Sports Nutrition
We are soaring into another school year and so today I am offering 4 pieces of back-to-school advice specifically for young athletes to take into this new school and sports season. I have found from my 9 + years of practice with young athletes that prioritizing these 4 things can help keep an athlete pretty well-fueled even on their busiest days.
I hope you find this helpful and that your athlete can include these tips into their fall routine!
Did you know that, according to a 2024 study, about 20% of adolescent athletes will deal with a bone stress injury? This includes anything on the spectrum of what’s called a stress reaction to a stress fracture.
To me, that is a big percentage, but it’s also not a big surprise when I think about the number of athletes I have seen with stress fractures in the past 9 years. In fact, stress fractures are one of the top 3 reasons I see young athletes in my practice.
So, today, I’m dedicating a blog specifically to this serious injury. Let’s dive in…
First of all, WHY are stress fractures such a big deal?
They are painful.
They can often be season - ending injuries, taking 6 weeks or more to heal, depending on the severity.
They appear to “come out of nowhere”. In other words, athletes typically don’t know the injury is coming or they don’t know how to listen to potential warning signs until it’s too late.
They can create very discouraged athletes because they take athletes out of their sport for a long time. Sometimes athletes also feel a weight of responsibility when they realize this injury might not have happened if they had known certain facts.
Now that you see the big deal, let’s get into the science…
A stress fracture is a type of bone stress injury in which the bone experiences inflammation and swelling followed by a full or partial break. Diagnosis typically takes an athlete out of their sport for at least 6 weeks to give the bone time to heal.
Stress fractures are known as overuse injuries. They occur when high frequency of load is placed repeatedly on the bone like with gymnasts, runners, dancers, figure skaters and rowers. And often there is also one of the following present:
(a) not enough time given for rest and recovery
(b) a nutrient imbalance or
(c) both an imbalance of rest and of nutrition
The typical progression of this injury looks like:
inflammation of the tissue around the bone progressing to
edema (swelling with fluid) of the bone itself (aka - a stress reaction) and finally progressing to
an actual break in the bone (aka - a stress fracture).
A stress fracture is an injury to the bone. Certain nutrients in the diet contribute to bone strength, growth and development. So, when there is an imbalance in these certain nutrients, it can put the bones at risk of injury.
Since we said a stress fracture typically involves an imbalance of nutrition, let’s first look at 2 most common reasons for the nutrient imbalance. I call the reasons either (1) a Primary Imbalance, one that was present prior to any increases in training or (2) a Secondary Imbalance, one that was a result of such a high volume of training. Let me share an example of each scenario…
Scenario 1: Primary Nutrient Imbalance
Jane loved running. She was a distance runner and had always been one of the top performers on her team. From reading various articles and tuning into social media she began to feel she needed to be leaner in order to further increase her times. So, her meals and snacks became much more rigid, her carbohydrate intake was restricted and she focused intently on eating clean each day, whether she was home, school or at a restaurant with friends. This change in eating combined with consistent training, and even increased training mileage as she got more serious, created a nutrient imbalance that could not support the constant pressure on her bones and body.
Scenario 2: Secondary Nutrient Imbalance
Mary had an excellent food intake at her level of figure skating. She had no prior injuries and performed well. In a short period of time, Mary moved up a level and with that she added in morning practices 3 days a week + additional off-ice conditioning classes. Mary didn’t think much about changing her diet because it had always worked well for her. However, the added training put more strain on her body. And some days, due to before-school practices, her intake went down because she had less time for a quality breakfast. This change in routine left Mary with a higher repeated work load on her bones and an inadequate intake of nutrients to support her body’s needs.
What Nutrients Should You Focus On?
Regardless of the reason for the nutrient imbalance, it’s important to get it fixed as soon as possible. As the athlete works to fix the imbalance, they should focus on key nutrients for bone health… those nutrients that will help keep the bone strong and healthy under immense training load coupled with growth spurts and development (remember, the body builds about 90% of it’s bone in childhood and adolescence!). Some key nutrients to think about include:
Calcium
Vitamin D
Total Calories (i.e…. no underfueling)
Magnesium
Iron
This blog will not go through the specifics of each nutrient, but it’s important that the young athlete is educated on these nutrients and coached on how they can get them in their meals and snacks each day.
I am taking clients struggling with this specific injury. If you would like to discuss working together, you can reach out to me HERE to schedule a free 15 minute Discovery Call.
Also, if you feel your athlete needs to learn more about nutrition related to stress fractures, please stay tuned because I’m releasing a self-paced recorded course in just a few weeks that dives into this very topic! It will be excellent education for the young athlete and it gives them action items to start improving their meals and snacks to support bone health. To get more details and stay up on its release, you can follow me on Instagram (@taylormorrisonRD) or sign up for my brief weekly emails by sending me a DM on Instagram saying “Newsletter”!
Another option for first steps may also be my Ending Underfueling Course. Being underfueled is a HUGE risk factor for stress fractures. If you think your athlete isn’t eating enough to support all the training they are doing in their sport this is a great self-paced course to get them eating a variety of different foods that will help them feel fueled, help them start eating enough of those foods, and support good bone health. You can grab it today and have access to it for 6 months!
I hope that today’s article shines a light on the serious injury that is a stress fracture. I hope it helps you take first steps to thinking through what you and your athlete can do to build and keep strong bones as they train and compete in their sport.
Wishing you a well-fueled young athlete,
Taylor
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
You might be in a place where you are thinking, “I know my athlete needs help figuring out their best nutrition strategy to perform their best in their sport”.
Maybe your athlete complains of:
Trouble eating anything before morning practices, making it hard for them to reach their potential in each practice
Trouble fueling through a busy school day, often skipping lunch or missing needed snacks
Feeling dizzy or light headed in practices or events
Confusion over what to eat before games or performances and between events on long days of games or competition
Not knowing what to eat after sustaining a big injury like an ACL tear or stress fracture
Constant fatigue, even though they get a good amount of sleep at night
You have tried to talk to them and they may or may not have tried to make changes on their own, but you both realize that they need more. They need guidance from a professional.
You start doing your research and realize there are a LOT of people out there saying that they can help. Who do you choose in the sea of options?
This is why I am writing today’s article. Because I have found that there are so many people out there claiming they can help but with very little training or education or understanding about the needs of a child and adolescent athlete. If your athlete is truly struggling with their nutrition, to the degree that it has been affecting their performance or their mental health or their growth and development, I urge you to get with a Registered Dietitian and, preferably one who specializes in both pediatrics and sports. Why see this person? Why choose someone with these specialties? Are they really worth it? YES, they are 100% worth it and I’m answering your questions below…
In undergrad they were in chemistry and biology and labs with the pre-med majors learning to fully understand how the body works and how chemicals and particles work together to form different solutions and substances.
