Nutrition for Teen Athletes with My Daughter Hayden

Join me and my oldest daughter Hayden as we talk about nutrition for teen athletes! She shares foods and strategies that have helped her as a track athlete and volleyball player. We discuss:

• How to handle caffeine as a teen athlete
• How the food she eats beforehand affects her performance
• What she has learned most about the importance of nutrition as an athlete

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Transcript

Hey there, I'm your host, Hannah Wholesome. I'm a registered dietician who teaches busy moms how to fuel themselves well while working, running your household, and running your kids to all the activities. I share helpful and realistic tips to help you look and fuel your best. And I'm so happy that you're here for today's episode. Let's get started. Hello, welcome back to another episode. I have a. Very special guest here with me today. I have my oldest daughter, Hayden, and we are gonna talk a little bit about teen nutrition for Athlete Boy, let me rephrase that. Nutrition for teen athletes. And Hayden has been on the pot a couple times talking with her sisters before, but I wanted her to come back by herself to talk about this because I feel like she's really figured this out and I want her to share all of her. I don't know all of her wisdom and all the things that she feels like. Has really, really helped her out so that hopefully you can tell your teen or have them listen to this episode. So, Hayden, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself. Tell us what grade you're in, what sports you play, anything else that you want to share. Okay, so yeah, I'm 14, almost 15 freshman. Oh yeah, we're coming up. Coming up on 15. I just finished school volleyball and I'll do school and club track in the spring and yeah, that's. So volleyball and then track. So she'll do school track in the spring. Mm-hmm. And then club track in the summer. And you almost got talked into playing basketball. Yeah. Her team, her, some of her friends were trying to recruit her to play basketball this year. She's like, I've never played before, but you never know. Maybe one day. But So you are what we would consider in the off season right now and pretty happy about it for now, right? Yes, very. It's a lot going, getting in high school and all the homework and the course load and playing a sport, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. So I am wanting you to talk through with us. Just some of your perspective and then I'll share some of my parent perspectives too, but on how nutrition has affected you as an athlete and maybe some of the things that you've put together. So what are, what are some of the things, I don't know that, I mean we'll get into your tips and things that, you know, like specific snacks and things like that, but what did you notice most this year? I'll say it's probably been this year, like changes that you maybe you made with your nutrition compared to when you were younger. What did you put together? So what I like noticed, mainly like differences, I would say based on like when I was younger, I'd kind of just grab whatever I wanted and that would be that. But now that I've had you and like trying to think about what like actually. What's gonna help me do better? Like I've noticed some real change in that. Yeah. Like using nutrition as corny as it sounds and as we always hear, but using nutrition as fuel and how that's going to help you perform. Right, yeah. It's really helped me, especially since last year when I was in eighth grade, I was, I got the opportunity to go to a high school state, meet for Track. Track, yes. And. I That was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. So she and I, I think that you, that's kind of, I don't know, I feel like last year, over the past year is really where I noticed you start putting it all together. Which if you guys don't know, Hayden was a competitive gymnast for a very long time, and so she was putting out a lot of energy and I remember, don't you remember, I mean you started competing, what, when in second grade, I think is when you actually started like. Yeah, legit competing and we would have go back and forth. I'd be like, you, you got to eat something, and you'd be like, no, I'm nervous. I feel sick. I don't want to, you know what? It kind of, yeah, we kind of had that for a while and that's normal, right? As kids are younger. But then I feel like this year you really started actually thinking a little bit more about it and. Trying to fuel yourself up a little bit better, which is really helpful. So let's start off by talking about what does your nutrition look like, and maybe it doesn't look any different. Share what your nutrition looks like during like competition season or when you're in season for sports and when you're off season. So like maybe when you're in season, kind of walk us through your day. What are you thinking? How often, how soon before games or track mates or things like that, are you thinking about your fuel? Okay, so normally for me, I do get really nervous before games and meets. So I typically eat, like I typically eat, like for volleyball. I'd eat right after school because I wouldn't want