Soccer #goals: How to eat, exercise and live like the Houston Dash pros – Houston Chronicle

Greatness requires the right fuel.

Eating well, exercise, rest, recovery and mental health checkups are all part of what makes a top-notch professional athlete.

For Houston Dash players Haley Hanson, Sofia Huerta and Veronica Latsko, “healthy” isn’t a buzzword — it’s how they live.

Whether it’s waking up and chugging water, getting in extra work after an intensive team practice or cutting out meat altogether, the young women make sure their decisions on and off the field go toward the greater goal of being the best athletes, and human beings, they can be.

In celebration of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, our hometown players shared a typical day of eating, exercise and recovery and advice for nonathletes who would like to live healthier lifestyles.

What do you eat?

Sofia Huerta

Hometown: Boise, Idaho

Position: Midfielder

Age: 26

“I’ve been vegan for over a year now. I’ve always loved animals a lot, and I felt like that was the route I wanted to take. There are a lot of big-time athletes who are basketball players, tennis players, triathletes and marathon runners who are vegan, and they’re able to do it, so I thought it would be cool to see if I could do it with my career, even though there’s a lot of running.

“You need to take care of your body and recover, and protein’s essential to that. In the morning, oatmeal and smoothies are my go-to’s. Lunch and dinner are pretty much a combination of a lot of vegetables. I typically get my protein in the mornings or the afternoons with shakes and supplements.

“My favorite food to order is Thai food, so I eat a lot of curry with vegetables and tofu. I’m always trying to not put processed food in my body. The only packaged things I really eat are chocolate and protein (supplements). It is vegan chocolate, which can be good for you.

“I love mushrooms, sweet potatoes and cauliflower. I can’t really be picky and not like fruit and veggies. As for fruit, bananas, apples, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries — it’s all good.”

Haley Hanson

Hometown: Shawnee, Kan.

Position: Midfielder

Age: 23

“I always start my morning with chugging a ton of water and coffee followed by a super-light breakfast — nothing too heavy, maybe just some fruit. Going into practice, I focus on more hydration for morning training because it can get super-hot, and (water) will help me perform at my best.

“After training comes lunch, so I eat a standard protein, vegetable and carb. I always have snacks in the afternoon, like fruit, popcorn, something to hold me over. Veggies and hummus are another of my favorites.

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“Dinnertime is mostly veggies with a protein and carb. I’m more specific with what protein, or meat, that I do eat. I feel like it’s hard for me to get enough protein without getting a chicken or a fish.

“I’m a huge fan of anything in a bowl, especially quinoa-veggie bowls — broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts roasted in the oven with quinoa, brown rice or some type of protein. I like chicken or a veggie burger, really whatever I’m feeling that day and depending on how hungry I am.

“I like to keep it simple and get what I need in my body.”

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Veronica Latsko

Hometown: Pittsburgh

Position: Forward

Age: 23

“Essential to my daily life is coffee, so the first thing I do is make coffee. Since I’ve torn my (anterior cruciate ligament), I’ve been focusing a lot on different supplements you can use to help your ligaments and muscles. I put two scoops of bulk collagen in my coffee, and it blends in perfect and has a nice sweetener to it while adding 23 grams of protein, which is pretty amazing if you’re trying to get your protein intake up.

“Typical breakfast is yogurt with fruit and a little bit of granola. After any physical training session, conditioning or practice, I always have a protein shake with almond milk. After any kind of intense workout, I drink it 30 minutes after, which is the window you want to get your protein source in.

“For lunch, it can range from fruit to eggs. Again, eggs to boost up protein and add in avocado for your healthy fats. Later in the day, if we get hungry, we eat popcorn as a snack.

“Dinner rolls around, and I’m a big fan of Beyond Meat burgers, which are super high in protein. I’ll mix that with sweet potatoes, spinach and a bunch of other yummy, healthy vegetables. I don’t eat a ton of meat, but I do eat chicken, fish and shrimp.

“I love grapes — I can wreck a bag of grapes in a day — green grapes, red grapes and strawberries, blackberries, raspberries. I’m big on mangoes; they’ve been fantastic. I’ve been a mango addict.”

What are your workouts like?

Huerta

“Sometimes in a practice, you don’t get many touches on the ball just because there’s so many people out there. Sometimes, it’s nice to stay after because it’s just you and a couple other people, so you’re getting more touches and more position-centric stuff.

“We’ll stay after and work on shooting, which would lead to a goal, or crossing, which is when an outside player serves it into the box where we could finish a goal. And long balls.

“In our games, we can run anywhere from six to nine miles in 90 minutes. So, if you’re going to be doing running by yourself (outside of practice), you’re not going to do long distance as much you’ll do sprints. In our training, if I do anywhere from 10-25 extra sprints, I feel like I’ve done enough to make me fitter and more prepared for the games.”

Hanson

“We have pretty good high-intensity trainings, but sometimes I need to go on a little bit of a longer run, or I need to strengthen some different areas that I feel are affecting my performance. I’ll go outside for a jog or walk my dog or go to the gym and get some extra reps there — it depends, but mostly for in-season, it’s about recovery and being fresh for the next day.

“Even if it’s a slow jog-walk, nothing beats a good cardio workout. It’s the cheapest way, too, since you just walk outside and jog around.”

Latsko

“I really try to make sure that what I’m doing in practice is getting me ready for game day, and if that means doing extra soccer-related fitness when I’m on the field after training, that’s perfect. When doing extra crossing and finishing, it’s great because you’re getting your sprints in and getting touches on the ball.

“I love to go on long runs at the same time that I love to do fitness that involves a soccer ball. Our sport is more than running; we need the ball in our life.”

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How do you stay mentally fit?

Huerta

“I contribute to my overall fitness and performance by paying attention to what I put in my body. Nutrition single-handedly improves your performance on the field and also off. It’s important to fuel your body with the right foods because I think it can help your life all around.

“I have a lot of mental clarity, and I can also perform at my utmost physical ability because I am fueling my body with the right stuff. I’ve taken it upon myself to become more knowledgeable on what’s good for you, what you shouldn’t eat and what will help you perform.”

Hanson

“Just taking time for myself and whatever that may look like. Sometimes it’s spending time with my friends, my teammates; sometimes it’s getting calls home to friends and family; and sometimes it’s just being totally by myself, relaxing or doing whatever I need to do that day.

“I think it’s important to be in tune with what you need, and that changes.”

Latsko

“Before I tore my ACL, I was huge on yoga … to the extent that I really wanted to get my certification to teach it.

“There are a lot of mental aspects that yoga gives you, like breathing and trying to calm your mind and not think of the past or future and just being present, that has helped me a lot in the past few weeks. Being on crutches for four weeks isn’t ideal, but I’m super-grateful for the little steps and victories. Yoga has definitely helped.

“It’s something you can do every day. It doesn’t have to be a crazy 90-minute hot Bikram class. It can be a 60-minute recovery class where you’re learning different types of stretches. Once you get the hang of it, you’re just going through it naturally, and literally nothing is going through your mind. You’re just thinking, ‘Breathe in, reach the sky, exhale, downward fold’ and go through the whole pose again.”

Check out the Houston Dash game schedule at houstondynamo.com/houstondash/schedule.

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julie.garcia@chron.com

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