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Nov 27

Carlsbad wrestlers Najera and Fuentes share Thanksgiving diets – Carlsbad Current Argus

Diet Comments Off on Carlsbad wrestlers Najera and Fuentes share Thanksgiving diets – Carlsbad Current Argus

Matthew Asher, Carlsbad Current-Argus Published 6:56 p.m. MT Nov. 26, 2019

Carlsbad sophomore wrestlers Matthew Najera, right, and Anthony Fuentes, left, pose on Nov. 22, 2019. Both wrestlers made it to the state tournament last year and work hard to maintain their wrestling weights, even during the holiday season.(Photo: Matthew Asher/Current-Argus)

Despite the myth that during the 6-week holiday season Americans will put on six or seven additional pounds of weight due to the holiday traditions of eating more than usual, theNew England Journal of Medicine last year reported the number is closer to one pound of weight added.

A single pound may not sound like much, but when you're a wrestlerwho has to carefully monitor weight throughout the season, a one-pound difference can be huge.

Carlsbad sophomore wrestlers Matthew Najera and Anthony Fuentes, both who made it to last year's state tournament, want to enjoy their Thanksgiving dinners and make some special concessions leading up to the big feast to make sure they can still make weight before their next wrestling meet.

Matthew Najera goes for a takedown during the Saturday portion of the 2019 NMAA State Wrestling Championships.(Photo: Matthew Asher/Current-Argus)

Najera was named Carlsbad's most improved wrestler from last year, qualifying for the state tournament and came in 6th place in the 126-pound division during the final tournament. Moving up in weight this year, Najera's "walking weight" is currently 138 pounds.

Najera's plan for weight management is to add more exercise rather than alter his diet too much if he's trying to shed the final few pounds. This means staying after practice to either lift weights or go on an extra run before he eats a clean dinner, usually fish or chicken and a lot of vegetables. He said he'll eat food if it's been cooked with olive oil, just so long as nothing in the meal is deep fried.

Once Thanksgiving week rolls around, Najera adds to his workout routine to make sure he can enjoy his Thursday dinner. Najera said he will typically lose about four pounds of water weight after a day exercising. This allows him to not place any restrictions on the kinds of food he can enjoy, just the amount of total food he'll consume, he makes sure to always have one helping of stuffing with brown gravy, his favorite side dish.

"I eat full servings. The only thing I really stay away from is eating too much," Najera said. "I'll have a slice of pie, I just won't have the whole thing. I enjoy the food but I won't overeat. I don't have sodas at all and just drink a lot of water."

Anthony Fuentes (top) wrestles Kelvin Alarcon of Roswell in the 120-pound division.(Photo: Matthew Asher/Current-Argus)

Fuentes made it to the state tournament last year wrestling in the 120-pound division. He's now moved up several weight classes withhis "walking weight" around 140 pounds so he makes sure he can lose the two pounds required before any match.

His typicaldiet consists of eggs in the morning, whatever the Carlsbad High cafeteria is serving for lunch and a high-protein, high-vegetable dinner at home. Fuentes says me makes sure to drink a lot of water and nothing else throughout the day.

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With Thanksgiving this week, Fuentes makes sure to be especially careful with his food before Thursday and adds some additional exercising if he feels he needs it. Just like with Najera, he doesn't limit what food he eats, just how much of it.

"I'll eat whatever my mom is serving.I love mashed potatoes with brown gravy," Fuentes said."Afterwards I'll go exercise to burn off all the calories. I usually run a lot."

Mike Najera is the father of both Matthew and Marcus Najera and a former Carlsbad wrestler in his own right. He graduated from Carlsbad in 1995 and wrestled in the 138-pound division, winning state that year. He's spent the last six years helping to coach the current crop of Carlsbad wrestlers and remembers the entire team postponing Thanksgiving entirely when the team would have a weekend meet.

"When the kids were on the travel team that weekend we'd have to weigh in on Friday so we wouldn't let them eat Thanksgiving morning," Mike Najera said. "Once we came back from it on Sunday we'd have a whole Thanksgiving meal put together by the entire team. We'd have a couple of turkeys and the moms would make all the side dishes. We'd meet up at my house and have that big Thanksgiving dinner."

Mike Najera noted he's happy with Matthew Najera and Fuentes sticking only to water during their training.

"Soda is bad for your system," Mike Najerasaid. "It builds up lactic acid and makes you tired faster. No sodas. No carbonated drinks. Just water. Your muscles rebuild themselves on water. For food, your body takes a while to digest all the meats, depending on what it is. If kids are cutting lots of weight I suggest they not eat a lot of meat and eat more vegetables and items their body will process faster."

Mike Najera did say he's looking forward to his mother's cornbread stuffing with lots of gravy added.

"I did all my weight cutting when I was in high school," Mike Najera said while grinning and patting his stomach for emphasis.

Matthew Asher can be reached at 575-628-5524, masher@currentargus.com or @Caveman_Masher on Twitter.

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Carlsbad wrestlers Najera and Fuentes share Thanksgiving diets - Carlsbad Current Argus

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