Hi friends!
If you’ve been following along for a while now, you know most of my posts are directed towards specific scenarios of when fueling might feel hard. I’ve decided to go this direction because fueling the young athlete can be really tough for a variety of reasons and it can be hard for a variety of people - the parent, the coach, the AT, the PT or the athletes themselves. There is a lot that goes into optimally fueling a high-level athlete and different factors to think about in each stage and season of sport, of school and of growth and development. These are unique young people with unique needs, unique food preferences, unique thoughts and feelings about their bodies and unique thoughts and feelings about food. Whew, so, where the heck do we even start when it comes to fueling our young athletes? Do we focus on meal composition? Do we talk about macros? Do we talk about micros? Do we focus on timing? Do we follow a popular diet trend? Do we talk about body image? There are a lot of equally important topics to discuss, so what takes priority?
Having worked in pediatric nutrition for 12+ years, working with young athletes and their families for 6+ years, and having been a competitive athlete myself growing up, I recently took a step back and started to think, “Out of all the discussions I’ve had and information I’ve shared, if I could give parents / caregivers of young athletes and young athletes, themselves, any initial advice, what would it be?” It felt like a big question to ask myself. So, I created some quiet space to sit and think about past consults, team talks, conferences, and Q&A sessions. I reflected on (1) what topics I brought up the most (2) what topics parents or athletes may have brought up the most and (3) where many of my athletes end up starting, regardless of the reason they are there to see me. I brainstormed and took notes and landed on what I think is a really great place for young athletes to start. Then, I went one step further, allowing myself to do something I love, and that is create, and compiled all of that content into a new free product! I’m excited to say that I now have a new resource that you can download for free that offers an initial checklist to go through to see if your athlete is on the right track to good performance, good health and preventing nutrition-related injuries along the way. I know, of course, other people out there may have different thoughts or opinions but this is what I believe is a great start, based on my years and years of clinical practice, my years of professional supervision in eating disorders and sports nutrition, the professional development I’ve completed to maintain my RD and licensure and the research journals I’ve consumed.
So, here it is! I’m really excited to finally be able to offer something like this to readers, followers and clients. I hope you find it helpful! As always, feel free to reach out to me any time with questions by commenting on this post below or sending me a DM over on Instagram (@taylormorrisonRD).
Your Getting Started Guide!
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Much loved and a well-fueled athlete,
Taylor
Oh! and one more thing…
Did you read my last post or see my social media posts about my new Small Group Parent Chats (virtual or in-person)? If so, we use this Getting Started Guide as our starting place and then jump into more detail or onto totally new topics from there! If you read about this offering and think you’re interested in joining a small group or you have a group of 7 or so parents that want to do this, reach out to let me know and I can answer any questions you have or we can go ahead and work on getting a chat scheduled!