to get sick on the court. And I feel like that worked for me really well and kind of the same for track, but I would eat. A little between events to recharge myself, yes. For my next race or my jumps or anything that was next for that. Yes. Okay. And we're gonna dig in a little bit more on that. What about off season? Off season and truly, are you thinking about your nutrition much and off season? I mean, like you're a pretty good eater, but you're also a teen, right? So like. Are you putting a lot of thought into what you're putting in, or do you, are you more strategic about that during your season? Yeah. Okay. So this is gonna sound like bad, but when I'm off season, I just don't think about it. I just, yeah. I just eat whatever I want and I don't usually care Yeah. About what I'm eating since there's no point in like, well, there's a point, but No, no point in like. Focusing super hard on that. Yes, for sure. Because I'm just gonna go home, do homework, shower, go to bed. Yeah. And I would say like you, you still are a good eater. Like we eat pretty healthy at home. Mm-hmm. We eat at home most of the time, but yeah. I mean, when you're not in season. You're still a teen, right? Like you still wanna go to Chick-fil-A. Yes. All the time, and that's okay. But while you're in season, you are thinking a little bit more about how the food that you're eating is really impacting you. And as you get older, yes, you will have to start thinking about those things even when you're not in sports. But for right now, it's totally normal. Like what she's saying right now is totally normal. Yes, we want our kids to eat fruits and vegetables. Yes, hay and. Does. Sometimes I have to reminder you're like, Hey, maybe you might wanna get a little bit more of that broccoli. But you know, in season, yeah, she is really, really thinking about that a lot. So let's talk about, I would say, when did you first notice? Like do you remember a sport or a time when you remember thinking, oh wow, that snack maybe did make a difference. So for when I was in my like gym, when I did gymnastics it, I didn't realize that at all. I just did not like to eat before meets. I did not like want to do any of that, so I didn't really notice anything there. But once I got into tracks, like started doing track, that's when I really started noticing because since like we had long, super long breaks after. Races or any other events, I'd be really tired. So eating something, I'd feel like. I felt that recharge once I started my other event. Yes. Okay. So, and something I wanna mention too. So when Hayden, Hayden has done competitive gymnastics at two different gyms, the first gym where she kind of grew up into gymnastics and initially started competing, they would give them breaks during practice. So their practices were what, like three and a half hours, half long, half at that point. And they would give them breaks in the middle of house, a snack. And I absolutely applaud them for that because. The second gym she went to and not trying to throw any shade. They were a fantastic gym and wonderful coaches, but they didn't do snack breaks at all. And I was, and their practices were four hours long and I'm like. These girls have got to have some fuel in between there. Like you cannot expect that they're gonna perform four hours into practice. And a lot of times that's when you would do your conditioning would be at the very end of practice. Yeah. Well end of each event, but yeah. Yeah, yeah. And so anyway, I always was a little baffled by that. So if you have a daughter in gymnastics, you should really push to for them to have a snack in between. 'cause it does help. But yes, I think for me, like Garrett and I used to kinda. Not fight with Hayden, but we'd be like, eat something. Because I don't know if you've ever done or have ever been to a track meet. They're very long. Yeah. And you, it's very weird because a lot of the track meets can be set up different, so you might get there and be like, okay, you've got. And normally you would get there and then Hayden's a long jumper. So it'd be like, okay, go warm up your jumps. Like immediately go warm up your jumps. But then sometimes if you get interrupted and then they're call like doing a call for the 100, then you have to leave the jumps before you get to do the jumps and then go over and run the 100. And then you go back to the jumps. And then you might have like two hours before you have to run the 400 mm-hmm. Or something like that. And so have these big breaks. And so we would be like, Hey, as soon as the 100 would be over, we'd be like, Hey. Eat a peanut butter sandwich. Hey, grab a granola bar, grab, you know, grab something easy. And Hayden would be like, no, I'm not hungry. I don't want to, you know, and then when she maybe would start getting hungry, it'd be too close to time to eat. Right? And so I feel like you really started figuring out, okay, I do need to be more strategic and think about like, really checking out the track schedule. When am I, when will I likely be up next? How much time do I have? And I started noticing you doing that this past season. Yeah, so why don't you share, like what would be some of the things for quick energy, so that quick