Blog Takeover: Meet Bery

Proper nutrition is needed for everyone from athletes, to moms, and don’t forget about the drummer at the local pub…... yes, he needs the right fuel for his show too. My name is Bery, I grew up in God’s country, if you don’t know where that is (you should) it’s the “Cowboy” state, after all. Other than blowing in the wind with the tumble weeds or working labor jobs there is not much else to do in the southeastern part of the state outside of sport. I think growing up a lot of us looked at sports as our way to go somewhere else and experience life outside of Wyoming. Nutrition was an after thought for most of my life. Growing up in a family of four boys, me being the youngest, I usually took what was left and went on my merry way. I now feel sorry for my mom as there were plenty of fist fights and arguing between everyone at the dinner table! 

I chased sports throughout my childhood dabbling in whatever sport was offered in Cheyenne at that time. Ultimately, I ended up spending some time in Texas playing baseball, had a stint in South Dakota where I began wrestling again and finally ended up in Colorado, wrestling, where I would graduate from Mesa and coach for a couple of years following my career. Wrestling tends to be a pretty brutal sport- I was used to it growing up in a family of wrestlers. I didn’t know any differently until college or even post college, honestly, with respect to the effects of diet and what was considered normal in the sport at that time.

Nutrition is what I lacked and looking back it really compounded and attributed to my injuries. I wrestled 135 pounds my senior year of high school. Every year in college I would crack the lineup at a whopping 141 pounds, not safe looking back. There were some off seasons where I would get to 185 pounds still with 5-7 % body fat, and then I would try to cut down to make weight. What happens there is that you begin to cut water, which isn’t healthy for prolonged periods, and you also begin to essentially deteriorate muscles and ligaments. I was the recipient of a couple of knee surgeries and a pretty brutal shoulder surgery. I strongly believe that proper nutrition, or lack there of, was a leading factor in those injuries. 

Good news is that there is now some type of monitoring of weight loss at the high school and collegiate levels. Yes, there are ways around them, but the sport is improving in that respect. That, along with more and more coaches now realizing the detrimental effects, both long and short term, and encourage wrestling at a more “natural” weight. 

Living this experience has made my relationship with food…interesting. On one hand I could go a few days without eating, no problem, and on the other “look out” when I get around a buffet! It’s an ongoing process and I’m constantly working at it.

As I have aged, I can see a direct correlation between the food I eat and how I feel, and my body uses the fuel.  In our house we eat very clean and try to cook almost all our meals. Utilizing unprocessed natural ingredients and meal prepping at the beginning of the week is the key to staying on track with any nutrition plan. What you put in is what you will get out! 

It is always important to keep a good balance with sport, food, and mind. So, don’t forget about the other S word- stress. Stress can lead to bad eating habits or even keep you from your goals. So make sure you take time for yourself and listen to your body it will tell you what you need to know, if you need to have a cheat day or enjoy a family event where you are not sticking to a strict diet you will be better off in the long run.

Don’t be too hard on yourself and have fun with it, nutrition is a lifelong journey. 

-Bery