Introducing the Ending Underfueling Course!

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while since we’ve had a new article on the blog, but that is because I’ve been working EXTREMELY hard on something that I think can be valuable to many of you. It’s the Ending Underfueling Course and it’s out now!

If you have been following me for a while, you know that I talk a lot about underfueling in sport. And I talk about it because I have SEEN it and seen what it does to so many promising young athletes. I have worked solely with young athlete for about the last 8 years and underfueling has been the underlying issue for so many of the athlete that have come to see me struggling with their performance, struggling with injuries or struggling with body composition goals. 

I worked in a Sports Medicine center for at least 7 of those past years and sometimes even I was surprised that underfueling was the underlying reason for their injury or performance complaints. I remember, in the beginning, knowing an athlete was coming in to see me with a certain injury or issue and I would think, “ok, I’m not going to assume this is from underfueling. It’s probably something else”. BUT, after having our initial session and sometimes another follow-up, I knew quickly that the issue did in fact stem from the athlete’s underfueling. Even I, the practitioner, was surprised (early in my practice) to see (1) how rampant underfueling is in young athletes and (2) how serious and detrimental underfueling can be to their performance as well as their mental and physical health. 

With that said, I have worked with hundreds of athletes over the years to help them get out of an underfueled state. To help them see how much food they really need to perform, keep growing and feel their best. And, when we start, I have found that keeping it simple is actually very effective and appreciated by most of the athletes and families I work with. Many athletes that come to me have zero to limited food and nutrition knowledge. I like to start my education and coaching on the more general (but important) side, teaching the fundamentals, and giving the athlete a chance to offer their input as we start improving their fueling. I do NOT just hand a family a meal plan and say “this is how many calories you need a day” (not effective in the long-term, and for many probably not the short-term either).

Over the last 8 years I have loved working with young athletes in the clinic one-to-one setting, getting to know them, their sport and their struggles and help them increase and improve their intake. I have loved seeing the smiles on their faces when they come back to see me, feeling better in practices, reaching new levels, having better performances or finally recovering from an injury. It has been one of my biggest joys. 

Most of you know, however, that last year I shifted gears, went fully into private practice and decreased the hours that I worked in order to be more present and able to take care of family members. I am so thankful for the chance to do this, but when I made the shift I kept thinking, “There are so many athletes out there that would benefit from this initial information and coaching. I hate that I can’t reach as many young athletes anymore”. Then I found that, out of the athletes that I did work with in private practice, finding times to meet consistently was challenging and sessions got rescheduled due to sports conflicts. Now, I found myself thinking, “I wish I could just hand you my teaching so you could learn when it is convenient for YOU. At least you would hear what I have to say and could start working on some of these things on your own. Then we can troubleshoot and discuss questions when we are able to meet again”.

These two situations are really what prompted me to create what I’m announcing today, the Ending Underfueling Course.

What I do in this course is walk through what I typically teach the athletes that come to see me specifically for underfueling in our first one or two sessions. It is not an all-inclusive program where you will get all of the information about sports nutrition and proper performance fueling - it is very focused on this one specific topic of underfueling (I do have a comprehensive program that I run, if that is something you are even looking for). I have created the Ending Underfueling Course to be a quick focused resource for those of you with athletes struggling or who might be struggling with underfueling. It provides education on this term, including what it is, why it’s a problem and how much better we can be as athletes if we are playing in a fueled state vs. underfueled state. Then I dive into my initial coaching process that includes some teaching but also challenges athletes to start looking at what they are eating now, giving them a framework to follow to start getting where they need to be to be better fueled. And I provide handouts and worksheets along the way to support them. 

I decided to put this specific content in the course because I have actually had many many athletes come to me after just focusing on these action steps and tell me they are starting to feel and perform better and that creating meals and snacks and deciding how many meals and snacks to eat in a day has become easier and less complicated. 

SO, if this sounds like something your athlete could benefit from, please take a look at the course. THIS week is the first time I’m launching the course and because it’s new, I’m offering it at a huge (50%) discount for the first week it’s open AND I’m offering a free 20-minute bonus call for anyone that would like it after they purchase the course. You have the option to take the course as is OR, if you would like more support from me,  you can purchase a 60-minute session with me for a discount when you purchase the course.

interested in the course?

You can get more details HERE!