energy during a track meet, or maybe even like the couple hours before the volleyball game, or an hour, two hours before the volleyball game. What are the quick energy things that you would go to to give you that little energy burst? I, especially during track season, I ate a lot of Cheerios and applesauce. It was always honey nut cheerios and apple sauce, like in between races. Before everything because it's not super heavy on your stomach. So it like, it works well for that, especially with running. Most times you feel like you're gonna throw up at the end, so it's a good snack to have before. Yeah, and if you are listening, the reason why this is set so easy on the stomach carbohydrates, especially like simple carbohydrates like Cheerios, apple sauce, that type of thing, it's because it's pretty much pure carb. And so it gets into your system very, very quickly, but it doesn't sit in there long. Your body digests it really fast. Whereas if you eat something that's got like, like something fried, something with fat, even something with fiber. So even if you're sitting down and eating like an apple, that actually may not do great 'cause that fiber can cause some digestive upset too. So probably not like a great choice. Whereas apple sauce, the pureed applesauce doesn't have a ton of fiber in it, so it's a quick energy source. So yeah, you did a really good job with that. And sometimes too, you know, we mentioned peanut butter sandwich. That would be something like. You could eat. Like at mean the 400 and the 200. Yes. 200 was one of the last. First, exactly. So if you know like, Hey, I've got at least an hour, then that might be a good thing that you could eat because it's gonna give you that energy. But then the peanut butter is gonna hold you over. It's got those healthy fats in it, so it's gonna hold you over a little bit until the last event, which can also help with blood sugar and stuff like that too. So, okay. What else? How about after? You would think about, oh no. Nope. I skipped hydration. So how would you, how do you hydrate on practice days, game days and things like that? I'll normally try to, before school, get some liquid IV in to get those electrolytes. And then during school I try and drink at least one of my water bottles, if not two. Yep. And then refill four. The game meet, whatever. Yep, yep. And think about too, you have to be strategic with whatever sport it is that your kid is playing. Because track you did a lot more electrolytes during track. Yeah. Because you're outside, you're sweating. Whereas volleyball like, yeah, you're sweating, but it's not. It's much more short versed energies and you're playing inside in a temperature control gym. So didn't really need as much unless you felt like you needed it. Right. No, but how about, how about days? You've noticed hydration hasn't been on, so like you did really good up for games. But what about practices? Like did you have days where you practiced and you're like, man, I didn't drink enough water. Yeah, most, actually, most of my practices, I realized that a little too late. It's not like practice isn't the top thing on my mind. Like not as much as games would be. Sure. So I just don't, and I've struggled with it honestly, like drinking water, like when I was little, mom used to have to really get onto me about drinking water. I did. But yeah, I realized for practice days it's like obviously not as much. 'cause I'm not thinking about practice as much as I would've gained. So what did you notice on days you didn't drink enough water? I noticed that I. I got headaches really bad in practice from all the running around. I would be extra tired and just overall like, yeah, yeah. Yep. So make sure you drink water all throughout the day. Water's good for us all the time, but especially hydration, really, you're hydration status. Like, you can't just expect, you can't just chug water right before a game or a meet and expect it to. Like, no, it takes a while to get in. That's why I drink my electrolytes in the morning instead of after school. Exactly. So thinking about that early in the morning, the day before, even nutrition can, I mean the way you. Compete the way you perform. All of that starts the day before, like the nutrition that you're putting in before. So just keep that in mind that that's really, really important. Who in your family is the hardest to shop for during the holidays? You know that one person who has everything and is impossible to surprise, whether it's a mom, a sister-in-law, or even a best friend, I found the perfect gift, the bamboo pajama set from Cozy Earth. They've completely changed my sleep game for the better. They're a timeless, classic, and cozy earth has truly perfected them. These pajamas are made with a soft, stretch knit fabric that drapes beautifully and sleeps degrees cooler than cotton. They're lightweight, cozy, and perfect for holiday mornings, winter nights, and honestly, every season after that. It's one of those gifts they'll unwrap and actually use all year long. And here's the best part. Black Friday has come early at Cozy Earth. Right now you can stack my code of wholesome on top of their site-wide sale and save up to 40%. These deals won't last long, so start your holiday shopping [email protected]. And if you get a post-purchase survey, make sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth right here on my podcast. Wrap the ones you love in luxury with Cozi Earth. Now, how about after, after games, after track meets, what do you do? What's your nutrition look like? What are you thinking about or are you thinking about anything? What does that look like? Well, food wise and my nutrition, I'm not like typically thinking about that. I'm just thinking about my performance and how I did. But normally after volleyball games, I'll like chug a bunch of water. 