Tag Archives: sports

Competitive Eating Grows in Popularity, and So Do the Potential Risks

The Olympic torch is still warm as many of us are still caught up in the spirit of the Games. The proof can be seen in retail, where swim, athletic shoe, and sport stores are seeing increased sales. We all have been inspired and want to let our competitive hearts seek greatness, too. But some aspire to greatness in a completely non-athletic, gut-busting way.

One event we didn’t see in London that will doubtfully ever grace an Olympic stage is gaining popularity at high rates in the U.S. That event is the “sport” of competitive eating. The roots of these types of events are nearly as ancient as the original Grecian games. A legend of a 13th century slave defeating the Norse god Loki by eating his plate is the earliest noted eating competition. However, in the U.S., these battles have only grown popular in the last 100 years or so.

NPR reported on their food blog, “The Salt,” that the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest on Coney Island was watched by 40,000 spectators this year. That’s up from about 1,000 viewers 15 years ago. Clearly, we’re intrigued by this gluttonous event many call “sport.” There are TV shows devoted to various food challenges, and many restaurants are creating their own variations to live up to the demand. (more…)

Posted on August 15, 2023 by Lacy

ElectricFoxy’s Super-Charged Garments Zap Your Posture and Workout in to Shape

A dog can be trained to stay inside the perimeter of a fence by wearing an electric shock collar. The moment the dog gets too close to the boundary it will feel a mild current that is intended to teach the dog to stop. With a little bit of discomfort as reinforcement, the dog will learn to stay in the yard.

While people are generally more intelligent than our furry four-legged friends, some still need a little help recognizing the perimeters of their own body awareness.

Electricfoxy is the company behind the high-tech “wearable technology garment” MOVE. The wired tank works in conjunction with a mobile app that saves and tracks progress and patterns of movement. Programmed with four stretch and bend sensors, the MOVE garment, which looks like a flashy space-aged tank top, reads the body’s movements and assesses whether or not they are correct based on the desired outcome. When movements are out of sync with the data entered into the app, the wearer will feel an electric buzzing sensation in the area that needs to be corrected, keeping the body within the preferred parameter. (more…)

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Jill

10 Healthy Recipes for Your Final Four Watch Party

Alright sports fans, it’s time to get serious about the Final Four tournament this weekend, and the food you’ll be eating during your playoff celebrations.

Just because sporting events can bring out our worst eating habits doesn’t mean you have to blow your diet while cheering on your favorite team. Leave the planning to us with this full spread of healthier-for-you dishes themed by region of the Final Four teams. And just in case you don’t know who this year’s top four are, the Kansas Jayhawks are facing off with the Ohio State Buckeyes, and the Louisville Cardinals are going head-to-head with the Kentucky Wildcats. Let the (healthy) games begin!

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Posted on March 31, 2024 by Dana

Yoga as an Olympic Sport May Jade the Practice as a Whole

New York is hosting the National Yoga Asana Championships sponsored by USA Yoga, an organization that wants to see yoga become an Olympic Sport. Rajashree Choudhury, cousin of the creator of Bikram Yoga and founder of the yoga pose competition, said the poses to be judged show “how someone can have perfect strength, balance, flexibility in the body.”

Aside from raising eyebrows as another unconventional “sport” pursuing induction into the Olympic games, the thought of performing yoga poses for competitive reasons is creating quite a stir among spiritual purists. Many believe the roots of yoga steer clear of the need to judge and the purpose of practicing is about acceptance, inclusion and non-dualism.

USA Yoga believes that an increased awareness of the sport on an Olympic level will encourage more people to want to practice yoga, and enable a larger population of people to be happier and healthier as a result. Not everyone agrees with this concept, however. Roseanne Harvey, a blog writer and avid yoga practitioner from Canada says that in most yoga classes, “what we’re trying to do is encourage students not to compete.”

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Posted on March 2, 2024 by Jill

Timberwolves Forward Kevin Love Uses the NBA Lockout to Drop 25 Pounds

Many were wondering if there would even be an NBA season this year. The player’s lockout lasted longer than expected, but the now shortened season is underway and fans couldn’t be happier. While the lockout was frustrating, it looks like one player took advantage of his extra off time to drop weight and get in the best shape of his life. Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love returned to the court nearly 25 pounds lighter this season.

Love played for UCLA in college and was drafted in 2024 to the NBA. Coming in a 6’ 10”, Love has always been one of the biggest players on the court. This summer Love decided to make some changes to his size for his performance’s sake. He admits he never felt he needed to lose weight, he just wanted to be a better conditioned athlete.

Part of that conditioning included changing his diet. Love relied on ZEN Foods to provide him with the calories and nutrients he needed during his intense conditioning. ZEN Foods is a meal delivery service. They provide tailored and calorie controlled meals for each individual. Love had each day’s food delivered at night so he could wake with a nutritious breakfast. Love explained how this took the guess work out of nutrition and he was able to fuel his workouts with high quality and nutritious foods.
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Posted on February 20, 2024 by Lacy

Where to Find the Best Food in Super Bowl Village

Sporting events generally aren’t places where you count on finding healthy snacks readily available. Lucas Oil Stadium does have some “real food” (I don’t know if healthy really applies) beyond nachos and hot dogs, so I was hopeful for real options when the Super Bowl came to Indianapolis. While there was not much variety within the Super Bowl Village itself, you will not have to wander far to find something that feels more like a meal than a snack.

The Super Bowl Village, stretching from the Indiana Convention Center to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (formerly the Conseco Fieldhouse) has plenty of concession stands offering chicken tenders, steak burgers, hot dogs, french fries, soft pretzels, Sweeties gourmet treats, Frito Lay chips, candy, hot cider, coffee, hot chocolate, cappuccino, Gatorade, water, and Pepsi products.

