient. Right. And it’s it’s become, like, a part of our everyday Yeah. Kind of.

00:36:50.350 –> 00:37:03.265
And know me personally, like when I drink it, like sometimes I have to stop because my, like my chest starts feeling like really tight and I’m like, okay, well maybe this is too much. I don’t get it all the time because that kind of scared me. But yeah, I

00:37:03.590 –> 00:37:41.170
Yeah, I’m a fan, but I don’t do the loaded because there is a tremendous amount of caffeine in the loaded, but and I think it started, are you familiar with like the Shakley vitamin thing that was like around for a long time, it’s an old and it’s kind of like a resurgence, so it’s supposedly healthy, like with in regard to being lower in sugar, I don’t think there’s a lot of sugar in those, think, but they’re supposed to have like vitamins and collagen depending on which one you get, but definitely the loaded, the ones that are advertised as the loaded that people get to stay awake all the time, they’re high, high in caffeine.

00:37:41.250 –> 00:38:16.240
And I think you guys bring up a good point, when we talk about supplements, dosage makes the poison, so what I mean by that, if I tell you to take five grams of creatine, because that helps muscle building or cognitive health, then someone goes and takes triple that amount. That might not be doing the same thing that five grams will be doing. With that being said, with the loaded teas, if they say, Oh, it’s loaded with all these things, but next thing you know, for your body type, maybe you are able to tolerate two hundred or one hundred milligrams of caffeine. But with that loaded tea, you don’t know how many

00:38:16.960 –> 00:38:20.205
think milligrams it’s of certainly 300. Like, it’s really high.

00:38:20.205 –> 00:38:30.765
That’s pretty high. Yes. Which would explain why you feel like your heart rate is racing, like your heart is racing. So like I said, sometimes you also need to pay attention to how much they’re putting in things.

00:38:31.100 –> 00:38:50.935
So I love that you’re bringing up dosing and I wanna bring up something that I hear from a lot of athletes and it’s around kind of that issue of struggle to just fall asleep and that supplementing melatonin. And so instead of taking like a small dose of melatonin, they’re like, Oh, more is better. And they’re taking, Can you speak to that? Because I think that’s a problem.

00:38:50.935 –> 00:39:19.895
Yes, and it ties to sleep. So with melatonin, the thing that I always say to that is I don’t love it. And the reason for it is because I would recommend it for someone that is more so that travels a lot and is going to different time zones, or someone that has a shift work that works really late and their schedule is not set, so they have trouble staying in a routine. The reason why I say that is because when you take melatonin, your body naturally makes it. What is it that it’s doing, right?

00:39:19.895 –> 00:39:33.340
It’s helping regulate your sleep. So think of a clock. So your body works on a clock. Now, whenever you’re not able to sleep, that clock gets messed up. When you take melatonin, it helps regulate that clock, so it makes it work good, like how it should.

00:39:33.500 –> 00:40:02.230
When you take too much and too often, it messes up your circadian rhythm, which is the clock that I’m talking about. So people say, Okay, I’m used to taking melatonin, what should I take? I always recommend magnesium glycinate, which when we think back about when we’re talking about the nutrients that I recommend for sleep, magnesium was one of them. So that is why I recommend magnesium glycinate that helps with that sleep aspect of it. But melatonin, wouldn’t really recommend for athletes because that does mess up with your sleep.

00:40:02.710 –> 00:40:36.485
Just a plug for Line Leadership Institute, when you’re talking about the magnesium, the magnesium glycinate right now, there has been like a push on educating in regard to like the importance of sleep, and if you guys have looked at those Instagram, the little, have y’all seen those? So they have the rub on the lotion, the magnesium lotion, which is phenomenal. So topical options And are the Epsom salts that smell really good and that’s absorbed into the skin and that’s another source of magnesium, but the glycinate as well. So that’s just a little plug for lion leadership. I’m

