Podcast #3

This episode of "Why We Eat" explores the eating habits of student athletes at Notre Dame. The guest, Phil, discusses the role of food in boxing, including the need for fuel and the practice of cutting weight. He also talks about how the demanding nature of boxing affects his mood and social interactions while eating. In the offseason, Phil focuses on fueling his body and indulging in his favorite foods. Overall, food plays a significant role in the lives of student athletes at Notre Dame. Welcome back to episode number three of why we eat. I'm your host Will Guarino and today We are diving deeper once again into the distinct eating groups at Notre Dame and we are looking at a student athlete today We're looking at my good friend Phil a two-time bengal bouts finalist and a one-time champion an absolute beast in the ring Phil Introduce yourself to the crowd, please. What's up? Why we podcast? My name is Phil Paulus. I'm a sophomore here at Notre Dame I started boxing my junior year of high school and then stuck with it joined the club here at Notre Dame and Thanks to Will's intro as you know, I've been relatively successful and Eating has played a big part in those being extremely modest here. He is an absolute beast in the ring Like I said, and of course with boxing there's out accolades Phil has but there's a lot of work that goes in behind the scenes Not just working out but eating specifically Phil. Do you mind kind of detailing why I say that? Yeah, sure So boxing is an extremely physically demanding sport. There is a mental aspect of it, but Everybody you go against is going to be as prepared as possible Especially in a great institution like Notre Dame where many of the kids know that we take a lot of things seriously and we don't mess around Um, so eating plays a big role obviously in boxing because food is fuel As boxing is physically demanding Everybody is doing the fangleboss practices, which can be five to even six times a week But kids are also doing their own workouts. They're getting the road work in to be in tip-top shape To step in the ring and hopefully get their hands raised Yeah, I love to hear that Phil so I know you're talking about the demanding Fuel food is fuel, but when it comes to boxing in particular eating plays a specific role Can you talk about the cutting aspect of boxing and how that has impacted your relationship with food? Absolutely. Yeah, that's a great question. Um, so obviously the club tries to stay away from Significant weight cuts in boxing, but because Notre Dame is by nature extremely competitive Kids are still going to do it because it does give you an advantage The way that food comes into play with that is Basically for at least a month before you step into the ring Basically, all we're eating is chicken broccoli and rice And on top of that with all the workouts that we're doing There's really no room for error you have to make way to box and You have to be in the best shape possible to survive those three rounds, but you're gonna be feel like the longest One to two minutes of your life. Yeah, so thank you so much for that. That was incredibly Insightful, so I have another question for you for me and for many people in that area I assume most of my listeners you go into the dining hall you go into wherever you're eating. It's always an enjoyable experience You're eating food may not be healthy, but you're having a good time. Can you talk about maybe your mood while eating did it affect any? Relationships with like did you not feel like you could be as present in conversations at the dining hall? Maybe you didn't feel like you could be involved with friends eating in those circumstances. Can you maybe dive in that a little bit? So the first way that that plays into a factor you're definitely not going to be in the best mood Just from all the work physically and also academically that you're putting in today And that you're naturally on a core deficit, so you are gonna be pretty moody, but also the fact that Practices during season end at like 7 p.m.. And Purcell is a long way away So we're getting back to the dining hall at like 7 30 8 p.m. We're not many not many Buccaneers are are eating at that time. That's number one and how it affects The mood that is already gonna be pretty poor also what we're eating Isn't necessarily the most taste Tasty food chicken broccoli rice has said before pretty bland Yeah, so all those come into a perfect storm of just sacrifice and just reminding yourself of why you're doing Yeah, I know that totally makes sense Thank you so much for that Phil and now that when you're in the offseason for boxing So my listeners here when you're in season Phil's focusing more on fueling his body to fight He's focusing a bit on the cutting when it comes to that point But in the offseason does your relationship with food or others change can you speak to that a little bit? Yeah? so After as Bengal baths is concluded. I'm going on a bit of a bulk for the summer So I've just been I've been indulging in all my all my favorite foods while also Working out consistently not changing that aspect, but just not taking Would you say your mood has changed now that you can indulge in your favorite foods Maybe be more present in the activities regarding food a cookout a good dining hall meal going out to pizza and whatnot Would you say your moods improved at all or just you love bangle about so much that it's all worth That's a good question actually I'd say my mood has definitely gotten better Because and now I can I can go kind of when I want to I can go to dinner at my leisure with the boys Yeah, for sure. I can eat what I want relatively and Yeah, I can go out have a good time with the boys but That all kind of comes to a close. I'd say after the summer You know when I feel like I feel like I've had my fun and it's time to walk back in again Yeah, well, that's what it makes sense Phil. Thank you so much for joining the podcast today Listeners, I hope you had a great time on the final episode of why we eat And I hope you learned something about eating culture in Notre Dame. Thank you for listening