Inside the Indiana Convention Center, which houses the NFL Experience, additional options include Lipton tea, fruit juice, popcorn, whole fresh fruit, Lay’s Potato Chips, Snickers, M&M’s, yogurt, turkey caesar sandwiches, Italian grinder sandwiches, roast beef sandwiches, grilled veggie sandwiches, chicken caesar salad, tossed garden salad. burgers, BBQ pork sandwiches, and tenderloin sandwiches.

Deeper in the NFL Experience, near the memorabilia show and autograph stage, Pepsi Max and Doritos each has an exhibit with free samples, contests, and games. Considering the long lines seen in the NFL Play 60 Game Zone, attendees could have very positive feelings about these exhibits.

Luckily, not far from there in the maze of the NFL Experience, the “Sandwich Zone” offers carved turkey and carved beef for sandwiches with several topping options. They also have candy, soda, water, Gatorade, and Lipton Tea.

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Posted on January 31, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

Eat Like Tim Tebow: Professionals Weigh in on Football Pros’ Diets

Tim Tebow, quarterback of the Denver Broncos, is one of the most talked-about NFL players this season. While sports commentators have questioned Tebow’s abilities as a quarterback, others have wondered exactly what it takes to stay in peak shape as a professional football player. For many professional athletes, including Tebow, maintaining an athletic physique is not something that comes naturally but is a result of years of dedication to strength training, cardiovascular exercise and maintaining a healthy balanced diet.

Though Tebow’s autobiography Through My Eyes states that he was raised on “Coke and Popsicles” at his uncle’s farm, it is unlikely that he maintains a high-sugar diet today.

“Every athlete will have different needs, but typically you’d like your athlete to eat cleanly all year long,” said New York-based performance coach Chris Matsui, who has worked with high-level athletes including the Carolina Panthers.  “A football player’s diet shouldn’t change drastically in the week before a game, but what they specifically eat is dependent on their individual needs and food allergies or intolerances.”

For most of his clients, Matsui recommends fueling with plenty of lean meat (fish and chicken), healthy fats (avocado and nuts), fruit (blueberries and strawberries), vegetables (kale, broccoli and spinach) and complex carbohydrates (quinoa or brown rice).

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Posted on January 13, 2024 by Maris

Winter Classic 2024 Recipe Playbook

Whether you are rooting for the New York Rangers or the Philadelphia Flyers in this season’s Winter Classic it is sure to bring the unhealthy snacks out of hiding. Sports gatherings are usually filled with easy snacks you can grab with one hand so your other is free for cheering, but try a healthy, hearty filling meal that won’t weigh down your goal scoring celebration.

The game time has been moved to 3pm EST, just in time for that mid-afternoon treat. Instead of filling up on chips, take the time to prepare one of these winter favorites:

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Posted on January 2, 2024 by Health Buzz

12 Healthy Tailgate Recipes for College Football Parties

This week marks the beginning of the college football season and after a summer of cookouts and picnics, most healthy eaters are tired of grilled vegetables and black bean burgers.

If you want to socialize without blowing your diet during football games this year,  stick to fresh, simple recipes to boost your team spirit, whether you’re in the stadium parking lot or watching on your neighbor’s flat screen TV.

As you plan your menu for the next big game, consider some of these healthy tailgating recipes – all just as delicious and crowd-pleasing as their fattening counterparts.

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Posted on August 30, 2023 by Maris

Vikings’ Bryant McKinnie is Too Big for Professional Football

Bryant McKinnie was a professional football player for the Minnesota Vikings. An offensive lineman, McKinnie signed a contract extension in 2006 that was worth almost $50 million dollars. It looked like McKinnie would be a long-term Viking, but he was recently cut from the team’s roster after he showed up to training camp, weighing almost 400 pounds. This is 65 pounds more than he weighed last year, and evidently, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Judd Zugland, a reporter at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, said that McKinnie’s weight gain was the “final straw” that allowed the team to dismiss him from their ranks. In the past, McKinnie has had several off-field issues such as being involved in a brawl in 2024 and was a key player in the infamous “Love Boat incident”, a sex party on a rented boat involving many members of the team, which was very embarrassing for the franchise.

In a sport where the players have to be big enough to clear the field for their teammates to score touchdowns and have to stop the other team from rushing the ball, shouldn’t bigger always be better? Surprisingly, no. These NFL linemen have to walk a thin line between being big but still athletic, and so overweight that it slows them down. It seems that the Vikings determined that McKinnie had finally gotten too big, and was no longer an asset to the football team.

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Posted on August 5, 2023 by Health Buzz

Patient’s Own Blood Being Used to Treat Athletic Injuries

When an athlete gets injured, there’s a typical protocol. The usual treatments include physical therapy and sometimes surgery. These long standing treatments have been effective, but they take the athlete out of their game for quite some time. Lately, a new therapy has surfaced and athletes and doctors alike are loving the results. Plasma rich platelet and stem cell therapies are new treatments that are proving their worth and looking to become the new “go-to” therapy for injured athletes.

Plasma rich platelet (PRP) and stem cell therapies are administered by taking blood from the injured patient, placing the vial in a centrifuge to separate the components, and then injecting the plasma or stem cells back into the patient at the injury site. The healing elements of the PRP go to work directly on the injury and are claimed to speed the healing process. Stem cells work similarly.

In a nutshell, the patient is being treated with their own blood for expedited recovery.

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Posted on July 22, 2023 by Lacy