L OCAL LIVING
District
13 DC
“I’m an athlete.
I don’t cook.” — Fred Davis, right, tight end
THE FRIES, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE
HOLD
SOURCE IMAGES: RICKY CARIOTI/ THE WASHINGTON POST (FRED DAVIS), THE WASHINGTON POST (ASPARAGUS)
Now, Portis eats plenty of lean protein and vegetables, such as a garden salad topped with Cajun shrimp and chicken, served with oven-roasted wild mushroom chicken (with a sauce made from chicken stock reduction and no flour, cream or butter). And, yes, he’s also come to enjoy Stevenson’s broccoli, which is cooked in homemade chicken stock until it’s tender, then seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and cracked black pepper. That’s more palatable to Portis than the al dente broccoli he thought was the norm. Once Portis started eating
Stevenson’s food, the athlete admits, “I started to feel better. Every time I tried to cheat and eat fast food, I had a [bad] reaction.” He felt sluggish and lacking in energy. Now, as he begins his seventh season with the Redskins 13 pounds lighter than last year, he says, “I really don’t have the urge for fast food anymore.”
The team nutritionist During football season, a
National Football League player needs 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day, Jakubczak says. Of course, “a 200-pound player needs less food than a 350-pound player.” The proportions of food groups remain the same, while portions vary according to body size. About two-thirds of the NFL teams, including the Baltimore Ravens, employ nutritionists to help with these issues, says Jakubczak. Her part-time job also involves working with the strength and conditioning coaches to help players achieve and maintain optimal body mass. That generally means building lean muscle and keeping body fat to a minimum, which makes a player “quicker and stronger on the field,” she says. To help players navigate the food choices at work, the team kitchen uses a traffic-light system, which labels foods with green, yellow and red symbols, with
green indicating the most healthful choices and red the ones that should be sampled sparingly, if at all. Jakubczak also
supports players through injury recovery and repair. “Nutrition plays an integral role in bringing down inflammation,” she says. The teams’ head strength and conditioning coach, Ray Wright, agrees. “When you lift or practice or do anything physical like that, any type of workout like that, tissues are broken down — you tear tissue,” he said in an e-mail. “Nutrition aids in the recovery of that tissue. It also aids in getting you ready for the next practice. We’re always worried about the next practice or the next game.”
Extra help for players
Wright and Jakubczak are happy to see Portis and other players hire private chefs, especially because they’re served only breakfast and lunch at Redskins Park in Ashburn, and only on weekdays. Jakubczak appreciates the extra guidance a chef can provide on weekends and in the evenings.
Wide receiver Santana Moss, 31, is one of a handful of Redskins who has worked with Stevenson to control his weight. “I was 10 pounds heavier than I wanted to be,” said the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Moss. After knee surgery in the offseason, Moss couldn’t work out as much and was eating a lot of carbs, he said. Chef Mike helped him focus more on meat, fish and
ON WASHINGTONPOST.COM
Chat Redskins nutritionist Jane Jakubczak will take questions Thursday at noon. Submit yours at
www.washingtonpost.com/liveonline.
Blog For more nutrition news, visit the Checkup blog at voices.
washingtonpost.com/checkup.
Twitter Follow @jhuget on Twitter.
vegetables. “I lost 10 pounds,” Moss said. “Once I got back to practicing, I came down to the weight I wanted to be.” Jakubczak’s and
Stevenson’s jobs are easiest
when they’re working with the likes of Fred Davis, a 24-year-old tight end who, at 6-foot-4, weighs about 255 pounds. “He’s a foodie guy,” with wide-ranging, generally healthful tastes, Stevenson says. But, Davis says, “I’m an athlete. I don’t cook.” Before teaming up with Stevenson, he ate out a lot, enjoying various ethnic cuisines but also frequenting Ruth’s Chris and Morton’s steakhouses. He still eats steak, but it’s Stevenson’s lean rib-eye, served with Chilean sea bass, asparagus, saffron rice and salad. (When he allows himself dessert, he loves strawberry shortcake.) Like Portis, rookie Trent Williams — another Stevenson client — was big on fast food. What’s the top takeout choice for the 22-year-old offensive tackle (who, at 6-foot-5, weighs 318 pounds)? “A cheeseburger,” he said, “from anywhere.” “I knew it wasn’t good for me,” he said, but he wasn’t big on cooking for himself. Once he went pro, he decided that “if I want to be healthy and injury-free, I had to treat my body better than [by eating] fast food.”
Still, Williams admits he
sometimes splurges on sweets such as ice cream and cookies. “I can’t help it at times,” he laments. That’s okay with Jakubczak
and Stevenson, who encourage the occasional indulgence. Stevenson, who allows his clients aweekly “cheat day,” still makes Portis a version of the jambalaya that Portis’s mom cooks, using chicken breast and shrimp along with the traditional andouille sausage. “He won’t let me change that,” Stevenson told me in an e-mail. “He likes his food to have authentic roots. Also, his mother is an awesome cook.”
localliving@washpost.com
Here is a sample daily menu for one player, provided by the Redskins’ team nutritionist. It totals about 4,200 calories.
Pre-workout, 8 a.m.
2 cups of whole-grain cereal with 1 cup skim or 1 percent milk 1 banana
16 ounces of water
Post-workout, within 30 minutes Recovery shake or
16 ounces of low-fat chocolate milk Lots of water to rehydrate
Breakfast, 11 a.m.
Oatmeal: 1 cup of dry oats plus 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of raisins, 2 tablespoons of walnuts and skim or 1 percent milk 4 egg whites with vegetables 2 cups of mixed fresh fruit 16 ounces of water
Lunch, 2 p.m.
Turkey, roast beef or ham and cheese on whole-wheat bread with tomato and lettuce 1 cup of coleslaw or 2 cups of vegetable soup Apple or orange
16 ounces of skim or 1 percent milk Afternoon snack, 5 p.m.
Yogurt parfait: 1 cup of yogurt, 1 and 1⁄2
⁄2 Dinner, 8 p.m. 8 ounces of grilled chicken breast or fish
1 large sweet potato or 2 cups of roasted red potatoes 2 cups of cooked vegetables or mixed salad with an olive-oil-based dressing
16 ounces of water or unsweetened tea Evening snack, 11 p.m.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich: 2 slices of
whole-wheat bread with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 2 tablespoons of all-fruit jam 16 ounces of skim or 1 percent milk
cup of granola cup of berries
SOURCE: Registered dietitian Jane Jakubczak
THE WASHINGTON POST • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92