'cause in the game I'm just so like into it and focused. Yeah, I don't drink any water. But for track. Yeah. I don't know. It's just, I don't really think about anything after track, just, yeah. Well, I'd say you're normally very hungry after games and after track meets, and this is the time where, you know, if it's an away game or it's an away track meet. This is where if I, if we're far from home. Or I don't have, usually if it's we're far from home. 'cause a lot of your meats and things will be far kind of like an hour or so. But that's the time where if she wants Chick-fil-A, we will get Chick-fil-A. Okay. So could we be putting better things in? Yeah, maybe. But also keeping in mind, I think a really important thing for teen athletes would be. The way you recover is really important. And yes, you can get protein and you can get good fluids in post-workout and the french fries, potatoes, even though yes, these things are fried, that's still some good carbohydrates to replenish some of those stores, but we never. Ever do fast food before a meat or a game or anything like that because it will make you feel like absolute garbage. Yeah. So we do, we are okay with every now and then if we're, especially if it's an away game and we're not gonna get home till late doing something like that. And. That's okay. 'cause you're still getting some of the, that protein and those carbs, those protein carbs, and then really electrolytes and hydration is what you wanna focus in on after. Now I don't, I'm not gonna say that I think every single kid needs electrolytes, but if you are a track or cross country athlete, a football player, anyone who is sweating ex like extensively, electrolytes can be helpful. Now you are getting salt, like if you're eating, actually, if you're eating salty french fries from Chick-fil-A. You're getting french fries. Have more pat, more potassium. Oh my gosh. We can't talk more potassium in them than a banana. Like a potato has more than a banana. So if you're doing that and you're getting a lot of salt on there, you actually are replenishing electrolytes that way too. It doesn't have to be in a fancy electrolyte packet either. So just kind of keep that in mind. So I think we should just get Chick-fil-A off the timeline. I'm not saying that, but yeah, it does make a big difference. So talk us through, like let's talk tracks specifically. 'cause I think that's where you probably have noticed the most difference in your nutrition, but specifically, what did you notice with your performance? When you started making these changes? When I started making these changes, I realized that, first of all, I'm way more happier with my results. Yes. And I feel way better after races, even though it still feels like I'm gonna pass out and die. It's like it's still a little better because of getting the energy and the electrolytes and everything that I need. Before the race. It just overall helps me perform. Perform way better. Yeah. I think that first meet where I didn't have to tell you, like I didn't have to say, Hey, I got applesauce, pouches. I brought applesauce, pouches. Hey, I've got this. I didn't even have to tell you that you just got in and you were eating. I think you add applesauce, pouches and goldfish or something that day. Or maybe it was Cheerios. Cheerios. Cheerio. Okay. Cheerios. Cheerios. And you just got in and did it yourself. And I think it was that, that meet where you prd everything. Yeah, like I think you broke your PR or on almost all of your events. Except the 400. Except the 400. It was Iran and cold. Yeah, it was. It was Iran and cold, but, and then their team even broke the school record on the four by four. Mm-hmm. Which was pretty awesome. And so anyway, I think just remembering that, that the food that you put in your body, I mean, whether you're a routine athlete or an adult, it really does make a big difference. And it can, like if you are. A track athlete or someone, or you know, anybody like your hydration, your nutrition, you'll run faster. The more hydrated you are, the more carbohydrates you have on board in your system because it takes your body time to, to grab carbs from, you know, you have carbohydrates stored as glycogen in your muscles and in your liver that it can free up if it needs it. It takes some time. It's not gonna kick in for a quick little sprint, right? And so making sure that you've got those good fast acting carbohydrates in your SY system can really, really help. Okay. Let's talk supplements a little bit. Do you take any supplements of any sort? Protein shakes, anything like that? No. No. So we don't really do that if now, if she, I would say like if you were a vegetarian or something or something like that. Maybe. I just feel like she hasn't really needed to supplement protein. 