00:40:37.525 –> 00:41:17.470
gonna go back to the tart cherry because I was gonna express that because I was waiting for that. Anyways, so with tart cherry, I feel like you wouldn’t need melatonin because the tart cherry improves your melatonin levels already, which also increases your sleep. And by that, without sleep, allows your with sleep, it allows your muscles to recover, and I feel like that’s why tart cherry is so important. Like, going back to when I was healthy, would take a teaspoon of tart cherry before sleep, like before I would go to bed, because it helps my rapid eye movement, which is also REM sleep, so And it gives me a lot of deep sleep, so I’m just

00:41:18.110 –> 00:41:41.165
I think you bring up a great point. A lot of athletes also struggle with sleep, and they have tried tart cherry, and they say that it doesn’t work for them. Now, are those people that don’t react to tart cherry the way that most people do. What I say to that, you can also double whammy with it, but I mean by that is you can do magnesium glycinate, and you can do tart cherry as well, and that seems to work. But yes, you had a question?

00:41:41.165 –> 00:41:41.565
Yes.

00:41:42.125 –> 00:42:13.950
So, I like, it was probably freshman year and I’m a junior, so it was like two years ago. I did like rely on melatonin a lot just because I am a night owl and I just can’t fall asleep at night. But lately I’ve been doing these like, not every night because I don’t wanna go back to, like, relying on having to, like, rely on something to fall asleep on. Mhmm. But it does help, like, I’m pretty sure it’s, a Nello packet and you literally just, like, pour it in water and, drink it before bed or like while you’re having dinner.

00:42:14.270 –> 00:42:23.070
And I don’t know exactly what’s in it but I’m pretty sure it’s the mag Magnesium glycinate. And like ashwagandha I think

00:42:23.070 –> 00:42:29.325
is in it too. I think I have seen those, and it does have ashwagandha, but I think it has a low dose of melatonin Yes. As

00:42:29.725 –> 00:42:43.850
It’s like a I’m pretty sure it’s just more of a relaxer than the help to go to sleep, but, I mean, it has helped. I don’t do it every night because again, don’t want to rely on it, but yeah.

00:42:43.850 –> 00:43:14.440
I’m glad you brought that up because you see that a lot now too in the grocery stores, and you know, there’s like, it’s a whole thing that’s starting, and probably again, just be sure that you know what’s in that because if it’s just natural things like adaptogens, L theanine vitamins, that’s fine, but some of them have THC And some of those things that are in the grocery store now, which is a different world. And you have to be careful with that, right?

00:43:14.760 –> 00:43:54.255
And while we’re having this conversation about supplements, another resource that athletes do have is having me as one. So whenever you’re taking a supplement, you mentioned Nello, if you’re not sure about what you’re taking, or sometimes Bryce will bring in his supplements too and ask me like, Hey, Pam, what do you think about this? So I have a resource online that it’s called Access Sports, where I submit these supplements for review, and it tells me like, hey, these do apply for, these comply with NCAA regulations, or maybe, no, these do not because of these ingredients. So that is also a resource that you guys have. You can message me on Teamworks, and then just send me a picture of the supplement and say like, Hey, should I take this?

00:43:54.255 –> 00:44:00.575
How much should I take? Or maybe we look for a better option. So just so you guys know. That’s great.

00:44:00.575 –> 00:44:11.000
That’s a great resource to have. Alright, guys, it’s almost time to wrap up. Any parting thoughts or questions that any of you are burning to ask right now or to say?

00:44:11.000 –> 00:44:16.535
We talk about caffeine, but what do you think about energy drinks? Was gonna

00:44:16.535 –> 00:44:18.295
ask that too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:44:18.295 –> 00:44:22.215
Because I I A lot of these. Yeah. I’m a very

00:44:22.375 –> 00:44:32.570
I consume two hundred fifty milligrams caffeine through fast twitch before every workout, and that I feel like it helps me a bunch. Just wake up and have that extra energy.