They were also in food science classes taking what they learned in chemistry and applying it to the foods we eat every day. How foods change when exposed to heat or cold or the reaction two ingredients have when they come together to create something totally new.
They were in nutrition classes learning how nutrition needs change over the life cycle and how nutrition is used as medical therapy to help heal and prevent illness in all ages and populations.
They even took research classes and probably had to have a research project before they graduated (I know I did as a graduate from TCU) so that they understood what strong research looked like. They could, therefore, differentiate between weak studies and studies that could actually be applied to a population (one study using only a small group of participants should NOT be used to base recommendations off of, which I see happen a lot in today’s society).
In this internship they had to complete at least 1,000 hours of supervised clinical and community work. They worked with doctors, surgeons, nurses, PT’s, OT’s, Social Workers, and all different families in gaining the skills they needed to work independently after graduation.
Some RDs also completed a Masters Degree with a certain focus, giving them more education and experience and some went on to further get a PhD. I believe that, as of this year, you must get your Masters if you are going to become a Registered Dietitian.
To give you a more detailed look at the RD’s training and education to getting to practice I can share a little bit more about my Internship and Masters experience.
I did a dual Internship - Master’s accelerated program. I completed my internship and Master’s courses in 16 months at the University of Memphis in Memphis, TN.
My Internship was very clinically focused, although I got to do something a little different at the end. I think having a clinically focused internship has given me such a strong foundation to practice on my own and, now, go into private practice. In my internship I had rotations in: pediatrics, general nutrition (worked in a general hospital on all floors), renal, diabetes, community health (lots of teaching classes and nutrition coaching), nutrition support (2 weeks in the ICU and burn unit at a trauma hospital managing tube feeds and TPN, which is nutrition via IV in its most elemental form), school food service and more.
To complete the Masters program we took classes outside of when we were in the hospital or in our facility getting supervised experience. We had to complete a Thesis by the end and a “Big Paper”, mine being on Irritable Bowel Disease (Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis), which we then had to transfer to teaching format and teach our class on our topic.
Registered Dietitians not only know the facts, but their internship has taught them how to teach and how to counsel, which are two completely different sets of skills. Knowing the facts is one thing. Using that knowledge to help another person understand complex topics and actually make needed changes is quite another. RD’s have been trained in this.
RD’s are held to a Code of Ethics and they must complete 75 CEU’s a year. We know that science is always changing and we are always learning new things. The RD credential ensures that your support is current and up to date with the most recent findings and recommendations.
Children and teens are assessed differently than adults.
Growth charts are used to assess needs, different calculations are needed to assess energy needs, these clients have different number goals when assessing Energy Availability, they have different macro and micronutrient needs depending on their stage of development. They are different than adults!
This RD can look at and talk with your athlete, understand what stage of development they are in (not just how old they are) and give recommendations from there. An RD that works in pediatrics understands that you can’t simply go off of their age. You must talk with and meet with the athlete to then assess their needs most accurately.
An RD who has spent their career working with children and teens will more understand their goals, their common obstacles, and how to work with them.
They are typically very very driven, have an impeccable ability to focus and achieve and take direction. Many, although not all, might consider themselves “type A” or “perfectionists”. A pediatrics sports dietitian understands not only the mind of a child/teen but also the thinking and actions of an athlete. They are able to take into consideration both of these characteristics as they create recommendations and nutrition plans.
There are very specific recommendations around calorie, macro and micronutrient needs for athletes that train a certain number of hours a day. Different macronutrients are used most efficiently at different efforts of training. Certain labs should be checked in athletes that may not be necessary for the average child / teen or the average non-athlete. Hydration and electrolytes and energy availability are all important topics for athletes, especially a pediatric athlete. A non-sports dietitian may not be as experienced in this.
A sports dietitian who has their CSSD, has obtained a certain number of hours of experience through a mix of clinical practice, research, and education and sat for the CSSD exam, which is a 3 hour exam focused on sports nutrition-specific questions and case studies.
There are scenarios that don’t typically come up for non-athletes that sports dietitians are well-informed on, including scenarios like:
Pre-event fueling
Recovery nutrition (after exercise or after injury)
Training at altitude
GI distress during events
Performance hydration
Electrolytes
Low Energy Availability / RED-S
Sports related iron deficiency with or without anemia
Endurance fueling and hydration
While the recommendations for sports nutrition are mostly made for adults, there are some that have been set for children and teens, but a sports dietitian who also specializes in pediatrics can help merge the two specialties to come up with the right recommendations and plans for the child or teen athletes that come to see them.
_________
I know this was a long post today. Thanks for hanging in with me.
I saw a “pediatric health coach” claiming something on social media the other day and it lit a fire under me to get this information out there. There are so many Health Coaches out there or Nutrition Coaches or Nutritionists with zero credentials, who got their certification over a couple of weekends or who practice because something worked solely for them. But, just because something worked for one person does not mean it will work for everyone! You need to work with someone who has seen the big picture.
I urge you to work with an RD because they KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT! And if they are not sure, they will tell you and they will go to the right place or read the right research to find the answer for you. Please be careful who you see for your athlete’s nutrition care. Choose someone with the best experience. Choose a Registered Dietitian.
If you’re not ready to meet with someone but want to get started on creating a good foundation for your athlete’s fueling, I have a great free resource to get you started in a good direction. You can download my FREE Guide now.
If you would like more information about me and the services I offer, you can check it out HERE.
Wishing you a well-fueling athlete,
Taylor
Your athlete has always been a top performer on their team. Maybe one of the fastest on the cross country team. Maybe a top performing gymnast or dancer at their level. Maybe they are on track to get a soccer scholarship to college. Everything is going great, until the one race, the one meet, the one performance, the one game where it suddenly isn’t. The athlete suddenly almost stops in their tracks. They tell you they are doing everything that they always do, but today they can’t quite get their legs to move faster, their body to turn quicker, or they feel stuck and tired and can’t advance. And it continues practice after practice, and event after event.
In some athletes it could be a more subtle decline in performance but this is the complaint that I hear the most often, and, regardless of how it presents, athletes still report frustrations like decreased performance, fatigue, dizziness and/or light-headedness, or “heavy legs”. Many athletes show up in my office with this as their main complaint or they mention this as they share with me their athlete journey and what all has brought them to see me today. They are baffled at what could be happening as they typically feel like they have not made any major changes to their diet, their hydration or their schedule.
