Nutrition: A Key to Success

Since I hope to one day participate in the Olympics, I make sure I do things that will be beneficial to my development both as a hockey player and athlete. Health is one of the key ingredients to success and to living a comfortable lifestyle both physically and mentally. For me, it is very important and as an athlete, it is crucial I do the right things to ensure I stay healthy. 

In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I must ensure I consume the appropriate nutrients, especially those that will help me perform to the best of my ability. That is, I eat three well-balanced meals along with snacks every two to three hours before and after meals everyday. For me, a typical day would look like this: Breakfast – Snack – Lunch – Snack – Dinner – Snack. I make sure that I eat healthy foods that will give me the energy I need to train and perform. Also, I make sure that the snacks I eat have some source of protein. Protein is what enables me to recover quickly after practice or games - it helps my muscles recuperate and refuel. For example, a snack would be an apple, a bowl of yogurt with granola in it, and two date & oatmeal squares (homemade healthy ones). 

Nowadays, most athletes use protein supplements after physical activities because it is very convenient. Having to prepare a large snack with protein and carbohydrates and have to carry it with you everywhere when time is a factor can be annoying so it is much easier if you have a protein shake which equals the large snack. For example, I choose to use protein powder which I mix with chocolate milk or I make myself a smoothie and add some protein powder in it. Speaking of smoothie, many athletes consume smoothies for breakfast since it is the most important meal of the day, not only because it's the first meal, but also because we need a large amount of protein to be able to have the energy for the entire day. 

Though, with the increasing amount of athletes who are cheating to win, the anti-doping agency is regulating the protein supplements used, and as a result, athletes can only use those that are considered "safe" - approved by the agency. Therefore, it is important that we consume the right supplements as there could be major consequences if we do not. 

I could write a book about why nutrition is so important and how it affects an athlete's performance but I think I will simply finish by stating that most of the time success does not happen overnight. Instead, it happens over a period of time and comes from preparation, practice, skill, talent, determination, desire, and so on. What I am trying to say is that there are many factors which come into play, and all those combined, create success. One of those factors is nutrition. The more you take care of your body and prepare yourself accordingly for competitions, the more successful you will be...of course without forgetting about all the other factors that play a significant role. 

What makes us, student-athletes, so different from other students?

I hope you have read my first two blogs and have a better idea of what being a student-athlete is all about. This blog will be a bit different. It will be about some research I did when I was in Cegep last year. I wanted to learn more about the characteristics of student-athletes in a college setting. As a result, I discovered many things about my "true" identity and how it affects my everyday life.

The main characteristics that differentiates them from the non student-athlete population is the existence of two social identities: athlete & student identity. These identities are two competing identities characterized by the dominance of one identity over the other. This dominance is influenced by every day situations and experiences, and is also established by gender. I will only discuss how it is influenced by situations and experiences.

Unlike professional athletes, collegiate athletes are expected to take on multiple roles. Specifically, those of athlete and student. Both these roles require a great amount of commitment in order to constantly perform well athletically and academically at the same time. Often, when individual student athletes find it difficult to balance both roles, one takes precedence over the other – usually athlete over student. In fact, these roles are two competing identities. Particularly, they are a student identity and an athlete identity. But, individually, each identity emerges depending on the adaptability to specific tasks. Moreover, the identity that is most adaptive for performing well on a specific task will dominate since ultimately, one of the identities (student) is more adaptive for performing well on academic tasks, whereas the other identity (athlete) is more distinctive in the campus context.

For example, when a football player is writing a math exam, he will be a student, but when he is completing a self-rating questionnaire, he will be an athlete. Surprisingly, not all tasks carry with them a strong goal to achieve. Some elicit, more self-reflective thoughts and feelings, such as measuring one’s academic or athletic self-regard would suggest that the identity most distinctive in the social context will take over. Hence, student athletes have two different social identities which change from moment to moment, depending on the thoughts and motives triggered by ongoing activity.     