If your athlete has been struggling with underfueling, I would love to have them in the course!

Wishing you 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

The Building Blocks of "Optimal Nutrition"?

I recently got to speak with a high school cross country team to help prepare them for fueling well during their season this fall. I loved talking with this group. I was a runner myself growing up who struggled to fuel well. In fact running cross country is, partially, what lead me to study nutrition and become a sports dietitian. Nutrition plays such a big role in the performance and health of an adolescent runner. It also, I have realized as I see lots of injured runners in the sports medicine nutrition clinic that I’m a part of, plays a big role in injury prevention in this group of athletes.

In putting my talking points together for this group, I knew I wanted two main outcomes: (1) understand the VALUE of optimal nutrition for performance and injury prevention and (2) Understand basic nutrition fundamentals so that they can put together great meals and snacks throughout the day each day that support not only performance and injury prevention but also growth and development.

As I started putting my thoughts together I realized that what I really needed to define before I dove into any other sport nutrition principles was this term “Optimal Fueling” or '“Optimal Nutrition”. I mean, to me, it sounds pretty “buzz wordy”, right? Sounds kind of fancy, but what the heck does it mean? So, I decided to spend a chunk of my talk defining these terms and then decided that I really think this deserves a post of its own here on the blog.

So many athletes are starting school this week or next week or they started last week. And don’t we all want to make sure our athletes are optimally fueling? We tell our athletes we want to see them incorporate good fueling strategies, but what does this mean? What is the priority? Where should our athletes start? So, sit tight as I try my best to briefly and succinctly explain and put context to this term, “Optimal Nutrition” or “Optimal Fueling” from my clinical experience.

The 4 Building Blocks of “Optimal Nutrition”

1. ENOUGH food/calories/energy in at the end of each day

   This is the foundation of a good fueling plan for young athletes. If young athletes are not getting enough total food at the end of each day every day, they are (1) definitely not going to perform at their best and (2) putting themselves at big risk of injury.

   An athlete can be intentional about getting carbs and protein and fat at each meal but, at the end of each day, if enough food/calories are not consumed to support activity + growth & development, the athlete is setting himself up for injury.

   Injuries, like stress fractures, are serious and can take an athlete out of sport for months. These are typically caused by a number of factors, with one of the big factors being not consuming enough calories at the end of each day to support the basic needs of growth, development and daily life + the needs for sport and training. Getting enough calories at the end of each day is a big first step in the prevention of this particular injury.

2. Adequate macronutrients

   After focusing on getting ENOUGH total food each day, young athletes can think about the form in which they are consuming and meeting those energy needs. Are they including carbs, protein and fat? An athlete deficient in carbs is likely going to be a super lethargic athlete. The athlete could also experience moodiness, muscle cramps or hitting a wall during practices and meets. An athlete needs protein spaced throughout the day to aid in things like muscle recovery, building and repair of any little tissue wear and tear that naturally occurs after workouts, or preventing illness. Remember to space the protein in moderate amounts vs trying to get a ton at one meal.

3. Adequate micronutrients

   Next athletes can focus on those smaller but still very important nutrients. I typically focus on calcium, vitamin D and iron in the beginning because research and clinical practice has shown that these aid in performance and bone health in young athletes.

   One reason I tell my athletes to focus on whole foods vs supplements is because if we focus on the protein powders, the shakes, the bars, etc. we could be falling short on these super important micronutrients found in whole foods that keep our bones strong and energy levels up!

4. Timing of meals & snacks

   This top part of the pyramid, in my opinion, is like the icing on the cake. It’s really performance-focused. Once young athletes shows me they understand and can implement the first three tiers, then we get to focus on timing.

   This is where real strategy comes into play and we talk about how to build the meals and snacks and where to put them based on timing of practices, warm-ups, games, meets and performances.

   It’s difficult to talk about timing, though, when you don’t have a strong foundation and understanding of the first three tiers. And, when looking at overall big-picture performance and injury prevention for the child or teen athlete, timing is irrelevant if the athlete is not eating enough each day and therefore deficient in macro or micronutrients.

   Adequate nutrition timing will make the biggest impact in a well fueled athlete!

I hope you find this helpful as your athlete heads into a new school year and another season of sports. As always, please reach out to me with any questions or if you would like to schedule a call to chat about working together.

Happy Fueling!

Taylor