As their sports dietitian I, of course, look at their overall nutrient intake, hydration status and the big picture. However, what immediately comes to mind to check when I get complaints like this is (1) IRON - what is this athlete’s iron status? And (2) WHY might the athlete’s iron status be low?
Often times I see low iron in my very high performing elite young athletes. The ones practicing hours almost every day at high levels. It can come from overlooking certain foods in their daily intake, from consistent underfueling (often unintentional), or from increased iron losses due to the nature of their sport.
In my 8+ years of practice, I didn’t realize how prevalent low iron was until about the last 4 or 5 years. Now, in the last couple of years I have really started monitoring it in the the athletes that have come to see me with these kind of complaints.
So this is what I’m going to talk with you about today. Today I want to shed some light on this important mineral, iron. What it does for us, why our athlete’s levels may be low, and how it affects our athlete’s performance. Let’s dive in….
A mineral that is needed for the production of red blood cells and for the transport of oxygen throughout the body.
An athlete that avoids meat or who is a vegetarian or vegan is at risk of not consuming enough iron.
Increased iron losses can occur in sports with repetitive footstrike like distance runners. This is called foot strike hemolysis.
Small amount of iron can be lost in the sweat and in the urine.
Inflammation can negatively affect iron levels
Iron lost each month in post-menarcheal female (have started their periods)
A high-performing athlete that has been restricting or unintentionally underfueling is at risk of low iron intake and therefore low iron stores.
There is a tricky relationship between low iron stores and low energy availability (RED-S). If an athlete is suffering from low iron or anemia it can make it harder for them to get out of their state of RED-S. This is because, if the body is low or deficient in iron or iron stores, it makes it harder to do any given skill and definitely harder to perform at the athlete’s peak. This is causing their body to work harder than usual at any given skill, which expends more calories, making it harder to get out of their state of Low Energy Availability. And they have low iron because of their underfueling, It can become a tough cycle to break.
Rapid growth and development that happens in childhood and adolescence can increase dietary iron needs. Participating in sports at a high level of training also places a demand on the body’s need for iron. The two together can create a significant increase in the body’s need for iron to function well.
This increased need for iron often comes at a time when the athlete may be skipping meals, choosing to snack throughout the day vs sit down for balanced meals or try “special diets” that they see friends of celebrities promote. These factors all lead to an increased risk of low iron or iron deficiency with or without anemia in the young athlete.
Fatigue
Shortness of breath
Dizziness / light-headed
Nausea
Pale skin
Complaints of feeling heavy (“heavy legs” is what I hear most frequently)
I highly recommend that you get your iron levels checked before trying to supplement as iron supplements are known to have negative GI effects and, as it is a mineral, an athlete can get too much. If your athlete does have low iron levels, your MD or sports RD will likely recommend a certain amount of iron for a certain number of weeks and then recheck it. It is typically not something that you supplement at a high dose forever.
When you request iron labs, it’s important not to just get “an iron” and don’t just get a CBC (which looks at your hemoglobin, hematocrit, etc.) as these are usually not effected until a deficiency is more severe. Where you really want to start is with a ferritin as this is the body’s storage form of iron. Iron deficiency has 3 stages, 1 being least severe and 3 being most severe.
A low ferritin
Further decreased ferritin
Decreased transferrin saturation
Increased total iron binding capacity (TIBC)
Further decreased ferritin
Decreased transferrin saturation
Increased total iron binding capacity (TIBC)
Low hemoglobin
If your athlete is complaining of fatigue and decreased performance or you are worried they may have RED-S, I encourage you to get with a sports dietitian. Don’t just go out and start an iron supplement. Get your labs checked and meet with a professional! With my clients, sometimes all they need is to improve their dietary intake and we work together to achieve that. Others have lab values that indicate they need more than what they can get from diet alone and so I recommend a mix of supplement + teach them how to optimize their iron intake in their diet. Then I monitor any negative side effects they may have and either help them reduce those or alter their supplement if needed.
If you are at a point where you think your athlete needs their iron checked, it will be best to start working with a sports medicine physician and / or sports dietitian. We can help you interpret your results and get your numbers back to optimal levels, whether through diet, supplement or a combination of the two!
I have worked with so many athletes struggling with low iron from Stage 1 to Stage 3. If you would like to speak with me about working together, you can reach out to me any time at taylor@taylored-nutrition.com. I would love to chat with you!
Wishing you a well-fueled athlete!
Taylor
Another common question I get from both parents and athletes and what I see a lot of confusion around is this topic of hydration beverages. Sports drink vs. electrolyte powder vs. water… what is the best choice? With all of the marketing and all the options and all of the different sports, it’s understandable why athletes are confused on what to drink and when.
In today’s blog, I’m going to break down some of the facts for you. These are questions I ask my private or group clients that I work with when helping them create a unique hydration plan and this is what you need to think about and when deciding the best hydration choice for your athlete.
How you respond to each of these questions will determine which type of hydration drink is best for your athlete.
In my opinion, you can think of making your selection based on the general idea that the longer and more intense the practice / event becomes, the more you need in your drink. Let’s break it down by drink…
The gold standard
Less than 60 minutes of activity in mild to moderate temperatures, with minimal sweating
Examples:
30 minute choreography class
45 minute soccer practice
40 minute figure skating freestyle session
An event of varying duration with minimal to moderate exertion but still heavy sweating
Basically, not enough energy is being exerted to require the carbs in a sports drink, but the athlete is sweating a lot and so benefits from replacing elextrolytes
Examples:
One baseball game
Practice for a more skill-based sport or position in the heat
60 minutes or more of moderate to high-intensity activity
Extreme heat conditions
The athlete is a heavy and salty sweater
The athlete does not have a carb-rich snack on-hand during the event or the athlete has trouble tolerating solid forms of nutrition before and during events (ex: due to high nerves).
Examples:
A figure skater has 2 back-to-back 40-minute freestyle sessions followed by a 20-minute on-ice power class
A soccer athlete has a soccer game in the intense Texas summer heat OR has a tournament weekend.
A baseball player has a tournament without time to grab meals or carb-rich snacks in-between games.
A runner has a 1.5 hour cross country practice in the intense heat
A gymnast has a 4 hour morning practice and very little time to snack during the practice.
