Sunday, November 30, 2014

November is National Vegan Month- Athlete Spotlight: Laurel Weaver- Women's Sand Volleyball

In honor of National Vegan Month, Fueling Bruins Nutrition Intern, Gayene Sarkisian sat down with Laurel Weaver from Women's Sand Volleyball Team

In the words of Laurel Weaver, here is a short bio on this amazing UCLA athlete:


Here is a little bit about myself. I was born in Santa Monica, CA. I went to high school at Thousand Oaks High School for my freshman and sophomore years. Then I transferred to El Camino Real Charter High School for my junior and senior year, and graduated in 2013. At Thousand Oaks, I was the first girl in school history to play and train with the guys varsity team, while I focused on my club training and college recruiting process. I ended up playing one year of high school volleyball and that was at El Camino during my junior year. I earned 2011 City Section Player of the Year, League Co-MVP, Team MVP, and First Team All League. 

Going into my senior year, I decided to keep focusing on club and signed with Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I played there for my freshman year.  After experiencing the environment there, I felt that I wanted more of a challenging and competitive environment. I transferred to UCLA to focus on my beach volleyball career and major in International Development Studies. 

 

My plan for after college is to play professionally in Europe and South America, and hopefully qualify for the Olympics. After volleyball, I hope to join the Peace Corps and work in Youth Development in developing nations.



Interview with Laurel Weaver

 
Could you explain just a little about how you became vegan and why. What do you like about having that lifestyle and being an athlete?

Anyway, I decided to go vegetarian in my junior year of high school.  Within a pretty short amount of time, I felt my energy level go up and I began to develop a deeper passion for health and nutrition. Moving into college, I became passionate about the raw vegan lifestyle. Although I support it as a long term diet, I have now evaluated that it was very hard for me to maintain as an athlete.  Keeping my calories at the right numbers was extremely difficult and it was also rare to feel fully satisfied after a meal. I will probably return to that diet following my professional career, but for now, I focus on eating a mainly high carb vegan diet.  When absolutely necessary, or if I feel that my recovery is suffering, I will supplement with a piece of wild caught fish or a some free range egg whites, but fruit and veggies are the key to my success.  I feel that it is the right decision for my physical performance and ethical views, and although people think that I have limited options, I am continuously being creative with my meals and fuel for success. 


What do you usually eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks and how much.
 Ex. Breakfast: 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup almond milk etc.


For breakfast I usually have a half cup of oatmeal with raisins, a banana, and chamomile tea with honey.

For lunch I eat alot! Usually a massive salad with 1 cup of lentils or garbanzo beans in it, another bowl with 2 cups of cooked spinach or kale, grilled veggies, 1 cup of grapes, a banana, 1 cup of frozen blueberries, and 1 tablespoon of raw almond butter.
 
 

Typically, I will have a mid day snack of either a piece of fruit, a green smoothie, a bonk bar, or an acai bowl.

For dinner I eat relatively the same thing as lunch except usually less fruit and more veggies, but I do like to eat pineapple in the evening because it is great for digestion and hydration before bedtime.


What do you eat before and after working out?

Before I workout I always have a banana. My bigger meal is always post-workout, which now consists of a smoothie from the Fueling Station with coconut water, chia seeds, Raw Warrior Protein (cranberry protein), a banana, and either strawberries/blueberries. 




Are you taking any supplements (protein powder, multivitamins etc.), if so please state the brand and name of the product.


The only supplement I take is glutamine which helps my recovery so that I can workout/train harder and more often. The brand I use is Iron-Tek Clean Performance.


Are you able to prepare your own meals?


I live on campus so I get creative with my meals in Bruin Plate, however I do have some easy snacking options in my room like seaweed, granola and almond milk, fruit, and tea. I also own a VitaMix so that I can make my own smoothies whenever I want.


Do you think you eat enough calories for your workouts? Is there anytime during the day you feel more fatigued than normal?


I feel that I am able to eat enough calories during week day training, but over the weekends when my body is recovering, my metabolism revs up like crazy. And I do have difficulty eating enough on tournament days because beach volleyball zaps the energy from your system due to the sun, sand, and the actual sport too. To take care of this, I am always sipping on a carb drink during tournament days - water with date or coconut palm sugar, water blended with bananas, or water with Scratch, which is a vegan carb drink coming from all fruit sugar. This helps me keep my glucose stores full, in addition to the other food that I eat to be ready to compete.

 

What are your nutritional challenges you could need more help with?
I could use some help with tournament-day food options to keep my calories and hydration up.

 

Are you allergic or have food intolerance to any particular food?

 

I am slightly intolerant to wheat and gluten so I try to avoid having those products.  My nose gets stuffy the day after and I feel like it makes me hold onto unnecessary weight. I feel that being vegetarian, with 9/10 meals being full vegan and gluten free is the key to achieving my peak athletic performance. 

 

If you are thinking about becoming vegetarian or vegan, talk with your UCLA Sports Dietitians- Emily Mitchell or Yasi Ansari

Remember, use Nutrition to Improve Performance and get the FACTS before making a change to your current fueling plan!
 

 

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