'cause she does a pretty good job eating protein in real food sources. Yeah. Yeah. So what are some of your favorite proteins like chicken, yogurt? Yeah, I like chicken a lot. I also do like yogurt. Yeah. But sometimes I have to remind you, Hey, you could have some yogurt. Yeah. Yeah. Or cottage cheese. You like cottage cheese? Yeah. It kind of depends on the day for cottage cheese. Yeah, it does. It does. And then why don't you talk about caffeine? Oh, okay. So I, so I know that I am only 14. I shouldn't be having an insane amount of caffeine. The new trend for people my age is drinking a lot of energy drinks. But what I do since I don't wanna have a heart attack, I drink half of a Milani, which is 100 milligrams instead of the full 200. So it stays at a safe amount. And then normally I won't have any other caffeine, no soda, no nothing the rest of the day so that I can get some sleep. It's not a dangerous amount for me. Yes. And I'm so proud of her for that. It's something, but it's something we had to talk about. Like I had to tell you like, Hey, these Alani have 200 milligrams in the entire can. Really, you should be doing like a half of one. Right? Because there are some natural caffeine sources and like chocolate and some other things like that. But that, that, you know, when I explained to you, I think I was explaining to you, I'm like, one can is like drinking three cups of coffee. Yeah, essentially it's a lot of caffeine and, and she's done great with it. Like truly, I don't have to, I mean, I'll find half, so she just drinks half of the can. So I'll find like half drink cans of bologna, or she'll drink half and leave the other half at home. And every now and then, like she'll, like a Doctor Pepper or a, you know, diet Coke or something like that. And. She's just very, I feel like you're pretty well trained anytime to look at a can to see what the caffeine content is. Yeah. I've realized, especially like when I was in volleyball season and the late night games, because I was also a part of varsity, so their games would go later. Like if I had those late nights and I was pretty tired, but if I had too much caffeine that day, I'd still stay up and it'd just be miserable. Yeah. I'd have so. I'd be so tired, but I just couldn't fall asleep. And so I realized that I need to cut back. Like not an Alani and a soda, just an Alani or just a soda. Yep. Yep. So that's really, I would say, as a parent and a dietician, that's what I would tell you to really focus in on with your teen athlete is caffeine. Yes, caffeine actually can be a helpful tool, like it can help with performance, but. You don't need that much. And if your kid is drinking so much caffeine, they can't sleep. Sleep is where all the recovery happens. That is where muscles recover. That is where, you know, the nutrition you're getting in after events is going to work. And so you do need to make sure you're getting lots of good sleep. So caffeine, that's kind of our rule, is a hundred milligrams. Is really where we would draw the line and, and we like, just kinda stick with it and just keep in mind like there are, like, if they like energy drinks, there are things like bubblers. Bubblers have, yeah. 70 milligrams I think, or something like that. And I can, six nine, I'm Okay. Yeah, there we go. So, you know, if they really like to drink, but Hayden likes Heri and so she'll just, she'd rather have a mini one or drink a half of a can. So kind of keep that in mind. And then creatine. We don't use creatine. I get asked questions a lot about athlete, teen athletes and creatine. And so what I would recommend to you is. I would say if that's something that you're interested in checking out, check with your kids' pediatrician first. We don't do creatine for kids. It is safe in adults, but I just don't feel comfortable making that recommendation to you for your kid, and it's not something that we give to our kids right now either. So anyway, just make sure if that's something you're interested in, you can check with your doctor. And then as far as the electrolytes go, kinda like we mentioned. You can overdo it on electrolytes, like hearts have stopped from potass too much potassium and things like that. And so you need to be aware of your, of your electrolytes and what you're giving. I would recommend, and you've even done like a half a packet before what you've done, a half a packet of like Liquid IV before. I normally do the full packet. I know you do, but like when you first started doing blood to lights, you would do like a half a packet. So like even if. You know, they're not totally parched. You can even start with a half a packet. But Liquid iv, I do really like Liquid iv. I think it's got a really good balance in it. But again, I would say if your kid is in high school, liquid IV is probably fine as long as, you know, they don't have any kidney issues or any other issues like that. But if you were talking like little kids, you need to be a little cautious with the amounts that you're giving them. Okay, so walk us through any other of your