In addition to these facts, I thought I would share some common questions I get around this topic and how I respond…
I know many athletes who have struggled through sessions underfueled with low energy stores (read; “low carb stores”) because they are trying to cut out sugar. While I understand this can come from a place of good intention, we must remember that, for the athlete, Sugar = Carbohydrate = Energy = PERFORMANCE!!
Right before an event or during an event is a place where the body actually benefits from sugar, from simple carbohydrate like that found in a regular sports drink! These can be especially helpful if you have trouble tolerating solids like fruit / bagels / bars around events.
I had an athlete come to me recently who was struggling with burnout not even half-way through soccer practices. They struggled with fatigue and some dizziness. As I worked through my material with them, a light went off. This athlete realized that they had cut out all sugar including any drinks with sugar completely. They added in some Gatorade before and during long practices and at our next session said they felt a huge difference in energy levels and the dizziness was gone. Success!
That’s ok! Did you know you can make your own sports drink? If you prefer to go a more diy route you can make your own! I’ve stumbled across a variety of recipes and am linking a few for you below…
Do a comparison of the drinks you are considering. There are some trendy sports drinks out there, but when I look at the nutritionals, I find they are actually very low in key electrolytes like sodium. If your athlete truly needs a sports drink to (1) maintain energy levels and (2) replenish electrolytes lost in their sweat, remember that the main electrolyte they are wanting to replace is sodium!
I can only say “No” to energy drinks. The caffeine amounts can be more than what is listed on the container and there is no recommended amount of caffeine for kids and teens in the US. I also think that many times an athlete will turn to an energy drink for energy when what they really need is MORE FOOD (ie, FUEL). To make matters worse there, energy drinks can blunt the appetite leaving a body already craving food and nutrients more underfueled. This is all I will say for now but I do plan to do a blog dedicated to energy drinks at a later date.
I hope you found this helpful today.
Hydration drinks can be confusing, but when the athlete gets it right, they really can feel an exciting difference!
If you think or know that your athlete is struggling with their hydration. If they need a more detailed plan and someone to guide them, I would love to chat with you about it. I work with my private clients and group program clients to create their unique fueling strategy all the time!
You can reach out to me at taylor@taylored-nutrition.com to schedule a quick call and see if working together would be a good next step!
Wishing you a well-fueled athlete,
Taylor
Today we are talking Protein Shakes. Probably one of the most common questions that I get from parents I work with…
“Are they good?”
“Should my athlete drink them?”
“Which ones do you recommend?”
“When should they drink them?”
My response and discussion of this popular question is always similar and it goes something like this…
An athlete has early morning practice before school and needs a quick protein choice to pair with the carbohydrate in their recovery snack between end of practice and their first class.
An athlete has a super packed school schedule and sometimes does not have the time (or make the time) for a full hot lunch.
An athlete needs quick and shelf-stable protein ideas to have on-hand during long days of tournaments, back-to-back practices or competitions.
The athlete is vegetarian or vegan and so their easy on-the-go protein choices are more limited throughout the day.
The more mature athlete is struggling to meet protein goals for weight and / or muscle gain.
An athlete has decreased appetite after intense practices and liquid nutrition is the only thing desired or tolerated.
Low in Calories. Protein shakes are often low in calories and relying too much on these on their own can leave an athlete underfueled.
Low in Carbohydrates. Protein shakes are often low in carbohydrates. Not being strategic about how a protein shake fits into the meal or snack can leave an athlete under-consuming carbohydrates. And we know that carbohydrates are key for (1) energy, stamina and performance, (2) building muscle and (3) recovery.
Not a Nutrition Shake. Relying too much on protein shakes as a source of protein while not being intentional about other meals and snacks can leave an athlete deficient in other macro or micronutrients. Protein shakes are usually not equal to nutrition / meal replacement shakes.
Contain Artificial Sweeteners. Many protein shakes do contain artificial sweeteners (to keep the sugar down, which means the carbohydrates are low as well) and these can cause stomach discomfort / upset in some individuals. If your athletes’ stomach is sensitive to these, it may be best to avoid.
More isn’t necessarily better. Different protein shakes have different amounts of protein. The typical 12 or 13 year old athlete does not need 40+ grams of protein in their protein shake. It will not give them an additional benefit to building muscle over 15 to 30 grams (depends on weight, stage of development, etc.), especially if they are allowing that 40 grams to make up for very little protein or no protein in another meal or snack. Remember, we want consistent protein intake that meets the specific athlete’s overall goal spaced throughout the day. This is where, if the athlete has struggled with building muscle, I recommend you get with a sports RD who can give your athlete a total protein goal and the best way to break it up throughout the day.
“How much protein is the athlete currently getting?”
Many athlete are getting more protein than they think.
Take a look at current meal and snack patterns. What is the protein content of your athlete’s current food choices?
“Does your athlete like a variety of protein-rich foods and drinks?” If the answer is “yes”, then I encourage them to try those first over shakes. Those foods and drinks will likely offer more overall nutrition and energy than a single protein shake (and can be more budget-friendly than more pricey protein shakes).
“Can the athlete fit a variety of these foods in throughout the school day (before school, during school or after school)?” Once the athlete has identified protein foods they enjoy and that are available regularly (I go over this in depth with the athlete in our sessions), we need to determine the feasibility of actually getting these throughout the day each day. The athlete may have a bunch of protein-rich foods & drinks they love, but their school schedule makes it tough to get many of those foods each day. In my sessions with athletes, I’m here to partner with them. We incorporate what they like and what they will try with what is actually feasible with their scheduler and make recommendations and a plan from there.
If your answer these questions and you realize the athlete is meeting their protein goals, then a protein shake likely isn’t necessary. If, however, you determine that the athlete’s protein needs cannot be met from regular foods and beverages, then protein shakes may be a helpful advantage.
You can always reach out to me on Instagram (@taylormorrisonRD) or shoot me a quick email at taylor@taylored-nutrition.com. We’ll jump on a brief Discover Call to talk more about your athlete’s needs and goals and see if working together would be a good fit. I offer a variety of one-to-one packages as well as a group program throughout the year!
I hope you found this helpful today. Until next time!
Wishing you a well-fueled athlete,
Taylor
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.”
The fundamental facts. Know which macros are needed for what. And which micros are needed for what function.
AND
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.
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.
~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
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!!!
Book a call through the website
Or email directly at taylor@taylored-nutrition.com
Over the years I have had handfuls of athletes come into my office and tell me that they struggle with getting dizzy or shaky during long practices or games / tournaments.
