Home cooking: Notre Dame football players learn to ask, 'Alexa, what is sports nutrition?'

SOUTH BEND — Christian Gray, a freshman cornerback from St. Louis with a personality to match his four-star football talent, was rattling off all the things he’s learned about nutrition in his first semester at Notre Dame.

Six weekly offseason cooking classes with Alexa Appelman, associate director of sports nutrition and team dietician for Notre Dame football, has opened up a new world of dining possibilities for Gray and his fellow midyear enrollees.

“I went into Alexa’s office, and she told me some things about how I’m supposed to get healthier and how much I’m supposed to eat after (lifting) weights,” Gray said in February. “We’ve been communicating about that.”

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Suddenly, he stopped himself and made a confession about his love of Airheads, the taffy candy he gobbled constantly while in high school.

“I haven’t told Alexa about my sweet tooth,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I haven’t told her about that part.”

Hired last May after two-year stints at Mississippi (director of sports nutrition) and South Carolina (performance dietician) in the Southeastern Conference, Appelman has introduced the Irish football roster to healthy snacks on Tasty Tuesday (chocolate chia seed protein pudding) and Try It Thursday (zucchini pizza bites).  

Along with assistant director of sports nutrition Catherine Carbeck, who was hired in August, Appelman has organized popular theme nights (Italian, Fajita, Steak) for these aspiring, if sometimes reluctant, chefs. The duo teaches Irish football players how to whip up tasty dishes that will keep them operating at peak capacity despite their packed schedules.

There’s even a hashtag for social media: #FuelTheFight.

Now if Gray could just kick his Airheads habit.

“I’ll get so sad every time when I think about them,” Gray said. “I have a fat box at home (in St. Louis). It’s really, really big. My mom (Shonda) told me to leave it, so I was sad.”

He considers the blue “mystery” Airhead his favorite among the 16 flavors.

“That’s the greatest one ever,” Gray said. “I’ll just be tasting, and I’m like, ‘Ahhh, I can’t give this up.’ “

That's where Appelman and her fellow nutritionists come in. They were hired to help young athletes like Gray make healthier choices.

Here’s what other Notre Dame football newcomers have learned since enrolling in mid-January:

Thomas Harper, transfer safety from Oklahoma State

“I don’t know (who’s the worst) because there’s a lot of help going on. They didn’t have anything like that (at Oklahoma State), so I have been taking advantage and trying to learn as much as possible. I think that’s a good skill to have. Not even relating to football, just life in general. I actually just learned how to make stir-fry — a really good stir-fry. That would probably be my best dish. What protein? Steak. I’m a steak guy.”

Devan Houstan, freshman defensive lineman

“I have watched the cooking channel since I was a kid, so I definitely think I’ve picked up on some stuff. Just eat, eat, eat and eat the right foods. I’ve definitely learned through experience — the first week to now — how important it is to fuel your body and how important it is to put the right things in your body. Especially with how we weigh in every morning. It’s a good reminder to keep staying the course and stay on top of what you’re doing.”

Preston Zinter, freshman linebacker

“All the new guys have learned that (nutrition) is a huge part of our game on and off the field in recovery. Alexa has showed us all what we should be eating. Not only are our bodies going to change in the weight room, but just what we put in our body is going to help us develop: get bigger, get stronger, get faster and then also help us in recovery. … All the enrollees, we have study hall, so I have not been able to attend one of the (cooking classes) but I’m hoping to get out there because it looks like a lot of fun and some good food that we make.”

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Ben Minich, freshman safety

“I’ve always known (how to) eat well and eat healthy things, but (I’ve learned) what really goes into weight building, maintaining weight and just overall how to make yourself feel better, sleep better, things like that. I think (Appelman) has been really beneficial in that way. They always told (in high school nutrition training) to take your protein, eat healthy, but nothing like this. With Alexa, it’s a lot different, a lot better. We’ve had meetings with her about eating right and balancing out the carbs, the protein, the vegetables, the fruits and then medicine and your supplements. She’s taught us how to put on the right weight that you want to put on. I came in at 180 (pounds). I’m already up to 186-187 (by mid-February). They want me this spring at 190 and try to maintain that throughout spring ball and see where that takes me.”

Jaden Greathouse, freshman wide receiver

“There’s not one specific thing I can tell you I’ve learned about nutrition but I do know the whole different elements about how it affects your body, how it helps your mood, how it affects your sleep, just the daily things in your life that nutrition impacts that I didn’t know about. They’ve been doing a really good job of having me eat right. It’s definitely transformed my body for sure already. When I got here I was like 205 and now I’m probably at like 212. They want me at 210. I gave up Uncrustables. They have a ton of those in the Gug, and I was just munching on those. I was like, ‘Ah, no, these aren’t too good for me.’ “

Rico Flores Jr., freshman wide receiver

“I haven’t (attended cooking classes) yet. My schedule has been busy. My weight goal is anywhere from 190 to 200, but I have a lot of muscle. We just did a test, and I lost 2.6 pounds of fat and gained two pounds of muscle. I’m getting a lot stronger. I’m not going to lie. At Folsom (Calif.,) High School, we didn’t bench really. We did a lot of Olympic lifts, but here we bench. When I first got here, I couldn’t rep at 185. This past Monday, I did three reps of 225 (pounds). That’s how just (Matt) Balis workouts will get you stronger for sure.”