00:44:32.570 –> 00:44:56.895
Absolutely. I think, great question. So with caffeine, like I mentioned before, whenever you drink coffee, I always ask athletes, Why are we drinking it? Do you like it because of the taste, or are you drinking it because of the energy? If it’s because of the taste, then that’s a little bit harder because Alanis do have a lot of sugar that make it taste good, and then maybe sometimes a lot of athletes mention the carbonation, right?

00:44:56.895 –> 00:45:23.795
So they like those things. So that’s a different conversation. However, if you’re using the caffeine for energy, I always, always recommend coffee instead of the actual energy drinks. The reason for it is because they have a ton of ingredients like Ms. Paige mentioned, sometimes they have other things that you may not know of, like TCH, ashwagandha, or enormous amount of B12s, which in your mind you’re like, Oh, it’s a B vitamin, it’s good for me.

00:45:24.035 –> 00:45:39.670
Well, no, if you drink too much, it can also be a bad thing. So I do think that energy drinks do a really bad, a great job of advertising how good it is and how pretty it looks. But when we look at the label, they add a ton of things that you just, you don’t need.

00:45:39.985 –> 00:45:55.540
And isn’t the reason, doesn’t a lot of the research show that like, I’m talking about like Monster and you know, there’s the typical classic energy drinks that they increase your blood pressure. Absolutely. So it could almost even be dangerous sometimes if you have too much of that and then right before workout.

00:45:55.540 –> 00:46:20.875
To add to that, if you’re not hydrating properly, then if you’re consuming enormous amount of caffeine, that’s also going to raise your blood pressure, like Ms. Paige mentioned. So when you think about drinking an energy drink before practice, before a game, and you didn’t hydrate as well, then you’re going to feel jittery. And then caffeine is essentially not doing what you’re looking to do. So again, dosage matters, the ingredients matter.

00:46:21.990 –> 00:46:38.825
But yes, I’m not too fan of energy drinks, but if athletes like them, then we look for a healthier option. And again, that’s something that you can ask me about. But I always, always say caffeine is a great option. But always think about, am I getting enough sleep? Am I using it for that?

00:46:38.825 –> 00:46:59.300
Because I’m always falling asleep, or I always feel groggy, I always feel like I need some rest, and we’re just downing energy drinks to kind of keep you up, then that’s a different story. And then if it’s for taste, let’s look for other drinks that maybe have carbonation and a little bit less sugar than an energy drink would and things like that. Hopefully that answers your question.

00:47:00.180 –> 00:47:00.500
Alright.

00:47:01.005 –> 00:47:09.725
Is it safe to have is is it safe to have energy drink if you’re balancing it with water and other food sources?

00:47:09.725 –> 00:47:49.000
I like how you’re working around it. I would say when you have a balanced diet, and if you do like energy drinks, let’s look for a healthier option that you can maybe have once in a while. I’m not endorsing having an energy drink every single day. I think we have other concerns like sleep, nutrition, but to your point, if you are having a well balanced diet, sleeping well, then caffeine could be a performance enhancer that you can use to your benefit. So you can use it before practice or lifts, but also keeping in mind that it’s not too close to bedtime, because then that also contributes to you not getting quality sleep.

00:47:49.000 –> 00:47:52.760
And then there’s trickle effects to that. Hopefully that answers your question.

00:47:53.095 –> 00:48:18.980
Guys, I think we could just talk and talk and talk, right? This has been awesome. I think there are lots of I think that we have really touched on a wealth of information. I just want to thank every single one of you for giving us your time here and for attending. Thank you, Pam, for being here, I hope that your teammates are gonna listen and that everybody will benefit from this conversation.

00:48:18.980 –> 00:48:20.500
That’s what this podcast is all about.

00:48:20.805 –> 00:48:22.165
Thank you, Ms. K. It’s been

00:48:22.165 –> 00:48:22.325
a pleasure.

00:48:22.325 –> 00:48:23.365
You for having us.

00:48:23.365 –> 00:48:23.765
Thank you.

00:48:23.765 –> 00:48:28.405
All right, everybody. Have a great afternoon and go out there and Lion up.