They may associate it with nerves or a variety of other factors but, to my surprise, not their fueling strategy. As a sports dietitian, that’s typically the absolute first thing I think about!
When I hear an athlete complains of dizziness or shakiness during performances / long practices my absolute first thought is always, “well, what did you eat before you started?” And that includes, (1) what you ate right before practice as well as (2) what you ate even first thing that morning leading up to stepping on the court / field / ice / floor.
If the athlete is struggling with dizziness / shakiness before / during / after events, it COULD be low blood sugars and today, I quickly want to run through some possible causes of why this could be occurring.
Your athlete has not eaten in the last few or more hours and so their energy (carbohydrate) stores are depleted by the middle of a practice / event.
Your athlete has eaten in the last couple of hours but it either (a) was not enough over all or (b) did not contain enough carbohydrates.
Your athlete did include carbohydrate foods in their meal about 3 hours before the practice / event but they forgot to include other foods that would steady blood sugars, slow digestion and so the fuel was used rapidly and they didn’t bring a quick energizing snack to eat / drink before this practice / event.
Your athlete is dehydrated and forgot to consume enough fluid throughout their morning and day to equip them for a long intense practice or game.
If this has been a struggle for your athlete, I encourage you to think through these possible scenarios. Does your athlete fall into one of these? Which one?
Next, I would encourage you and your athlete to get strategic and very intentional with meal and snack composition, fluid intake AND timing of all of these. Because all of these together are what create an ideal fueling plan that allows the athlete to perform their best.
Make sure they are having three meals a day.
Make sure these three meals are balanced with quality carbohydrates and protein. Plus some fat and fiber depending on where they fall prior to the event and the athlete’s tolerance of each of these.
Make sure they have a water bottle they can carry during the school day and that they have an idea of how much water they need before events (remember an athlete needs to drink smaller amounts throughout the day for adequate hydration. Chugging large volumes 30 to 45 minutes before will not adequately hydrate)
Make sure they have some snacks that provide quick energy (carbohydrates) that they can consume right before an event / practice if they are already feeling a little shaky or if they were not able to eat like they had planned prior to the event.
These are some suggestions of where to start if your athlete is struggling with today’s topic. I have seen some athletes start to feel better just with this general education and I’ve worked with others who need a little more support and specifics.
If reading this you think your athlete might be underfueling and are looking for where to start to help them increase and improve their fueling you can download our FREE Getting Started Guide. Or, if you want something a little deeper and more focused on underfueling specifically, we offer the Ending Underfueling Course - a great resource for the young athlete and family looking to learn more about underfueling and start taking initial steps to learn more about nutrition and get to a better fueled state.
I hope you have found this helpful today!
Wishing you a well-fueled athlete,
Taylor
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:
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.
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?
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
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
As someone who grew up in a house that NEVER talked about periods / menstrual cycles, I sometimes laugh at the irony of HOW MUCH I talk about periods every day. I really mean it. It comes up weekly with the female athletes that I see. It comes up so much so that I don’t hesitate or even give the topic a second thought. I hope that continues so that my daughter feels totally comfortable talking about it as she gets older. Although, I’ll probably be the “embarrassing mom” that talks about it too openly. I can already see the eye rolls and hear the “ughh, moommmmm”s now. But, oh well. It’s a fate I’m willing to embrace if it means she’s aware of its importance and how it can be a sign and indicator of her overall health.
I want to discuss why a female’s period becomes a focus in the work that I do and why I put such importance on it. Having a menstrual cycle is a normal function of the female body as they reach and navigate through puberty. A young female athlete should get her period by 15 years old.
Typically if a young female has reached 15 years old without ever having had a period it is termed “primary amenorrhea” and she is typically referred to a specialist to determine if something is going on in the body that has prevented her cycles from starting.
It is fairly normal for a young female athlete to reach menarche (her first period) and for her periods to be a little irregular at first. However if she gets further into her sport and you notice it stops completely and she goes months and months and months without having one, OR, it normalizes and then her training increases and she starts skipping her periods, that is not normal. Losing her period or going three months or more without it is not a badge of honor displaying what a hard core athlete she is. This is a medical condition known as “secondary amenorrhea”.
Whether the athlete is experiencing primary or secondary amenorrhea, there is reason to take a look at what might be going on. I’ve seen and research supports that it can be a cause for concern in the sports world.
I know that having a period as a young female athlete can be VERY annoying. The cramps, the fatigue, nausea, bathroom breaks. It’s very annoying and very inconvenient. So, when we skip one or more periods or delay ever starting, we may think, “sweet, one thing I don’t have to deal with”. However, what we may not realize is that this period and regular menstrual cycle is very important for injury prevention and performance, specifically things including (but not limited to) hormone regulation like estrogen which impacts bone health.
While there can absolutely be an anatomic or endocrine issue going on, amenorrhea can also be a result of underfueling, the theme we have been covering the last couple of months. And that is what lands so many athletes in my office and why I’m so concerned with the female athlete’s cycle. What is happening here is that the athlete is demanding a very high amount of energy due to training for sport. However, she is not consuming enough energy each day for the body to cover all of the demands being placed on it between energy needs for sport, school, growth and development and daily physiological functioning (breathing, heartbeat, digestion, menstrual cycle, etc.). So, I like to explain this as:
In this state of limited energy availability (or, Low Energy Availability) the body takes an inventory of the functions not absolutely needed in the immediate present to function and it starts powering down or even shutting off those identified systems. That’s when the athlete loses her period. The body says, “I don’t absolutely need you right now to live and function and so I will power you down or turn you off for a bit until I have more energy. Right now I need to use all of this energy for this other function over here”.
When a young female athlete walks into my office and tells me she has not had a period in the last 3 to 6 months or more, I get very concerned about her health, performance and risk of injury, particularly the state of her bone health. If she isn’t already seeing me with a stress fracture, I’m on heightened alert of her susceptibility to acquiring one in the near future. And, even if she is lucky and avoids a fracture, it can still put her at risk for low bone mineral density and osteoporosis later in life. Not having her cycle is also a sign that she could very likely have RED-S, which we know from my previous posts means she could be setting herself up for further complications like decreased performance, stomach issues, heightened anxiety, cardiovascular concerns, altered iron levels and more.
So, what can you take away from today’s post? Today I want to leave you with a few questions you or your athlete can ask regarding her period to determine if she is fueling well to prevent injury and perform her best…
Has your athlete started her period by 15 years old?
Is your female athlete having monthly periods?
