Your diet is the fuel that you need to perform. If you don’t eat healthily or if you don’t eat enough, you run the risk of burning yourself out or overworking your body which can be harmful to your health. The recommended calorie intake varies for each sport, so check in with your coach or a dietician for advice.  Because you are training rigorously, it’s essential to get a second opinion from an expert to help you make nutritional choices. Even if you compete in a sport like long-distance running in which it helps to be lean, remember that your calorie intake should be much higher that the average person’s because of the amount you burn daily. Always wait at least half an hour between eating and starting your daily training. Because athletes training for the Olympics sweat so much throughout their training, they have to drink many more glasses of water than the recommended eight glasses a day to ensure they won’t get dehydrated. If you are exercising intensely for several hours a day, aim to drink half your body weight in fluid ounces of water. Aim to get eight to 10 hours of sleep each night and try to fall asleep and wake up around the same time. The consistency is good for your body and will make you feel more energized. To get to sleep faster and feel more rested, try not to look at screens or watch TV at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. A good support system is an often-overlooked aspect of being a successful athlete. You will need friends and family in addition to coaches and trainers in your life who support your dream. Being an Olympic hopeful requires a lot of mental energy, so it’s important to have people around who understand you and who you can unwind with. Training for the Olympics is not only physically challenging: it also requires an incredible amount of mental strength. Keeping your focus while still taking care of yourself and maintaining your relationships with others isn't easy. That's why many people training for the Olympics try out a number of techniques to stay healthy mentally.   Meditation is also a good way to relax your body and your mind, especially when practiced regularly. Learn how to meditate through a class or by reading resources online.  Visualization, or imagining yourself achieving your goal, is a powerful technique that can help you before a major competition. Remember to always listen to your body and to your own needs. Many people aiming for the Olympics find it helpful to see a sports psychologist. The pressure of competing on such a high level is something that not many people have to go through. This is why it can help to talk to a specialist who is used to talking to people in high-stakes situations. Training for the Olympics puts you more at risk of injury than the average athlete, both because of the stunts that you may perform and the sheer number of hours that you spend training. Meet with a physical trainer who can do an assessment of your fitness and your risk of injury.  The physical trainer may assign you exercises that reduce your risk of injury for preventative care. Many athletes also find that having weekly massages as well as visiting the sauna helps to relax muscles, which in turn reduces the chance of injury.

Summary: Maintain healthy eating habits. Hydrate continuously throughout the day. Have a consistent sleep schedule. Have a strong support system. Keep your balance mentally. See a sports psychologist. Use physical trainers and massage therapists to prevent injury.


Use a large dry erase board to draw out the template of a classic Yahtzee scorecard. The scorecard should include all of the scoring categories of a Yahtzee card, as well as columns for each player’s or team’s score in those categories. If you prefer to have everyone keep track on paper, do it that way instead. The dry erase board is a way to make a larger scorecard to go along with the larger dice. The best way to mimic the shaker used in Yahtzee is to use a metal bucket. Make sure it is large enough to fit all five dice, even if they just barely fit. It works to use a plastic bucket, or another container, as long as it is sturdy and fits all of the dice. If you don’t have a bucket or don’t want to use one, throw the dice with your hands instead. Yard Yahtzee can be played anywhere, but playing in long grass may make it hard for the dice to land flat. If you are playing in the grass, it helps to lay out a tarp, rug, or sheet of plywood to help the dice lie flat when you roll them. If you play on a cement surface, laying a tarp or rug out keeps the dice from getting scratched up every time you throw them to the ground.

Summary: Make a Yahtzee scorecard on a dry erase board. Place all of the dice in a bucket. Lay out a flat surface.


Put 3 coffee beans in the bottom of a shot glass and pour 1.5 fluid ounces (44 mL) of sambuca over them. Use a long-reach lighter to light the sambuca on fire, then wait until the flame is low and blue and cover the shot glass with your hand to extinguish it. When the fire is extinguished, take the shot.  Be very careful when lighting the sambuca. Make sure you are completely sober and use a long-reach lighter for maximum safety. In some parts of Italy, this drink is known as Sambuca, ghiaccio e mosche, meaning “Sambuca, ice and flies.” Pour 1.75 fluid ounces (52 mL) of pomegranate sambuca and 3 fluid ounces (89 mL) of pomegranate juice into a cocktail shaker and shake them together with ice. Then, fill a Collins glass with ice and use a strainer to strain the sambuca and juice into the glass. Fill the glass the rest of the way with club soda and enjoy.  This drink is sometimes called a "Breezer Cocktail." Use lemon slices to garnish this drink. For a less fruity flavor, you can also use white sambuca instead of pomegranate sambuca. Pour 1.75 fluid ounces (52 mL) of black sambuca into a highball glass filled with ice. Then, fill the remainder of the glass with lemonade and serve.  This drink is best garnished with a lemon slice. Some recipes call for Luxardo Sambuca Passione Nera to be used in this cocktail, although any black sambuca will do. Fill a highball glass with ice and pour 2 fluid ounces (59 mL) of spiced apple sambuca into the glass. Then, pour ginger ale into the glass until it’s filled. Serve the drink with a lime wedge as a garnish.  Part of this drink’s appeal is its characteristic green color. Consider using Luxardo Spiced Apple sambuca to guarantee your drink has a pleasing hue. You may see this drink referred to as a Ginger Spice cocktail. Take a highball glass and fill it with ice. Then, pour 2 fluid ounces (59 mL) of cranberry sambuca, 3 fluid ounces (89 mL) of cranberry juice, and 3 fluid ounces (89 mL) of lemonade into the glass. Gently stir the ingredients together for a few seconds and serve.  Use lime slices to garnish this drink. If this cocktail is too sweet for you, try making it with white sambuca instead of cranberry sambuca.
Summary: Try a simple flaming shot with sambuca and coffee beans. Cool off with a cocktail made from sambuca and pomegranate juice. Mix black sambuca and lemonade for a sweet Dark Night cocktail. Combine apple sambuca and ginger ale for a flavorful and fruity cocktail. Make a Minx cocktail out of sambuca, cranberry juice, and lemonade.