When Timing Is Everything

You might be reading this and thinking, my athlete knows what they like and don’t like. They know what snacks agree with them. They understand the foods that give them the quickest energy.  

However, even after including those foods in a regular training schedule, they are still having struggles. Maybe they still end up getting shaky and light-headed by the middle of a game. Or they get stomach cramps mid-way into their race. 

To this I would say, “You’re not doing anything wrong. You just don’t have the complete puzzle put together quite yet.”

In my professional opinion, there are two big pieces to the sports nutrition puzzle:

1. The fundamental facts. Know which macros are needed for what. And which micros are needed for what function.

AND

1. The application of the fundamentals - the science behind digestion rates and how our body uses the food we give it to create energy for different types of sports. i.e - TIMING.

You can know all of the fundamental facts… what’s a carb? What’s a protein? What’s a fat? What is iron? Etc. etc. etc. 

BUT, if you don’t understand TIMING, the way the body processes the foods, how long it takes to convert those foods to energy, then the athlete can still be left sluggish, with stomach aches, frustrated or confused.

In my experience, both as a teen athlete and as an adult sports dietitian coaching others, I have found that this timing piece is often what may take the most, well, time, to figure out. Because, while there are textbook recommendations of how many grams/kg of carbohydrate should be consumed before, during and after activity along with recommended timelines, it’s also true that bodies are all very different. So while one athlete may need a particular snack “x” minutes before warmup, their teammate may like that same snack but need it “y” minutes before or “z” minutes before warmup. 

The timing of your meals and snacks are determined by the composition of the meal/snack - what is actually in it, as well as the portions in the meal/snack AND the athlete’s genetics. 

General macronutrient timing guidelines…

We know that protein, fat and fiber should be consumed further away from exercise because they take longer to digest and longer to be used for energy. The further away from warmup the meal / snack is, usually the more leniency you have with the protein, fiber and fat content. And the closer you get to the event/warmup, the less of these nutrients that meal/snack needs to contain, leaning to eventually entirely easily digested carbs as you get right down to start time.

So, for today, if your athlete is struggling with stomach cramps or upset, or shakiness / dizziness / fatigue before the end of events and if you feel they really understand the fundamental of nutrition, then I wonder if they should start looking more at TIMING…

Maybe they need less time between snack and event, maybe they need more time. Maybe they need more time but also a bit more carb.  Maybe they don’t have much time so they need their snack + a simple snack to have during a game / practice / event.  

Take a little time and play with timing.  It’s great if the athlete can get this right straight out of the gate, but it often takes a little bit of time, a little bit of trial and error.  

And a general guide to remember:

~close to event time = simpler carbs (no protein, fat or fiber)

~ 1 to 2 hours out = carbs + a little protein

~3 to 4 hours out = carbs + protein + a little fat, as tolerated by the athlete

If you play around with nutrition this summer and your athlete figures out what really works for them, I would love to hear about it!  You can always comment below, find me on Instagram (@taylormorrisonRD) or send me an email!  I’de love to hear from you.

Much love and a well-fueled athlete,

Taylor

Oh - and if this post resonated with you.

If this is something your athlete has been working on or needs to work on. 

Maybe they already feel confident in the fundamentals or maybe they need that education as well, you guys would be a perfect fit for my virtual live sports nutrition program running this summer!!!

want to talk with me more about the program to see if your athlete is a good fit?

• Book a call through the website

• Or email directly at taylor@taylored-nutrition.com

When Your Athlete Is Always Hungry

Hi there! Welcome to the blog where I do my very best to support young athletes and help them fuel when fueling feels hard.

Recently I had someone tell me that their athlete is struggling with always feeling hungry. I heard that and thought, “How have I not done a blog on this yet?!” If your athlete complains of always feeling hungry and you feel like you just can’t keep enough food in the house, you are absolutely not alone! I hear this often from the teen athletes that I work with. It is an uncomfortable feeling to never feel full or to feel satisfied from a meal for only about 1 hour and then feel ravenous again. I see this happen so frequently in growing high performing athletes with their multiple practices a day and long school schedules.  If this is something your athlete struggles with, then today’s post is for you. I want to give you a few nutrition takeaways that your hungry athlete can start implementing this week to help them feel more satisfied.

3 Initial Nutrition Strategies to Help Your Hungry Athlete Feel Full:

1. No skipping meals

   I would think this is a given, but you never know. And I know from years of experience that adolescent athletes can be regular meal skippers. Your athlete needs at least 3 meals a day, minimum, and if he/she is super hungry all the time, I would throw in a 4th meal, especially if it’s a season of higher training volume or intensity.

2. Consistent snacks

   Is your athlete including at least 3 snacks? Most of my athletes struggling with persistent hunger get more than 3 snacks a day. If your athlete gets 3 meals a day already, how could they start getting in 4 or 5 snacks / day?