Enough with the long scholarly explanation…Now let me tell about how this research influences my personal perception of different situations. Ever since I found out about the two competing identities, I tend to analyze what identity takes over after a situation. For instance, when I have an exam, my student identity clearly dominates since I am in a “school setting” and feel like every other student in the exam room, although I do treat my exam as a competition/challenge. On the other hand, when I was writing my second blog, I related more of my thoughts to my athlete identity. It all depends on the situation and context.

Hopefully, this gave you more insight about who we, student-athletes, really are and how such differences affect our everyday life. 

My Student-Athlete Life

Being a student-athlete is never easy, especially when studying in a highly-reputated university such as McGill. I am very fortunate to be given the opportunity to study at a well-known university and at the same time, play the sport I love. Though, with such opportunity comes many challenges. Those challenges are not easy, but with great determination and discipline, they are achievable.

First, I will immediately say that every day, every week, every month is a difficult challenge. For instance, it is difficult to juggle both hockey and school, anyone on my team would tell you that. With practices 4 days a week that run from 1 to 2 hours long, and multiple games on weekends that often require long bus rides and late nights, its hard to find extra time for studying. Time management skills are something that all student athletes need to possess, and even more so when attending an excellent but challenging university like McGill.

While it can be stressful and exhausting to have such a busy and active schedule, there are a lot of benefits to playing on a varsity team. For example, I did not have the same fears that other first year students may have had about making friends and meeting people, because I knew I would have 20 immediate friends on my team! Many lifelong friendships are created through experiences like mine and I'm sure that in 20 years, I will still be friends with some of my teammates.

McGill Martlets 2012-2013

Another example would be the times when I may feel tired and not feeling like doing anything, especially homework, I still manage to find that extra bit of energy as I know that I am in the same boat as the other 20 athletes on my team. This will be beneficial when I enter the work force where I most likely would have long work days and additional responsibilities.

Some people wonder how I manage to get everything done while being so busy. Well, as I mentioned early, it is important to have the skills necessary to be able to manage time efficiently. I am a person who likes to stay organized and do my school work in advance so that I don't rush at the last minute. Though, what happens when I can't do my work in advance? In this case, I must make sacrifices such as doing homework instead of watching one of my favourite TV shows or even spending a Friday or Saturday night at home instead of going to the movies with friends.

That being said, being a student-athlete comes with many challenges and sacrifices, but at the same time, comes with unforgettable memories and experiences, and lifelong friendships.

First Blog!

Hello!
My name is Gaby Davidson...it's short for Gabrielle Davidson.

I will be blogging for the next two months about my life at McGill, playing for the Martlet hockey and my experiences.

#15 

I am a first time blogger...before my technology class, I didn't know about blogging. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I don't know much about social media technology. Anyhow, I will be writing a set of short anecdotes to familiarize myself with the blogging process!

Now, before I begin writing my next blog, it is essential you know a little bit about who I am and what I am doing at McGill. I am a first year student studying in management and am playing for McGill's women's hockey team. I wear number 15 - back in the day when I was 9, I wanted to become a professional soccer player and my idol, Kara Lang, now retired due to due injury, wore number 15. You might wonder why I am not playing soccer anymore....I am, just not competitively. Well, in my first year of high school, I had to make a difficult decision about which sport I wanted to play because being in a sport-etude program, I could only play one sport. So, after much thought, I decided to play hockey since I enjoyed the freedom and speed I felt when I was skating. I was much better at soccer, but I thought it would be fun to take on a new challenge and the sport itself requires very different skills than soccer even though the team concept is still present.
I love sports; especially waterskiing, soccer, hockey, horseback riding, skiing, badminton, etc. I have probably tried almost every sport you could think of!

Apart from sports, I enjoy travelling, spending quality time with family & friends, reading (if it's not for school), helping others, and simply having fun. This is just to give you an idea of some of my interests.

That's about it for now. Hope you enjoy reading the rest of my blogs!