This is the first week of morning practices at gymnastics for the summer and rather than taking the time to eat breakfast, pack a snack or make her lunch … like her Mother (that’s me) asked her to, my daughter (who is almost 12) decided to take her time getting ready, fix her hair, and turned her nose up at the breakfast selections I had for her. I made a whole batch of cranberry orange muffins this morning – which two of my three kids gladly ate – but, no, she did not like them. She also decided the banana she was offered would not work either.  She passed on the eggs, too.

So around 10 a.m. – one hour into her 3 hour gymnastics workout, she tells me she is feeling tired, weak and sick to her stomach (I coach at the same gym, but don’t coach her). Hmmm, maybe you should have had some of that breakfast. I offered her some of my pasta salad that I had packed. Nope, not interested. A teammate shared some pretzels and grapes with her and she came and got some money to get an energy drink, and then she perked up.

The moral of this story – picky eater or not, it is absolutely critical to fuel your body for the sports you do – especially if you have a long, morning work out!

As a parent it is can be difficult to make sure your athlete is getting everything they need and is properly fueled – and picky eaters don’t help matters any. After practice we had a little discussion and talked about the foods she likes and doesn’t and decided that planning her pre-practice meals ahead of time might help prevent this from happening again.

Sports Nutrition Resources:

• USA Swimming has a fantastic sports nutrition resource center on its website
• Feeding your child athlete
• American Youth Soccer Athlete Nutrition Notes
• The Athlete’s Plate: Real Food for High Performance
• Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook

Don’t forget to hydrate, too! While water is the best for hydrating your athlete, there are times when sports drink (recipes to make your own sports drink) does come in handy – for extra calories, a quick burst of energy during a long work out, and for picky athletes. I do like the new lower sugar options – like Powerade Play (which we recently had the opportunity to review) – the flavor is light, not too sweet and the extra electrolytes and calories do come in handy for long practices, outdoor practices and games.

That’s why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH) launched Best Bones Forever!, a national bone health campaign for girls ages 9-14. Best Bones Forever! focuses on friendship and fun–and encourages girls to “grow strong together, stay strong forever.”

The new campaign empowers girls and their BFFs (best friend forever) to build strong bones by choosing snacks and foods with calcium and vitamin D, and getting an hour of physical activity a day.

Campaign materials such as journals, posters, magnets, tattoos, book covers and a Web site (www.bestbonesforever.gov) get girls excited about growing healthy bones! Parents can get important bone health information from a brochure in both English and Spanish, and a Web site: www.bestbonesforever.gov/parents.

As a gymnastics coach I see girls with repetitive use injuries, injuries that occur from a small error and other injuries that I feel could often be prevented through better nutrition and conditioning. If you are a parent of an athlete, I highly recommend to take a look at the Best Bones Forever site and its sister site, GirlsHealth.gov to get more information on ways you can help your daughter get the proper nutrition and make the appropriate lifestyle changes to keep her bones healthy!

Many parents of athletes ask ,”With prices on everything going up how do I provide quality sports drinks on a budget?”

I have written many times in the past about Homemade Sports Drinks. I frequently receive requests for these recipes, here are a couple of quick and easy recipes. Over the course of a year, you can save hundreds of dollars on sports drinks. (an average bottle of 16oz Gatorade can be almost $1.00 each.)

Sports drinks like Gatorade ™ can be very useful for longer runs and races. Unfortunately, they are also very expensive and full of High Fructose Corn Syrup. I’ve found a couple of ways of making sports drinks that are effective and cheap. The ideas for the recipe, like most good running ideas, first came to me from The Dead Runners’ Society.

Gatorade ™ has worked hard to come up with what they feel is a good balance of carbohydrates and electrolytes for extended physical activity. Most researchers agree that the optimal concentration of carbohydrates in a sports drink is about 6%. This concentration actually allows the water to be absorbed more quickly in the body than plain water alone.

Gatorade has a formulation that gives the following for an 8oz serving:

• 14grams Carbohydrate (5.9%)
• 110 mg Sodium
• 30mg Potassium
• 52 calories

Assuming that is a pretty good formula, we can get close by using one of the following recipes:

Homemade Sports Drink Recipe #1

• 10 tbs. sugar (5/8 cups or 120 grams)
• .75 tsp Sea salt (4.2 grams) or Morton’s lite
• 1 package of unsweetened Koolade mix for flavor
• Water to make 2 liters

The recipe will give a total of 124 grams of solute which in 2 liters water gives a total of 6.2% concentration. For an 8 oz serving this gives:

• 14.2 grams carbohydrate (6%)
• 53 calories
• 103 mg Sodium
• 121 mg Potassium

You’ll notice that the amount of potassium is quite a bit higher than Gatorade, but the rest is pretty close. If you wanted to reduce the potassium, another option would be to use 1/2 tsp. each of regular sea salt and the Morton Lite Salt. This would change it to:

• 104mg sodium
• 40mg potassium

Homemade Sports Drink Recipe #2

If you wanted to reduce the amount of potassium, or simply didn’t want to buy some Morton Lite Salt, here is another option.