Adon Shuler, freshman safety

“I knew nutrition was important, but the way she tells us how much stuff and food we put in our bodies, it really helps our game and helps our bodies. Biggest adjustment? Probably the amount of sugar I was taking. I like Sour Patch and fruit snacks. Even though I have a good metabolism, it’s still not good to have a lot of sugar that you’re burning. That was about it for me: Just stop eating all the bad stuff and start eating more fruit and carbs and muffins. I’ve been eating a lot of spinach lately. I put it in my eggs all the time. You know it’s going to be good for you, so I’ve been eating a lot of spinach. (Like Popeye?) Yeah, Popeye. Yep, yep.”

Drayk Bowen, freshman linebacker/baseball infielder

“Cooking class? I made some steak and chicken and potatoes and last week I made another thing of chicken, shrimp and rice. It’s going to be super helpful. Not everybody has the money to hire a chef. If you know how to make healthy meals yourself, you can stay in shape, especially if you move off campus. You’re not going to be on campus every day to go get food at the Gug. If you’re off campus, you have the ability to make your own lunch, dinner, meal prep. That will eventually help you in the long run.

“I’ve actually lost five pounds of body fat and gained four pounds of muscle back. I’ve been able to lose and gain at the same time. I knew it was going to happen because of the way they make us eat here. At home we don’t have the same type of supplements, the same type of food that they have here. It was a lot easier to find better options for eating and snacking than it was at home. You can’t go just grab a protein shake whenever you want throughout the day at home. You have to either go to a store or a bring a bunch (of ingredients) back to your house. It’s just little things that you wouldn’t think about that actually make a lot of difference.”

Braylon James, freshman wide receiver

“I have not been in the cooking class yet. I haven’t really had the time. That’s something I want to do eventually. (Learning about nutrition) is definitely a new experience. (In high school) we had mandatory protein shakes we had to drink, but that was not nearly the support we get here from Alexa and Catherine. It’s just super different. Going in, having to take supplements, always getting a breakfast after your workouts. That’s something new to me. It’s super cool. I’m starting to see the changes. I came in at 180, which was kind of crazy, but that’s the weight I did want to come in at. When I came here, I was like, ‘I want them to put it all on me.’ Just clean weight, clean muscle. I just wasn’t really focused on gaining weight before I came in at 180, and now I’m at 195. That’s mainly muscle. They take our body-fat percentages. I want to say I’m 5.7%. That’s clean muscle, so it’s super exciting.”

Kenny Minchey, freshman quarterback

“Alexa is very good at what she does. They always have food for us. Breakfast, you come in the morning, you can get any type of fruit, some type of protein in before you work out, because that’s what she wants us to do. Right after we work out, they have shakes and smoothies out for us. It’s a whole thing, and then we go eat breakfast, but they have lunch up there that I always put in a bag, wait and eat after my classes. And then normally I’ll have a study hall, meetings and after that I’ll either grab food from in there or get some type of dinner. We had a nutrition meeting with her, and she told us what she wants to eat personally, so I just kind of follow that. I’m at 212 (pounds) right now. They just want me to stay around where I’m at. They told all the freshmen to just lean out because that’s all you can really do. I didn’t really need to put on a whole bunch of weight. I’m not the biggest, but I’m not like super small.”

Christian Gray, freshman cornerback

“My go-to dish is fettucine because that’s my favorite. Fettucine would be my food. I don’t know the ingredients by heart, but I write it down. Some of the highlights: I put a little spinach and greens in there, just to give it a little bit of something healthy, give it some flavor. I don’t put a lot of seasoning in it. I put a lot of veggies in it. I’ve been eating a lot of snacks, of course, after every class. I’ve been eating a lot of omelets for breakfast. When I got here, I was 172 (pounds). Now I’m 183. I gained 11 pounds already. Crazy, ain’t it? My weight for the end of spring was supposed to be 180. But every time I work out, it doesn’t go down. It just stays there, and I’m way over 180 now. My body fat (percentage) is really nothing. It’s 10.7%. I talked to Alexa about this. She said I have more lean (muscle) than fat. So, I was like, ‘That’s good, I guess.’ I’m good there.”

Follow Notre Dame football writer Mike Berardino on Twitter @MikeBerardino. Staff writer Justin Frommer contributed to this story.