Snacking During Breaks

Think. Yes, right now. When was the last time you had practice? Now think of all the cool (or not so cool) stuff that you did. Ok, now I want you to try and remember what you ate for snack. Was it healthy? Did it fuel you enough for the rest of practice? It seems that every day I'm at gym, at least one person on my team may have a snack that is delicious, but not good for her. So while things like TGI Friday's' "Potato Skins" chips may look good you might want to swap that one out for some trail mix. 

BAD

Of course, You have to start off with the obviously bad stuff. Things like cold pizza, cake, and burgers. One of my old coaches actually had a teammate that had a McDonald's burger at snack once, and they all had to run until she threw up (it only took 30 minutes). There's also things like chips, candy, and other "junk" type foods that probably shouldn't be on your snack time menu. Those granola bars that are covered in chocolate and deliciousness? Yeah, you should probably supplement them with something better if you really want one. Always, always, always make sure that those fruit snacks are really beneficial, too. Labels that contain weird names like polydimethylsiloxane probably aren't that good for you either. 

(By the way, polydimenthylsiloxane [PDMS] is used in foods at some of your favorite fast food restaurants as well as in Silly Putty, dry-cleaning solutions, silicone and head-lice treatments AND it's also a bonding agent. Eat up!)

GOOD

Good foods are almost as easy to find as the bad. Things like nuts and meats give you the protein you need to maintain your energy throughout your practice. Fruits and Vegetables are low in fat while still filling you up and giving you the  essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that you need. The best thing to remember when choosing a healthy snack is to balance your food groups. Just protein is great, but you're missing those vitamins, and just fruit is delicious, but it's not going to hold you up for long. Some awesome choices for the best of both worlds are things like apples in peanut butter, fruit and nut granola bars (check the ingredients for artificial sugar content. Usually things that end in -ose), fruit filled yogurt, and other things of that sort!

Recipe!

Homemade chewy dark chocolate cherry almond granola bars

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups rolled oats 

1/3 cup raw honey 

1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 Chocolate Bar, crushed (chocolate chips are also fine)

1/2 cup dried cherries 

1/2 cup slivered almonds 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 cup coconut oil 

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

Directions:

1. Butter or oil an 8x8 baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix thoroughly. 

3. Place the mixture onto the prepared baking pan and pat down firmly so that it's 1/2" thick. 

Tip* When using a larger baking sheet, scoot the mixture to one side and cover the exposing edge with a thin piece of foil to prevent it from getting hard in the oven.

4. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

5. Allow to cool before cutting.

Tip* The coconut oil gives these bars a hint of coconut flavor. If you’d like more, feel free to add 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes.

I don't know about you, but these sound DELICIOUS to me! They also sound pretty easy to make, that way people who have a busy schedule will have time to make them too :)

Bake on my hungry Internet gymnasts!

~Joanna

Information on polydimethylosiloxane found at: http://science.discovery.com/life-earth-science/10-common-weird-ingredients.htm

See more recipes at: http://www.spain-in-iowa.com/2012/08/homemade-chewy-dark-chocolate-cherry-with-almond-granola-bars/#sthash.K7lOd4aF.dpuf

Buns, Ponytails, and Hairspray... Oh My!

Hey girls and -possibly- guys!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I was hoping life would slow down for me during winter break. No such luck. Anyways, one day 'till school and here I am, sitting with time on my hands, ready to give my readers a brand-new post! Hooray! (better late than never... am I right?)

Anyhow, I had my second "real" meet just yesterday. At my gym, all the girls on my team have to wear a high bun that is smashed into our heads with absolutely NO hair falling out. After we do that, it is a requirement for us to spray so much hairspray onto our doo so that our hair feels like styled barbie-doll hair.

Even with that much hairspray and even bobby pins, reaching towards seamless security, it still seems that our hairdoos are not good enough. At our meet, I couldn't help but noticing about half of the girls on our team had hair bob up and down and up and down and- well, you get the picture. This made me wonder if it is really worth it to put so much stuff in your hair in the first place. Sure, it looks nice at first, and it is harder for the hair to get in your face, but I'm sure that buns are not the only hairdoo that can do that for you. Not to mention the fact that all the hairspray caked onto our head can lead to other problems with dryness of the scalp and hair. 

With this question I ventured into the internet. What I found was not totally shocking. There are actually a few web-articles about different ways for gymnasts to do their hair. There are even some websites (like this one http://www.livestrong.com/article/549267-the-best-ways-to-do-a-gymnasts-hair/) that give different hairstyles for different lengths of hair and even different looks, like sleek or fun. It turns out that there are many different hairstyles to choose from. If you are still set on your bun, I'm sorry to say that I couldn't find any other ways to do it other than the recommended, gel it and spray it. There's still hope though because I learned that you don't actually have to worry about the whole dry scalp as long as you wash your hair as soon as you can and you don't wear the spray too often. I also found that there are actually specific ways to spray hairspray to get the most out of your product. For instance, you should start by looking at what the bottle of spray says it's for. For more secure doo's, look for bottles that say ultra-strong hold or something along those lines. 

What doo's are you going to try for your next meet/event? Let me know in the comments!

Doo on my fashionable internet gymnasts!

~Joanna

P.S. How am I doing? Comment \/\/\/

P.P.S. Hairspray facts found at http://www.schwarzkopf.com/sk/en/home/hair_repair/tips_and_tricks/styling_tricks/how_to_use_hair_spray_properly.html and http://www.skin-remedies.com/hair-products.html