‘Dancing With The Stars’ Contestant and Bronze Medalist Stephen Nedoroscick Eats Ice Cream Every Night

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If you can think back to this summer’s Olympic games, you might remember some of the crazy sleep news that seemed to be coming out everyday, or perhaps you might remember some of the breakout stars of the Olympics. 

Perhaps one of the most popular breakout stars from the 2024 Paris games was Stephen Nedoroscick, affectionately known as the “Pommel Horse Guy” by most Americans. The nickname came on the heels of Stephen winning the US a bronze medal in the event after being the only male gymnast on Team USA to qualify for an apparatus final. 

Recently however, Stephen has been winning the hearts and minds of Americans on the Dancing With The Stars ballroom floor. On the show, Stephen has been paired up with professional dancer Rylee Arnold, and as of last night, the couple has made it into the finals of the competition.

On Shawn Johnson and husband Andrew East’s podcast “Second Cup” podcast, Stephen shared that every night he eats a “heaping bowl of ice cream, that’s around 700 calories.” (1) To some, that could seem like a pretty big nighttime snack, but Stephen has his reasons. 

Read on to find out just why Stephen’s been chowing down on a big bowl of ice cream before bed, and how this late night snack could impact his sleep.

Why Does Stephen Nedoroscick Eat A Bowl Of Ice Cream Before Bed? 

As it turns out, Stephen’s snacking habits were encouraged (and ordained) by his Team USA doctors. Stephen shares that last year at National Team camp, which is where a group of olympic hopefuls train to be a part of the olympic team. According to Stephen, doctors at the camp did some blood work for him, and discovered that while he was in pretty good shape, his bone density was a bit low. As a result, Stephen had to take a closer look at how many calories he was consuming during the day. (1

Initially, the team at the national team camp gave him “healthy snacks” and that didn’t seem to work out very well for Stephen, so he turned to a food that he loved, ice cream. In fact, his nightly ritual of eating ice cream, or other junk foods, to hit his caloric goals has become a bit of a tradition for Stephen. (1)

He shares that “every single competition that I’ve brought junk food to, whether that’s cookies or ice cream, I’ve done well, and every competition that I didn’t bring it to, I did bad.” Stephen also revealed that he brought cookies to the Paris Olympics, specifically Tagalogs (a popular Girl Scout cookie). (1)

How Could Eating A Bowl Of Ice Cream Before Bed Impact Stephen Nedoroscick’s Sleep? 

Unfortunately, consuming sugary junk food before bedtime is not a great idea if you want to keep your sleep intact. Granted, Stephen never specifies what time he’s chowing down on his ice cream, but it’s safe to say that eating a big bowl right before you hit the hay is probably not a great idea. Eating too much sugar is associated with worse sleep. (2

Additionally, the American Heart Association recommends limiting your sugar intake to 6 and 9 teaspoons (25 and 36 grams) for women and men respectively. (3)

So, as fun as it might sound, Stephen’s nighttime ice cream habit is probably not applicable for most people’s lives and diets, but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of indulgence before bed every once in a while as long as you are doing so in a way that is healthy for you and your body.

Sources

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S3sdgfdNMM&list=PLowgtdDqDUW3fRpM2IoYuxz_Q2dw7KfyN&index=1
  2. Godos, Justyna, Grosso, Giuseppe, Castellano, Sabrina, et al. Association between diet and sleep quality: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101430
  3. How much sugar is too much? American Heart Association. September 23, 2024. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/how-much-sugar-is-too-much
Mary-Elisabeth Combs

Mary-Elisabeth Combs

Mary-Elisabeth Combs is a Staff Writer at Sleepopolis covering all things Sleep news. Previously Mary was a writer for CNET, and she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in English. When she's not writing, she's probably knitting, reading or catching up on Formula 1. 
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