Lindsey Drake

          A few days ago I interviewed Lindsey Drake.  She is a high level college athlete and has learned a lot about needing to be healthy.  She is an amazing athlete and wants people everywhere to learn that eating healthy and exercising make a huge impact on your life.  Below is the interview I had with her, I hope you guys learn something new from it!

 Q: When did you decide you needed to start changing your unhealthy habits?

A: I decided in my senior year of high school.  I knew that if I wanted a scholarship I needed to do everything I could to be a great athlete.

Q: What made you decide to do that?

A: My coach, family, and nutrition teacher.  They were always teaching things about health and that got me excited about eating healthier.  For example my coach would say that we would need to eat protein after we workout, then my nutrition would teach us a recipe with lots of protein in it.  Those type of things were so cool and I started doing them.

Q: What was the hardest part of the switch from eating unhealthy to eating healthy? Why?

A: The hardest part of the switch for me was not eating chocolate.  I love chocolate and it was really hard for me, but now instead of it being an everyday sweet it's a once month sweet.  Now it's lot more special to me now, and it's more enjoyable.

Q: When you eat unhealthy how does it make you feel?

A: When I eat unhealthy I feel sluggish and tired and just not happy, because once you go from that feeling of eating healthy to unhealthy it makes you literately sick to your stomach eat unhealthy. 

Q: What are some tips on making the switch as easy as possible?

A: Start by never buying those unhealthy foods again.  It ends up saving time and money when you don't go through the unhealthy isles in the store.  Then start cutting out one thing at a time.  For example I started by saying every Sunday what food or drink I am never going to eat or drink again or limit.  The first week I  said, "I am never going to drink soda again." Then it's like dominoes from there.

Q: Did you start exercising when you started eating healthier or before that? Why?

A: I had actually been exercising before I started eating healthy, because I thought that was all there was to it.  I thought that all you need to do is exercise.  Then I learned in my nutrition class that your body needs nutrients to help you exercise and  to function properly. So when I started eating healthier the change was incredible.

Q: What  are some quick and easy exercises?
A: Any exercise that does not require equipment are the easiest and super quick.  For example jumping jacks, crunches, sit-ups, and push-ups are all forms of exercises that do not requiere any equipment.  There are so many to do and if you keep moving and changing what exercise you do for at least ten minutes a day, the change is incredible.  You'll be stronger, happier, and in-shape.

Q: What is the best thing to do after a workout?

A: The best thing to do after a workout is to take care of your injuries and eat something with lots of protein.  You want your muscles to recover after a workout and when you eat protein it replenishes your muscles, because during the workout parts of your muscle break off and protein fixes that.  You care for your injuries, because you want them to get better not worse?

Q: Does being an athlete have advantages to help stay healthier?

A: Athletes have a huge advantage over other people, because they have the pressure that if they aren't  on their a game they're going to lose".  So they have lots of motivation and if they don't have that then they are not going to do well as an athlete.

Q: How does a team help each other to stay healthy?

A: We help each other with encouragement and a little bit of competition.  My team, for example, will have competitions on who can go the longetst without sweets or who can  visit the gym the most and even who can do push-ups the longest.

Q: How could people at home have that same kind of encouragement?
A: They can get through their friends and family.  If they don't have any friends or family they can find a trainer, coach, ect. who will help them stay on their a game.

Q: What are some temptations that tempt you when you go home?

A: The biggest one is over eating during the holidays and avoiding they candy cupboard.  It's super hard when something you love is right there in front of you and you can't have one bite.  It is also hard when your family says one more bite won't hurt, but eventually they will all learn one way or another.  For me avoiding that was difficult, but I found ways to avoid those problems like hiding the candy so no one could find it and standing my ground.