WAG Nutrition component of coaching

[Canadian_gym_mom]

You seem to be the one that thinks their correct all the time though?!?
How is telling 5 or 6yo not eat the food their parents has provided them, making them a thoughtful young person? Also, did you completely miss my statements about the varying dietary needs of children? I will repeat my example, my ds had teammate with a lot of food allergies. Plain Lays chips, which you would probably disprove of, were a regular snack for him. It's one of the few packaged foods he could safely eat and get a carb and fat kick. Do you deny that kids need carbs mid practice? Also, this kid had few sources of fat and needed it to grow.

Also, gymnasts have a string desire to please their coach. In an effort to please you a kid may greatly alter their diet, due to comments you make about their snacks. This can lead to an eating disorder. See these are kids, not adults, and they are quite impressionable.

Let their parents parent them. You focus on teaching them gymnastics!!!!

I have stayed out of this thread and just read along because many posts said a lot of what i was thinking, and many others answered questions that came to mind along the way. But honestly i had to stop here and ask/question the fact that potato chips were this child's only option of a snack.

What would be wrong with bake roasting some potatoes with olive oil and sending those? What am i missing that chips are a child's only available snack?

Honestly asking with only a smidgen of judgment that comes from not understanding.

 

[sce]

I have stayed out of this thread and just read along because many posts said a lot of what i was thinking, and many others answered questions that came to mind along the way. But honestly i had to stop here and ask/question the fact that potato chips were this child's only option of a snack.

What would be wrong with bake roasting some potatoes with olive oil and sending those? What am i missing that chips are a child's only available snack?
.

My point was that they were one of the few packaged foods he could eat. Sometimes you need a quick on the go option. He has multiple food allergies. Almost all of his food is cooked from scratch Anything bought from a restaurant or store had to be carefully researched. This Mom, more than most, needed non-homemade options sometimes. He also has 2 sisters and his mom was pregnant at the time. Between school pick-up and drop0ffs, homework, gym and other kids' activities, sometimes she couldn't prepare a snack at home.

And really, who wants to eat cold roasted potatoes during their workout?

Even when people ask about snacks for workout, the suggestions are things like PB, crackers, cheese etc. are suggested. Most of those things are not accessible to this child.

 

[Seeker]

I have stayed out of this thread and just read along because many posts said a lot of what i was thinking, and many others answered questions that came to mind along the way. But honestly i had to stop here and ask/question the fact that potato chips were this child's only option of a snack.

What would be wrong with bake roasting some potatoes with olive oil and sending those? What am i missing that chips are a child's only available snack?

Honestly asking with only a smidgen of judgment that comes from not understanding.

I am an adult and not a gymnast, so no one should care about my diet. But I also have massive food allergies (that cause anaphylaxis, so this is not some minor thing), so my diet is rather limited. There are often times where the only thing I can find if snack food is what's available is chips. Plain Lays for whatever reason work without issue. To the outsider, yes -- looks unhealthy. To me, sometimes it's the difference with being able to eat something or not and then having to wait several hours to have something different. I cook most of my own food and travel well stocked, but sometimes I need a snack on the run. I'm sure we all do sometimes.
Of course making homemade chips would be great, but let's be real -- no one has time to do that all the time.

I'm not overweight and have had some ppl make comments like "oh, I wish I could eat chips like that". Trust me -- I'd rather not have life threatening allergies, but it is what it is.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

My point was that they were one of the few packaged foods he could eat. Sometimes you need a quick on the go option. He has multiple food allergies. Almost all of his food is cooked from scratch Anything bought from a restaurant or store had to be carefully researched. This Mom, more than most, needed non-homemade options sometimes. He also has 2 sisters and his mom was pregnant at the time. Between school pick-up and drop0ffs, homework, gym and other kids' activities, sometimes she couldn't prepare a snack at home.

And really, who wants to eat cold roasted potatoes during their workout?

Even when people ask about snacks for workout, the suggestions are things like PB, crackers, cheese etc. are suggested. Most of those things are not accessible to this child.