3. Create variety on the plate

   What are the athlete’s meals and snacks made of? I think we often immediately think “protein, protein, protein” in the sports world. BUT we cannot forget those other macros. Carbs and fat are really big energy sources for the athlete’s brain and muscles. They also slow digestion.  

• Have your athlete take a look at their plate.  What is the plate made of?

• It needs to have a balance of foods that provide protein, carbs and fat. 

• Example: if your athlete’s go-to snack is a bagel, great! That is a great source of carbohydrates but, while carbs are fantastic energy sources, they get utilized by the body pretty quickly. So, let’s add some fat and protein by topping that bagel with a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter and maybe they need a glass of milk or a yogurt to go with it for a protein and carbohydrate boost (not to mention calcium for the growing bones)!

• Example: Or, maybe your athlete is drinking a protein shake for a snack.  While these do contain a lot of protein, they are typically very low in carbohydrates, calories and fat. What if you blended that protein drink into your own shake with banana and peanut butter for added carbs and fat?

Now, of course you have to take into account the athlete’s school and training schedule. If they can’t eat that many snacks, then we adjust accordingly. And if it’s a snack right before practice, we may need to leave that snack alone and really focus on ramping up the others.

But, these are a few “getting started” techniques to help your athlete feel more satisfied with meals and snacks and less hungry so he / she can focus on the other aspects of the day.

If your athlete needs more help implementing a nutrition strategy that fills them up and fuels the sport I have a few resource that might interest you!

• You can download my FREE Getting Started Guide to a Well Fueled Young Athlete

• OR, I’m running a VIRTUAL LIVE SPORTS NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR THE YOUNG ATHLETE this summer! It’s perfect for the young athlete wanting to learn the sports nutrition fundamentals so they can feel confident building meals and snacks and a fueling plan to meet their goals on their own. If you’re interested in learning more about this program opportunity, I encourage you to book a call with me to chat! You can also learn more details on our Confidently Fueled Young Athlete Info Page.

• Registration closes May 23rd!

Much love and a well-fueled young athlete,

Taylor

NEW! A Group Sports Nutrition Program Specifically for the Young Athlete!

Hello everyone!

I hope your Spring is going well. It’s my, hands down, favorite time of year :)

If you’ve been following along with me this year, whether via this blog or Instagram, you know I have been focused a LOT on this topic of underfueling. It is probably the #1 conversation topic I have with 95% of the athletes that come to see me because of an injury. Yes, it can be intentional but it is also often completely unintentional. Little changes in an athlete’s training schedule or school schedule or a sudden growth spurt with no change in intake can suddenly shift them into this state of underfueling. Underfueling can increase risk of injury, it can lead to poorer performance and it can be the underlying reason an athlete can’t build the muscle they need for a certain sport or position on the team. When I say underfueling, I can be referring to calories or specific nutrients or both. If an athlete is underfueling in energy (calorie intake) they are much more likely to be under consuming specific nutrients needed for growth, development, performance and injury prevention.

Last year I realized how, despite this underfueling being such a big deal, athletes and families are often uninformed about its severity and the risks associated with it. I know I was completely in the dark about this condition when I was a teen athlete. So, I decided at the start of this new year to do a deep dive into all different topics centered around underfueling, to at least help educate my followers and readers. And that’s what you will find if you look back through the blog topics from this year.

In the last couple of years I’ve talked a lot with athletes about how to eat enough for their training level, what nutrients to include to ensure best performance and help prevent injuries like stress fractures. I’ve also done a LOT of education on how to use nutrition to optimize recovery from injuries like a stress fractures but also other big injuries like ACL tears. I’ve worked hard to help coach and guide athletes through these long recovery periods to feel confident in how they are eating during this restricted period of exercise and help them understand how to create meals and snacks that will serve their recovery, helping them maintain muscle, build back muscle while healing from a surgery, and maximize bone health.

I’ve chatted with hundreds of athletes over the last couple of years and I’ve discovered a few things:

• So many young athletes don’t learn anything about nutrition in school (they might get a week of education from their health class)

• So many young athletes WANT to learn about nutrition and understand how they can use it to fuel their body, recover from injury, etc (many many athletes have visited with me simply to learn)

• While, of course, nutrition on its own is not the answer to preventing all injuries it is the driving factor in certain injuries, like stress fractures.

• And, while many factors contribute to an injured athlete’s recovery plan, nutrition can keep the athlete on track or it can slow their recovery down or make it a bigger hill to climb once they are cleared to return to sport

With all this to say, I’ve had this thought nagging at me for over a year of, “these athletes could really use a place to go to learn (1) nutrition fundamentals (2) key sports nutrition principles and (3) how to use this info for their own performance and injury prevention.”