Does your athlete have regular periods EXCEPT during her sports season? For example: “I have a monthly period all year with the exception of cross country season. I lose it for 4 or 5 months and then it comes back after my season is over”.
This indicates likely underfueling in-season
Does your athlete only have her periods when injured?
This could indicate that she may be underfueling when she is fully training. When she is taken out of her sport and her activity decreases her intake is finally able to meet physiological demands and her periods resume.
Is your young female athlete struggling with or has she in the past struggled with stress fractures?
NOTE: An athlete can still experience stress fractures with regular periods and an optimal energy intake. They could be more a result of specific nutrition deficiencies. However….
Make sure to at least ask, “is she having regular periods?”
If she is not, it should be a red flag to start taking an even closer look at her fueling and working on optimizing and increasing her energy intake as soon as possible.
In my practice, stress fractures are often a result of underfueling AND certain nutrient deficiencies (not getting enough food each day = not getting enough nutrients each day)
Now, or course, a young female’s athlete’s period, or lack there of, should always be checked on by the appropriate specialist (pediatrician, OB, endocrinologist, etc.). But, today, I encourage you to not gloss over the fact, that her FUELING could be the reason for her menstrual irregularities. Or, her STRESS INJURIES could be a result of her MENSTRUAL IRREGULARITIES, which could be a result of her UNDERFUELING.
For more info on underfueling you can check out my latest posts linked below….
And if you do feel like your young female athlete is struggling with her fueling and is ready to start working on increasing her intake and improving her fueling, you can grab one of these additional resources:
Wishing you a well-fueled athlete,
Taylor
Underfueling: Intentional or Unintentional?
And how it impacts reaching optimal energy intake and performance
I have worked with athletes with RED-S (or underfueling) for years, typically helping them ensure we are optimizing their bone health and iron levels as we optimize their fueling and put an end to any habits or beliefs or knowledge deficits that have led to the underfueling or could cause them to continue underfueling.
In this process I start to discover that the reason athletes underfuel can vary:
Some athletes’ underfueling is completely unintentional and accidental
Some is a result of disordered eating
Some is a result of what is likely a more severe potentially clinical eating disorder
Let’s dive into each of these categories of underfueling a little bit more…
In my practice I have found that this is typically due to a combination of
Sports nutrition knowledge deficit
AND
Increase in training time and/or intensity
Typically in this scenario there is an increase in training time or intensity that is not met with an increased intake. This could be because the athlete is too busy to add snacks or think about increasing their intake or because the increase has actually lessened their appetite. They don’t know or understand the necessity of fuel and nutrition to not only support performance but to also prevent injury. And so at a time when nutrition needs to be amplified to support amplified training, it actually ends up being put on the back burner.
I’ve found that in many cases with unintentional underfueling once a young athlete realizes that nutrition can help them recover and heal or prevent injury, or they start to make small changes and realize how much better they feel and perform off of it, implementing the sports nutrition recommendations is relatively easy and painless. I stick with them for a bit after initial changes are made and positive outcomes start to materialize to make sure they can continue the changes and see desired results.
This reason for underfueling, in my experience, can be met with a lot of direct education and support in implementation.
When it comes to intentional underfueling, I split this further into two categories:
Both stem from intentionally restricting intake but I have seen that one has more chance of reversal in the outpatient setting with a clinician that specializes in disordered eating and underfueling while the other really needs more intensive often inpatient treatment but at least outpatient treatment with a certified eating disorder specialist (CEDS). And, I think it’s important to understand that disordered eating can, in some individuals, slide into a clinically diagnosable eating disorder if not caught and taken action on. So, even if you think the athlete has some “weird eating things” going on, it’s best to watch it closely and intervene as needed or appropriate vs sitting back and letting it potentially get worse.
Disordered Eating is the athlete that:
Heard carbs were bad (NOT true) and so stopped eating sandwiches at lunch or the potatoes and rice with dinner.
The athlete that has started skipping one or more meals
The athlete that suddenly cut out any food group for a number of reasons (typical groups I see get cut include: animal proteins, grains, dairy, fats)
The athlete that will no longer eat after 6 or 7pm
The athlete that decided they should only eat one meal a day
An athlete feels they “overate” one day so skip meals and / or snacks or add a training session or two the next day to “make up for it”.
…and the list continues.
An example of when I might see this, going off of my initial scenario above is…
The athlete is in a more aesthetic sport or sport that favors “leanness” (think distance running, dance, gymnastics, wrestling, figure skating, etc). Their training time and / or intensity increases (think - move from 1 to 2 practices a day, add an hour of training a day or a few hours a week, begin learning a new skill, move to a new level). They know their training has increased but they don’t immediately want to increase their intake due to fear of body composition or weight changes. Their underfueling is now intentional. This is where we dig a little deeper to determine the severity. Can that athlete learn the keys to sports nutrition, understand the major value in increasing their fueling and start implementing new strategies? Or are they stuck with their normal level of fueling and, despite the education (or even an injury) are not able to implement improvements in their nutrition?
I think that the key with Disordered Eating is that, after a few sessions with education and conversation, the athlete is able to start implementing some of the sports dietitian’s recs that involve adding foods or increasing portions or adding meals back in. They are able to meet the milestones set by the RD at each visit and eventually can get back to the place of balanced optimal fueling. We can challenge the false information heard and new eating practices believed to make them a better athlete, educating and walking though implementing new and better nutrition strategies together.
The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) defines Disordered Eating as….
“A spectrum of problematic eating behaviors and distorted attitudes towards food, weight, shape and appearance that include dieting, skipping meals, fasting, restricting food intake, eliminating specific foods / food groups, binge eating, excess use of diuretics, laxatives or weight loss meds, and compensatory behaviors (purging, excessive exercising). These eating patterns can vary in severity but don’t meet the frequency, duration or psychological criteria for the diagnosis of an eating disorder.”
When a clinically diagnosable eating disorder is the reason for an athlete’s underfueling, I find that they are not able to make any changes that involve adding food into their day. Things like intense FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, ANXIETY, stop them from being able to add another food group or eat a food they used to eat or add lunch back in at school. And, sometimes, they cannot articulate exactly why they can’t make the change. There is very often a fear of weight gain or body composition changes, but that is not always the reason. There is a silent and invisible block between the athlete knowing what they need to do and actually carrying out the recommendations. I call this silent block the Eating Disorder.