Thanks for your answer. And my dd has always had a microwave in the break rooms at gym. She takes stuff that needs to be heated all the time. I guess i didn't think that many gyms don't have that option.

 

[Faith]

Thing is, you can follow paleo, or atkins, low carb/high carb/ high protein, wheat/dairy free, read whatever you like, as an adult. Your body, your choice.

The reality is, 99.9% of books, diet plans, mainstream "science" on diet is aimed at one thing. Making money, especially out of the weight loss industry. Like Geoffrey said upthread, one book, however well it appears to be researched, is easily biased toward the author's own agenda- making money out of the diet industry.

Same with products such as protein powder.

The scientific literature (as in peer reviewed publications), to the best of my knowledge, doesn't support any of the "science" behind any of these diets.

When you get down to it, cutting out food groups, or increasing one over another, is not healthy for children.

The take home message I got from our Team GB nutritionist was;

a) Allow children to eat to appetite.
b) Don't cut out anything, or worry about high protein/low carb/ whatever latest trend the media deem "healthy".
c) Don't buy into nutritional products. Avoid protein bars, power drinks etc.

So I think the advice coaches should be giving to parents should be nothing more than focus on good home cooked food, as varied a diet as possible, and don't worry about the occasional chocolate bar.

 

[sce]

Thanks for your answer. And my dd has always had a microwave in the break rooms at gym. She takes stuff that needs to be heated all the time. I guess i didn't think that many gyms don't have that option.

1) They don't have a microwave available, and 2) They don't have a long snack break. It's more grab a few bites during water break.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Thanks for your answer. And my dd has always had a microwave in the break rooms at gym. She takes stuff that needs to be heated all the time. I guess i didn't think that many gyms don't have that option.

My DDs gym has no fridge or microwave and break is only ten minutes unless practice is more than four hours. The girls need quick to eat and easy to store snacks.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

My daughter practices 3 hours, non stop. They get water breaks frequently, but it us literally have some water when they transition to a new station and back on the floor.

 

[saddlupasb]

You seem to be the one that thinks their correct all the time though?!?
How is telling 5 or 6yo not eat the food their parents has provided them, making them a thoughtful young person? Also, did you completely miss my statements about the varying dietary needs of children? I will repeat my example, my ds had teammate with a lot of food allergies. Plain Lays chips, which you would probably disprove of, were a regular snack for him. It's one of the few packaged foods he could safely eat and get a carb and fat kick. Do you deny that kids need carbs mid practice? Also, this kid had few sources of fat and needed it to grow.

Also, gymnasts have a string desire to please their coach. In an effort to please you a kid may greatly alter their diet, due to comments you make about their snacks. This can lead to an eating disorder. See these are kids, not adults, and they are quite impressionable.

Let their parents parent them. You focus on teaching them gymnastics!!!!

No, I know I'm not right all of the time. But I do have a medical background and do understand what types of food are considered empty calories and not helpful as fuel during a practice. I can say that I haven't had any kids develop eating disorders.

 

[cbifoja]

I can say that I haven't had any kids develop eating disorders.

As an ED parent and the parent of a gymmie who has skirted around the topic, I think this is a VERY dangerous road to go down.....this idea that some people are to blame and some people should be credited with preventing an ED.

 

[Faith]

No, I know I'm not right all of the time. But I do have a medical background and do understand what types of food are considered empty calories and not helpful as fuel during a practice. I can say that I haven't had any kids develop eating disorders.

What is an "empty calorie"? Why aren't they considered helpful during practice?

You didn't answer my previous question about why Oreo's don't fuel a workout...

 

[twinmomma]

I can say that I haven't had any kids develop eating disorders.

That you know of.

I'm not trying to point a finger. What I am saying is that ED are incredibly difficult to spot and incredibly easy to hide. Don't be so sure.

 

[saddlupasb]

What is an "empty calorie"? Why aren't they considered helpful during practice?

You didn't answer my previous question about why Oreo's don't fuel a workout...

