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"Wow, this is tasty" were the first words out of my mouth after trying this recipe. I was skeptical at first, because it looks too healthy to be any good, but I walked away from the stove feeling like I had just won an episode of "Chopped".
Ingredients
This recipe was inspired by the flavors of fall, and for a warm hearty meal as temperatures are starting to drop. It's easy to shop for, I've broken your shopping list into two lists below to help you as you peruse the store. *Note: lentils are in the dry goods section!
Directions
Dietitian Tip of the Day: The meaning of mindful eating
A dietitian would give this soup an A+! You can probably guess why – this is what you call quality eating. No need to count calories; you can’t go wrong with the abundance of color, fiber, vitamins, and minerals (yes, you will find Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and potassium in that parsley!), all while including every food group.
Finally, your butternut squash (and lentils) give you a mindful portion of carbohydrates. I need more fingers to count the number of vegetables that have been chopped up in the pictures above – way.. to.. go.
Finally, the sprinkle of goat cheese not only makes my mouth water, but will help optimize your bone and teeth health coming from the dairy department. Disclaimer about Calorie Tracking
Calorie tracking is not for everyone, and if you find it to be too obsessive for your tastes don't worry about it, your focus is better served on mindful eating.
Part of mindful eating is being in tune with what your little stomach desires. Eat this soup (or any other meal) until you are satisfied instead of Thanksgiving full. The story of our lives will forever be that we need to cultivate a healthy relationship with food as much as we need quality, healthy foods. Why not start today? Related PostsWhat Feels Does Food Give You?The Power of the Purple PotatoBlender Banana MuffinsTrivia Challenge: Fitness and Nutrition
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I personally love trivia, it presents opportunities to actively learn about things I otherwise may not have been interested about. I also love working with young athletes because each individual presents different challenges and learning experiences for me as a trainer.
Their psychology and physiology are quite different than adults, and oftentimes as coaches or parents we forget how to be empathetic towards this. Here are a few questions related to you (if you are an athlete), to your athlete (if you are a parent), or an athlete you know (coach, relative)! Test your Knowledge on 6 Questions about Student AthletesAmenorrhea
If you coach young female athletes or are the parent of one, this is an important condition to know about as it is relatively common in very active athletes. Amenorrhea is the absence of a woman's period, typically as a result of frequent activity.
If you selected the option of "infrequent periods", you weren't entirely wrong, this is a similar condition called oligomenorrhea. Amenorrhea is more of a symptom than a condition, as it could be caused by intensive exercising, but also stress, physical illness, or extreme weight loss. It's usually not serious, but could be a reason for concern, as it may lead to a higher risk of stress fractures. It may also be a good idea to check in with how your athlete is doing handling the physical and mental stressors of practice, competition, and school! That's a lot to have on a young person's plate! Athlete Super Foods
I kid you not, nutrition is a secret weapon in athletic performance and beets and spinach are the most powerful weapons of them all. Spinach isn't just for Popeye, it is a nutritional bad ass full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Throw it in with smoothies (the taste is almost undetectable), omelets, soups, pasta dishes, or get creative with spinach muffins and other unique eats. Beets are excellent for overall health, but also have acute effects on athletic performance. Multiple studies have proven that beets, when consumed a certain amount of time before competing, significantly reduced oxygen consumption during the event. This means that athletes could run harder and faster while using LESS oxygen. One could say it is a natural supplement, that beet. the MILLIONS
The answer? 30 million! It's amazing how many young athletes we have across the nation that have raised the standards of competition not only nationally, but globally as well.
Luckily, we have hundreds of Universities, Colleges, and Junior Colleges across the country where the cream of the crop can continue on with their careers. The question for a young athlete then becomes, how do I earn a place on a roster and get my college education paid for? Want the secret? Show up every day, listen to your coaches and mentors, and work hard. Day in, and day out. Until that consistent effort accumulates into something dangerous in competition. Injury Prevention
According to an orthopedic review published in Pub Med Central, the majority of injuries occur at the knee, then ankle, then hand.
The ankle and knee joints are both vulnerable areas when it comes to contact sports like football, soccer, basketball, and hockey. There is no preventing accidental injuries like landing on someone's foot after a jump and spraining your ankle, or getting side swiped at the knee in a freak tackle; however, there are two key rules to lower your odds. 
The first rule, the stronger your muscles surrounding any joint, the harder it is for that joint to be injured. Therefore, strength training is a crucial component to any offseason or preseason conditioning program.
The second rule, is the lower you play during practice or competition, the less likely you are to have incidental contact mess you up. Imagine running relatively straight up and down and a Division 1 Linebacker dives for your legs on a tackle. Your chances of tearing your MCL, ACL, and/or meniscus just went up. Now, imagine you anticipated his tackle and crouched before he made contact, now you've just put your knee joint in a less vulnerable position! There are hundreds of examples from various sports that I can think of, but who has time for that right now? The moral of the story: lower is stronger! Banged and Bruised
I thought this was relatively interesting. The two most common injuries among young athletes are contusions and strains.