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 9 tbs. Sugar
• 3/8 tsp Salt
• Water to 2 liters

One of the biggest challenges for parents, athletes and their coaches is determining how much water an athlete needs at different times in their day and training.

If the athlete’s urine is dark and scanty, it is concentrated with metabolic wastes and the athlete needs to drink more fluids. When the urine is pale yellow, your body has returned to its normal water balance. Your urine may be dark if you are taking vitamin supplements; in that case, volume is a better indicator than color.

All athletes must drink water before, during, and after exercise. Follow the basic guidelines below to be sure that a child is drinking enough water throughout an exercise session.

• Before Exercise: Drink 10 to 14 oz. of cold water 1 to 2 hours before the activity. Drink 3-6 oz.of cold water or diluted fruit juice 15 to 20 minutes before the activity.
• During Exercise: Drink 3 to 4 oz. of cold water every 15 minutes.
• After Exercise: Drink 2 cups (16 oz.) of cold water for every pound of weight loss. With no weight loss still drink the minimum of 8oz of water.

You must watch and see how much water a young athlete actually drinks. Supervision is essential because children do not instinctively drink enough fluid to replace body water losses. Children may not recognize the symptoms of heat strain, and they may push themselves to the point of heat injury. Young athletes can use non HFCS sports drinks, especially during activities lasting lore than 90 minutes (such as Football or  Soccer). These drinks should contain between 6 and 8 percent carbohydrate or 15 to 18 grams of carbohydrate per cup.

Other tips include:

• If products labeled “sports drinks” do not meet these guidelines, they may need to be diluted. Water is adequate for most children.  However, some youth athletes are more likely to drink sufficient amounts if you give them flavored fluid; sports drinks or diluted fruit juice are appropriate choices.
• Be sure to dilute fruit juice at least twofold: 1 cup of water for every 1 cup of juice.  Tell children not to drink carbonated sodas or undiluted fruit juice as a fluid source during exercise. These beverages are too rich in carbohydrate (which can cause stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea).
• Caffeinated beverages (such as tea, coffee, and cola beverages) will dehydrate the body even more.
• Athletes can also replace their body fluids with foods containing a lot of water, such as oranges, watermelon, apples, grapes, and tomatoes, along with water. These foods provide water and carbohydrate, and they are good for replacing lost water and lost energy (glycogen) after exercise.

A few years ago a friend of mine, who is a registered nutritionist, gave us a great list of healthy lunch box and snack ideas. I keep this list posted on the inside of the cabinet in the kitchen for quick reference.

• Tuna sandwich on whole grain bread
• Egg salad sandwich on whole grain bread
• Smoked or roast turkey breast on whole grain bread
• Lean roast beef on whole grain bread
• Natural peanut butter and all fruit spread on whole grain bread
• Whole wheat pita topped with pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese (not the Lunchables)
• Starkist Tuna Kits
• Roll-ups – fill whole wheat flour tortillas with refried beans and shredded cheese; tuna fish; smoked turkey breast with shredded lettuce and cheese; or make your own combinations
• Hot soup in a thermos
• Fresh fruit – apple slices (drizzle with orange juice to keep from turning brown), small bunch of grapes, banana, orange slices, strawberries, blueberries
• Container of unsweetened applesauce
• Container of reduced fat yogurt – stay away from the ones with sprinkles or added toppings
• Fruit roll-ups or fruit leather made with real fruit puree
• Raw carrots, broccoli or cauliflower with ranch dressing
• Mini salads – place cut up romaine or other dark, leafy greens in plastic container with lid. Place croutons in aluminum foil to be added and put salad dressing in small container with lid .
• Celery with peanut butter and raisins
• Mozzarella cheese sticks
• Raw almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews and peanuts (if there are no peanut allergies in the class)
• Trail mix made of dried fruit (raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries), raw almonds or other nuts, sunflower seeds, mini pretzel rings or sticks, goldfish pretzels, popcorn, etc
• Baked tortilla chips and salsa
• Natural peanut butter on whole grain crackers
• For more ideas, check out Lunch Boxes and Snacks: Over 120 healthy recipes from delicious sandwiches and salads to hot soups and sweet treats

With a little planning and some creativity, you can give your athlete the fuel her body needs and avoid unhealthy stops at fast food restaurants, too.

Since my daughter is lactose intolerant I have to be careful what I use as a base for her smoothie. She can handle yogurt in small doses but is not a fan of it. The recipe we use most often is very basic:

• Fill blender half full with frozen strawberries and a fresh (or frozen) banana
• Add a 1/4 cup of calcium fortified orange juice
• Blend until smooth, adding a bit more juice as needed.

Because the strawberries are frozen, you don’t need to add ice.

Startcooking.com has 10 more great recipes and ideas for creating that perfect smoothie.

• Make sure your athlete has 1-2 cups of fluid within 2 hours of practice/competition
• For events lasting less than an hour, water is preferred over sports drinks
• Athletes should be consuming 5-9 ounces of water every 20-30 minutes depending on the intensity of the activity

These guidelines should also be kept in mind for afternoons at the pool, trips to the amusement park, and general outdoor play.

Source: MSNBC