I'm not getting into a big nutrition discussion. I don't feel that choosing an Oreo as a snack during practice is a healthy one. There are many more easily digestible carbs that are healthier and easy for parents to provide.

 

[saddlupasb]

That you know of.

I'm not trying to point a finger. What I am saying is that ED are incredibly difficult to spot and incredibly easy to hide. Don't be so sure.

Yes, they are tricky, I've had friends who dealt with them. And I do know that none of my girls has gone on to have one.

 

[Faith]

I'm not getting into a big nutrition discussion. I don't feel that choosing an Oreo as a snack during practice is a healthy one. There are many more easily digestible carbs that are healthier and easy for parents to provide.

As a parent, also with a medical background, I would want to know the answer. If I give my kid oreo's for a mid workout snack, and I do, I have a very good reason for doing so.

You suggesting to them that they are not eating healthily, without being able to give me a solid, scientific reason, would go down like a lead balloon.

it is not your place to tell a child if the food a parent gives them meets your opinion of healthy. If you feel the need to say something, you should talk to the parents.

How do you know none of your girls have gone on to eating disorders? Do you keep in touch with all of them when they leave?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Yes, they are tricky, I've had friends who dealt with them. And I do know that none of my girls has gone on to have one.

How do you "know" this?

To make such a statement with anything resembling certainty would require you to have extensive knowledge about the dietary habits (including when they're not at the gym) of every single kid you've ever coached.

You may not know of any specific kid you've coached who developed an eating disorder, but statistics suggest that unless the number of kids you've coached is very small, odds are at least one of them probably had an eating disorder at some point in their life.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

well my DD gets what she feels she wants, sometimes its carrots and dips, sometimes its cake, but its all homemade, no additives, no colours, no preservatives, the word is balance.

If she gets three square at home and the only time she eats crisps (chips) is at the gym her diet is still balanced, but the coach may not see that, its all about the big picture

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

If she gets three square at home and the only time she eats crisps (chips) is at the gym her diet is still balanced, but the coach may not see that, its all about the big picture

Quoted for emphasis.

I think it's very easy for us as coaches to fall into the trap of thinking that the 10-20 hours/week we see a kid at the gym paints an accurate and representative picture of their lives as a whole, because that's the only part of their lives we see. So we seem them eating junk food at the gym and we tend to assume that they always eat junk food.

 

[CanAmGymMum]

This has been a very enlightening thread for me. One of the parents in our parent group has been pushing for a nutritionist to come in and speak to our team girls. The head coach/owner has not been very receptive to the idea, nor have I, for many of the reasons outlined above. I do have a medical background and a background in nutrition and don't necessarily want someone coming in to tell my daughter that she needs to follow the food pyramid. However, I'm a little bit surprised about some of the arguments on here as to what is healthy or not. Sure, some kids have unique dietary needs. But are we really arguing whether or not oreo cookies, for example, are healthy!?

I think most kids coming to practice with pop (diet or regular) and junk food are not doing so because they have parents who have thoughtfully prepared them the healthiest snack to meet their dietary needs. A more likely scenario is the junk food was in the cupboard and the kid grabbed it.

It's obvious, even from just this thread, that there are so many different views as to what is healthy and what is not. I think most of us on this board are doing what we think is best for our kids, given the knowledge that we have. This is such a hot-button topic and just further reinforces that at my club, we should not get a nutritionist in for our team girls

 

[Faith]

Also one persons idea of "junk" might not be anothers.

A lot of calorie dense food these days is called junk. Increasingly carbohydrates are being demonised in favour of protein. All theories from the weight loss industry.

Margo's example of crisps, for instance. Potato, oil, salt. Calorie dense maybe, and hardly balanced if the child eats nothing but crisps, but not going to kill a child who otherwise eats well.

I don't think oreo's are unhealthy, no. Not as part of a balanced diet. Obviously it might be better to bake your own biscuits so you know what goes in them, but for an occasional, easy snack that provides calories to get through a workout, I don't see anything do terrible. No worse than a "protein bar" or any other packaged food. If I gave my child the equivalent calories in fruit her stomach would be too full to work out properly.