When I see these actions, these concerns in my practice, I discuss with the athlete my recommendation for a higher level of care and additional support. I think all athletes struggling with increasing their fueling can benefit from a counselor but I think an athlete with a potential eating disorder 100% needs a therapist. Because a true diagnosable ED is not just about the food. This athlete needs support from an RD, a therapist and and MD. That is the way they will be able to start increasing and optimizing their fueling and, hopefully, get back to sport.
The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) defines an Eating Disorder as…
“A complex mental illness that is characterized by persistant disturbances in eating behaviors and impairment in psychological functioning. Specific diagnosis criteria for each major eating disorder is outlined in the DSM-5 TR and includes: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, and Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder.”
As you can see, there are a variety of reasons a young athlete might be underfueling. I write this post to make you aware in case you start to question if your athlete is fueling like they should be. If you do think your athlete might be underfueling, knowing or having an idea as to why can help you prepare for the route of support. If it’s unintentional, your time with the sports RD may be brief (unless you are working together to get a period back or improve labs or see certain longer term performance goals). If it’s related to Disordered Eating, the time to improvement will be longer but length depends on your athlete’s willingness and ability to consistently make the changes.. And if it’s an Eating Disorder, it could be very long. However, it’s important that the Disorder be handled first b/c there is no way the athlete will meet their potential with the eating disorder yelling in their ear.
This post feels a bit heavier than my usual ones, but I think it’s important that the athletic community starts to see the spectrum of underfueling and that, while it can be a relatively easy fix, it can also be something complicated and very serious.
If we suspect underfueling in our athletes, it can never hurt to act or to inquire or to more closely observe. It’s only going to help them as an athlete, a performer and a person in the end.
More information on Disordered Eating & Eating Disorders can be found at the link below on the NEDA (National Eating Disorder Association) website.
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/what-is-the-difference-between-disordered-eating-and-eating-disorders/
I hope you found today’s topic helpful.
Wishing you a well-fueled young athlete,
Taylor
The Getting started guide to a well-fueled young athlete
A guide to help you focus on what to know and where to start when it comes to fueling your young athlete
the
ending underfueling course
Help your athlete take the first steps to start eating more. They will follow a simple meal & snack framework that helps them include a variety of nutrients and the energy they need to start feeling and performing better.
RED-S: Is it the reason for your athlete’s struggles?
I know I’m talking a lot about underfueling lately. But, with what I know and all I’ve seen in the last couple of years, I feel like I would be doing my followers, clients and athletes a true disservice if I glossed over the topic or, worse, didn’t address it at all.
So, today I’m going to spend time giving you a surface-level overview on a relatively new medical condition known as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, also known as RED-S.
I talk about this condition ALL THE TIME whether I’m in clinic or speaking in schools or speaking at a conference. I can speak in depth on this topic for 30 to 45 minutes if given the time but this post is just to give you an introduction to this important-to-know-about condition so it will be much more brief. So, today I hope to hit the high points on this important condition called RED-S.
Researchers have been studying underfueling, or as I explained in my last post, Low Energy Availability (LEA), for a long time.
Initially this occurrence of LEA was associated with females in what was termed the Female Athlete Triad. The Female Athlete Triad is a medical condition in which a female athlete experiences one of the following:
Compromised bone health
Irregular menstrual cycle
Underfueling (intentional or unintentional)
As researchers and clinicians continued to look into underfueling and its effects on athletes, their health and their performance they found that a similar condition to the Female Athlete Triad with similar consequences could present itself in males as well. And so a condition in male athletes was established called the Male Athlete Triad.
In males the condition could manifest in several ways, very similar to females:
Compromised bone health
Altered hormone levels and cycles (testosterone levels, etc.)
Underfueling (intentional or unintentional)
Not all components have to be present to be diagnosed by a physician. It might be that the athlete only exhibits one. However, if one component is present, it is very likely that others are present as well and so further examination into the others is recommended. From my practice, I see that the root cause is the underfueling. And from there, if not noticed and managed leads to what we see and the athlete experiences - the bone injuries and / or the hormone changes. lost periods, etc.
I typically come in when a female athlete has:
lost her period for 3 months or more or
has experienced one or more stress fractures or
when an athlete has exhibited some significant weight loss or a weight plateau in the last few months to years, causing her to start falling off her growth chart.
I’ve found that for some female athletes it takes a small amount of underfueling and for others it takes extreme underfueling for their menstrual cycle to be disrupted. But, just because a female athlete still has her period, it does not mean she is for sure fueling enough and appropriately. Just something to keep in mind.
I typically come in when male athletes have:
had one or more stress injuries in the last year
had altered labs at their last pediatrician visit or
H=had recent weight loss or a weight plateau, causing them to start falling off their growth chart.
Researchers and clinicians were aware of the Female and Male Athlete Triad but continued to study the effects of underfueling and LEA (and we’re still studying LEA today).
As they studied athletes and underfueling they started to see that the effects of underfueling and LEA can reach beyond decreased bone health, hormone regulation, and menstrual dysfunction. It can actually have a much wider scope of impact on the athlete’s health and performance. Underfueling can impact an athlete’s:
mental health (seen or felt as increased anxiety for example),
cardiovascular health (ex: slowed heart rate as the body tries to preserve energy)
metabolism
gastrointestinal health
immune system
endocrine system
haematological (iron deficiency anyone?)
growth & development
Putting this into practice, some examples of when I would look further into RED-S and check an athlete’s fueling would be:
A typical non-anxious athlete begins to struggle with anxiety.
An athlete already diagnosed with anxiety has been feeling heightened anxiety lately.
The pediatrician or other medical professional has observed a very low heart rate.
The athlete has started complaining of GI issues like constipation or feeling like it takes a long time to digest food. Maybe they just don’t get hungry anymore.
The athlete is constantly getting sick or it’s taking a long time to recover.
The athlete has experienced an injury and it’s taking a longer than expected amount of time to heal and recover.
There are delays in growth and development. This could look like the athlete’s weight and height plateauing or falling off their growth curve. It could look like a 16 year old female athlete still not every having had a period.
The athlete is complaining of extreme fatigue with exercise, weak muscles, hitting a wall. Labs come back from the pediatrician and patient has low iron levels.
The athlete gets hormone labs at their well-check visit or another visit and they find low and altered levels of specific hormones.
Now, it’s important to take into account that there could be something very clinical going on and these complications have nothing to do with nutrition, so of course get it checked out by the appropriate specialist.
BUT, at the same time, if there has been any change in the athlete’s training or the athlete’s intake, it may benefit the athlete to look at their fueling. Are they getting ENOUGH fuel each day? And then, are they getting enough of the best foods for them within those fuel choices?