Contusions (i.e. bumps and bruises) make sense, but why strains before sprains? Well, come to think about it, kids are growing at a fast rate, and the growth rate of muscles has a hard time keeping up with that of bones, causing tightness. They also sit at desks all day in school, or crash on the couch in front of a video game or TV show when they get home. Sitting, as you know if you have a desk job or drive a lot, is just one example of real life causing muscle tightness, specifically in the low back and hamstrings. To combat the muscle tightness that occurs from growth and sitting, and decrease the rate of not only strains but overuse injuries, enforce a stretching program with your team if you are a coach, or spend at least 10 minutes with your kids every night stretching. This is good for you too, mom and dad! Athletes, at any level, NEED Accountability
All of the above traits are obviously traits that should be valued by athletes; however, the one that stands out the most to me is accountability.
It is purely my opinion, that the adults in young peoples lives in recent years has created a culture of young people who are more entitled and "soft" than ever before. We allow pointing fingers and excuses to be made far too often, rather than asking the young person what they could or could have done to better a situation or adversity of any kind. As a coach and trainer, I am not afraid in the least to call someone out when they are making a mistake. If I let behavior or actions that I believe to be self-limiting or self-sabotaging happen, then I'm not doing my job nor do I truly care for that person. That said, parents, your athlete's coaches need help! Here's what you can do: 
1. Be a pillar of positivity for your athlete
When they meet failure, which they inevitably will at some point, the worst thing you can allow them to do is make excuses or point blame (coaches, refs, teammates, etc.).
It's easy to do, but don't enable that mentality, it's how losers think. Winners focus on what they can control, and while they may be self-critical, they continue to focus on the positive and eventually come up with solutions through constructive thinking. The truth is hard, but sometimes feelings have to get hurt for progress and growth to occur, I would imagine that's a pretty tough conversation as a parent, but ultimately necessary. 2. Throw Your Ego Out, help them grow
I see a lot of parents take the love out the game for their child because they put so much pressure on them to meet standards or perform at a level they aren't ready for and thus can't yet meet (ego example: 'My child should be playing more/better').
Parents, it's not about where you think your kiddo should be at, honestly that way of thinking is too broad for sports. Sports are too much of a journey and process to have the focus be on the big picture, it's great to have that in the back of your mind (college scholarship, winning championships, starting), but those things will be byproducts of learning from their experiences along the way. Sports are great teachers of service, teamwork, confidence, competition, commitment, discipline, hard work, sacrifice, being a role model, and so much more! Help your athlete focus on growing in these areas and their performance and long-term opportunities will be a byproduct of their understanding! 3. Help them cultivate healthy habits
Healthy habits that are direct influencers on athletic performance are:
Having good habits in these areas will help them be more focused and give them more energy for school, their sport, and then life after! Conclusion
Cultivating mentally and physically strong student athletes is a unique challenge. There are many things to take into account, from injury prevention to the psychology of individual athletes.
How are we helping - or hurting - the athletes in our lives? What we can do better to help them become better young men and women? Or, if you are a young person reading this, how can you take ownership in your growth? Related PostsWhat I Wish I Knew As a young athleteMake Yourself An AthleteThe Mindset of greatnessRoutine Makes You a Mean MachineReferences
ACLM, M. G. (n.d.). Whole Beets vs. Juice for Improving Athletic Performance. Retrieved August 22, 2017, from https://nutritionfacts.org/video/whole-beets-vs-juice-for-improving-athletic-performance/
Adirim, T. & Cheng, T. (2003). Overview of Injuries in the Young Athlete. Sports Medicine Journal, 33(1), 75-81. Bailey SJ, Winyard P, Vanhatalo A, Blackwell JR, Dimenna FJ, Wilkerson DP, Tarr J, Benjamin N, Jones AM. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55. Epub 2009 Aug 6. Hutchinson, M., MD, & Nasser, R., MD. (n.d.). Common Sports Injuries in Children and Adolescents. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/408524_4 S. (n.d.). Sports At Any Cost. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from http://projects.huffingtonpost.com/ncaa/sports-at-any-costf
This recipe is simple, and so tasty. I advise many of my clients, and not just the ones on a weight loss journey mind you, to substitute at least half of their starch or grain (i.e. rice, potatoes, breads, etc.) for a vegetable.
The main reason being that vegetables have a higher nutrient density than their grainy counterparts, and the vast majority of Americans aren't getting enough. This is a great recipe to try for the grain for vegetable substitution! 
Now, I am in no way condoning cutting whole grains and potatoes out of your diet as many fad diets have made us believe is healthy, but the processed versions on the other hand, we can definitely live without.
Back to the point, by using spices to add amazing flavor to your food (in this case carrots, red peppers, chickpeas, and/or acorn squash), you will not miss the starch or grain you limited. There are several cultures around the world who have mastered this, one being the Moroccan culture, and Mediterranean region in general. Furthermore, if you are on a vegan diet, omit the coconut yogurt topping and chicken and you are all set! Ingredients
Directions
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