favorite meals, snacks, things like that, that you, that you feel like really help you. Well, I've already said my favorite snack. Yes, Cheerios and Apple sauce, but my favorite meals. Honestly, I don't think I have any specific ones. I just Like any of the meals that you make. Yeah. And I'll say I feel like that's really important too, that they get a good dinner in a good base because school, like you guys don't have a ton of time at school. Mm-hmm. And some kids are chatty and may not be able to get enough in. And so really that dinner time. Making sure that you've got a good balanced meal with protein, carbs, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, fibers, all those things are really, really important. So if that's something your family struggles with, maybe you can make that a goal going into the new year to really focus on. Okay. One last thing I wanna talk about is your mindset around food and like body image as an athlete. So things that maybe you've noticed other kids. And like athletes not eating enough or anything like that, or maybe you don't see that, do you see that much? Well, back when I did gymnastics, I saw that in myself because I, when it got to the point where I was doing all these, like bigger tricks and stuff, it got way more, I got way more nervous during those, so I didn't eat at all. The whole competition day and then when it got to dinner, I'd be star. Yeah, I remember that. So that I still that in myself back like because your nerves were getting the better of you. Yeah. So I think that can happen to other people in other sports and yeah, I think that mostly if peop if athletes aren't eating, it's because of. Nerves. Nerves and anxiety. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And just remember too, like the food that you're eating, I mean, it's, it's what's going to help you perform. So not eating enough. And maybe, you know, people, kids that I've worked with in the past who like weren't eating enough because they weren't happy with what their body looked like or something like that. And I remember having some athletes that I'm like, your position, like you play basketball and your position, you're down there like posting up on people like. You need to make sure you're eating right and or like football players and things like that. And so that's just something to kind of keep in mind too, to have a good, I would say for parents too, like have a good positive outlook on food and really talking about food as you know, the proper fuel for your teen athletes too. I think that's really, really important. Okay. Anything else? Hayden? I don't think so. Okay. All right. So if you're a teen athlete or you have a teen athlete, these are some good tips. Make sure I'll wrap us up with this breakfast. Always. Yes. I love breakfast. Yeah, gotta get breakfast in. And really you need to be fueling every three to four hours if you're an athlete, like truly, you know, breakfast, lunch, after school snack, or before meat snack. And. Then your dinner later, and then possibly even a snack after that if you need one. So, mm-hmm. You should be thinking about that and really do your best to try to get that in. I know it's hard. Sometimes school won't allow snacks and things like that, but you really should be eating at least every four hours, but every three to four hours if you're an athlete, is really important. My next tip, make sure you're drinking plenty of water. Plenty of water. It really does help. It really does help. You will run faster, you will jump higher, your muscles will recover better. If you're drinking plenty of water, so make sure you're drinking water and then make sure you're getting plenty of sleep. That's how I would wrap this up is that you, your body, that's really, when it recovers, that's when the muscles start to grow, so make sure you're using that as part of your strategy, which would also tie into. Don't you be overdoing it on caffeine, right? Yes. Okay. Okay. Well thanks for joining us, Hayden. I will also say again, really focus in on those dinners and making sure you're getting a good balanced dinner. If you need help with that, check out my meal app. It is so helpful. You will just pick it out. Hayden can. Yeah. Attest to me. It's definitely worth it. I have eaten. So much of the protein puppy chow this week. It's not even funny. The protein puppy chow is in there. I've ate three times the amount. Yeah. We tripled the batch and it was gone in two days. Yeah, so there's lots of good meals in there. I'm also starting to bring snacks and things like that too. So if your family struggles with dinner, check out my app. There's lots of good meals in there that I think you will love, so, okay. Well, thanks for being here, Hayden, and I will see you over on the next episode. Thank you so much for listening in. If you love this episode, it would mean a ton if you left me a five star rating and review, so others can find me too, to discover ways to work with me and to view my services. Check out the show notes. Don't forget to subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode. You can also follow me over on Instagram at wholesome nutrition co for more nutrition tips and recipes. I'll see you next time.