With that thought, I’ve seen how my process of working with young athletes over the years has improved their sports nutrition knowledge, enabled them to implement this information into their own routine AND allowed them to see and feel a difference in their performance / health / recovery / etc.

That’s why today I’m EXTREMELY EXCITED to tell you that I have finally done something about it!!

I’ve created an EXCELLENT resource for young athletes (and their caregivers) who are ready to learn and ready to implement the nutritions strategies they need to perform well, prevent injury and more during these critical years of growth and development.

It’s an online group sports nutrition program geared specifically for the adolescent athlete! If this interests you, you can learn more HERE!

Want to chat first to ask quesitons and see if this program would be a good fit for your athlete? You can book a call through the website or email directly at taylor@taylored-nutrition.com.

I’m really so so excited to finally get to offer this resource to young athletes (and their families). I hope you can join us this summer!

Much love and a well-fueled athlete,

Taylor

It's Okay That Fueling Feels Hard

Hi Everyone!

Whew, It has been a while since I’ve posted new content here, but I’m excited to start getting back to it.

I feel like my content has been a little all over the place over the years. Helpful, yes, but organized, not so much. I’m going to start focusing on and creating my content around this fact that, yes, FUELING CAN FEEL HARD! It can feel really difficult at different times in the young athlete’s life. It can feel confusing and hard for the athlete and for the parent and I want to help. When it comes down to it, that’s why I became a dietitian. I went into the field of nutrition to help young athletes and it’s what I love to do today. I love taking nutrition facts and science and helping you and your athlete understand it and put that knowledge on the plate, in the lunchbox, and in the water bottle. I’m here to help your young athlete fuel when fueling feels hard.

So, today I want to focus on the fact that it’s okay that fueling feels hard! Sometimes I think that young athletes or even their parents are nervous to speak up when fueling feels hard. “It’s food. It’s nutrition. Everyone eats. I must be the only one struggling with this.  I feel like I should know this.” I get the sense that because everyone eats, everyone feels like they know, or should know, how to fuel their bodies appropriately.  However, to me this is like when I think about all of my finance questions.  Just because I spend money does not mean I’m a financial expert. Do I rely on myself to know all of the answers? No, I look to people with that degree, that knowledge and expertise to give me the guidance in planning and budgeting and investing that I don’t have.

There is the option to study and major in Nutrition for a reason. Registered Dietitians do very intense supervised internship programs for a reason. We do it to learn all of the ins and outs of food and nutrition. We do it because (1) nutrition can be complicated.  It’s not always black and white, and needs change depending on people, age, genetics, etc.  And we do it because (2) it’s not something you naturally will learn as you go through life, especially as you get older and your free time becomes more limited. I certainly feel just how limited your time can become now as a mama of two. We become dietitians to help other people with their nutrition concerns that have not studied it and practiced it for years and years and years and who no longer have the time to do so.

So, I’m here today to tell you that It’s OKAY if you don’t know all of the answers to your food and nutrition questions and are struggling with the best way to fuel your body. Maybe your athletes are finding themselves in a season where they are showing up to practices, they are stretching, cross training, sleeping, doing all the things, but still find themselves struggling. They are still finding themselves in a state of chronic fatigue, or with stomach issues during training, or plateauing in their skills and unable to make it to that next level. Or maybe they just can’t seem to build that desired muscle or gain that weight to optimize performance or get that new desired position on the team. They think nutrition is the missing link, but are not sure what to do, what to change, or where to start. I promise, if your young athletes are stressed by this, they are not alone and it’s something other athletes have struggled with over the many years as well. All of these issues were also going on 20+ years ago and are literally THE REASON I became a sports dietitian with the hopes of someday working with young athletes.  I was that confused super competitive busy teen athlete, struggling to improve and confused how to do it.

I say all of this with the hope that it encourages you to ASK. Whether you are the young athlete reading this or the parent of a young athlete reading this, I encourage you to reach out to a certified sports dietitian and ask your questions. Please trust me when I say, you are not the only one with that question, that no question is a dumb question and that you can get the nutrition knowledge and tools to make things better and reach those sport goals. If you are reading this and thinking, “yes, fueling is seeming really hard for my young athlete right now” then stay tuned for more posts and articles as I dive further into different scenarios when fueling feels hard and how you can help your athlete navigate these times.

If your athlete is really struggling now and you want some answers or help now before summer ends, I do have some new client 1-to1- spots available this summer and I would LOVE to chat with you to see if working together would be a good fit. You can reach out and book a free 10-minute call with me by emailing me at taylor@taylored-nutrition.com or connecting with me through my contact page or reaching out to me on Instagram at @taylormorrisonRD. I hope you found this content helpful today!

Happy Fueling!

Taylor