Similar to what I included above, athletes with suspected RED-S typically show up in my office when:
A female athlete has lost her period for 3 months or more
A 15 or 16 year old competitive female athlete has not yet started her period
An athlete has experienced one or more stress fractures
An athlete has exhibited some significant weight loss or a weight plateau in the last few months to years, causing them to start falling off their growth chart.
The athlete is experiencing repeated injuries or illness
The athlete has had a sudden change in intake and food preferences
The athlete has received altered nutrition labs like iron levels from the pediatrician or other markers that may indicate dehydration or altered nutrition intake
Sometimes taking a look at the athlete’s fueling plan and giving it a boost AND BEING CONSISTENT with these changes, can improve digestion, can help the athlete with their anxiety, can decrease illness and can allow appropriate, necessary and needed weight gain so the athlete can continue to reach their height potential and get through puberty.
What I’m talking about today is something I see in my practice all the time. It’s also all found in the scientific literature. I’m linking a resource below in case any of you like to get really into the details and the science (like I do 🙂).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9724109/pdf/nihms-1853616.pdf
If you have read this and you think your athlete needs to eat more and fuel better, I encourage you to look into our Ending Underfueling Course! It’s a great place to start when:
You know or even suspect that your athlete isn’t eating enough for their sport, growth and development (i.e. - they are underfueling)
Your athlete has not had much or any nutrition or sports nutrition education
Your athlete is ready to start improving their fueling to start feeling and performing better
Until next time!
Wishing you a well-fueled athlete,
Taylor
Is Your Athlete Underfueling?
Many of my posts have an underlying theme of underfueling but I realized I have not created a post specifically devoted to this topic. So, that’s what I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about today.
If you have been following along with me on Instagram lately, or in my Newsletters, then you have seen me talk about this topic. It has been the most asked for topic that coaches and athletic trainers have asked me to come speak on in this last year. And it is one of the top two reasons athletes have come to see me in clinic since the beginning of 2023 (with probably the other one being helping them navigate nutrition in their recovery, like from an ACL tear and repair).
Going into the field of sports nutrition and then, more specifically, pediatrics I didn’t think this is what I would spend the majority of time talking about. Although, it should not surprise me because for a time in my childhood I was absolutely another underfueled young athlete - even when I improved my fueling significantly, I was still underfueling. And I didn’t realize that part until I got into this field as an adult, started working with young athletes, and studying the field. So, I know how easy it is to say, “no, my fueling is good. It’s so much better than a year ago. There must be another reason for (xyz). Or, I’m doing well so my fueling must be optimal now”.
If the young athlete is experiencing any of the signs or symptoms I’m about to mention, then they and their support team really need to take a closer look into their fueling. Improved food and energy intake can have a huge impact on performance, helping the athlete achieve the muscle gains they have been working on, it can improve endurance and speed, it can improve mental focus and, a big point, it can keep your athlete in the game and away from nutrition-related injuries that can have them out of their sport for months. From a health perspective, being well-fueled can improve the athlete’s mood, help keep anxiety down, promote heart health, metabolic health, and bone health.
Maybe you are the athlete or have the athlete who has experienced some of the signs and symptoms below but they are still performing and practicing well. My thoughts to that are...
“Ok, great. So you’re performing well off of minimal fuel. But, for how long? And, if you can perform well off not enough, JUST IMAGINE what you could do, how you could perform, the levels you could get to if you were fueling WELL. If you were fuleing your BEST. If you are talented and driven and scrappy enough to perform well off of too little fuel or the bare minimum, just think about what your body could do if it had all that it needed!! Imagine what it could do if it didn’t have to power down or compromise different systems so you could practice and perform?
I’m so passionate about this, clearly. And I get SO EXCITED when I see athlete’s performance improve with improved fueling. It could be small changes it could be big changes, but it makes a difference and I love to see this “click” in the young athletes I work with.
This is not just me talking about fueling and how important it is. This concept of underfueling has actually been studied and continues to be studied in great detail. From it has developed a term call Low Energy Availability, meaning the athlete does not have enough energy available at the end of the day each day to perform all of the functions demanded of it (think - exercise, studying, growth, development, breathing, eating, heartbeat, hormone cycles, etc.). Another way I like to explain this is that “if you have been underfuling consistently for a long period of time, you are likely in a state of Low Energy Availability (LEA)”. It can be intentional or it can be unintentional, but either way it means that some function of the body is very likely getting powered down or compromised (think loss of menstrual cycle in females, sluggish performance, fatigue, lowered heart rate, etc.) and can lead to decreased performance and injury.
Further research shows us that Low Energy Availability is often the root cause of a few other medical conditions now recognized in athletes.
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S)
Female Athlete Triad
Male Athlete Triad
I’m not going to go into detail about these today, but will instead devote a separate blog post to each topic. They all can lead to decreased performance, health problems or injury, none of which we want in our young athletes! In future posts I also want to talk more about potential reasons for underfueling - intentional vs unintentional. The reason the athlete is underfueling can have a big impact on how we help them get fueled and the projected timeline of return to optimal fueling (or return to sport).
So, I’ll leave you today with a handful of the signs and symptoms of underfueling. Is your athlete experiencing any of these? If so, it’s likely time to start looking into their fueling habits and create a plan. And, definitely stick around for future posts where I go a little deeper and provide insight into these medical conditions caused by underfuleing.
Dizziness
Fatigue
Weight Loss
Hair Loss
Growth Disturbances (athlete stops gaining in height)
Unable to build muscle
Lost period or not starting period by age of 16
Heightened anxiety and/or moodiness
Low iron levels / iron deficiency
Low heart rate (but must distinguish between underfuling and lower heart rate that elite athletes tend to have)
Much love and a well-fueled young athlete,
Taylor
P.s. do you think your athlete is struggling to eat enough? Do you think they are practicing and performing in an underfueled state?
If you do and are looking for a first step to help your athlete increase and improve their fueling, check out the Ending Underfueling Course. It’s a perfect mini course focused specifically on this very topic and created to help athletes through the initial steps of setting up a foundational solid nutrition strategy.
Not quite ready to jump into a course? You can always download my free Getting Started to a Well-Fueled Young Athlete!
Happy New Year, Everyone!
How is your year starting off? For me, in my current season of life, it’s a time to take a breath after a very fun but very hectic December.
I sent out my first newsletter of the year last week (you can sign up here if interested) and thought I would pull my intro message from my newsletter for this first post of the year because it’s a message that I really want people to hear and I know that not everyone who follows or lands on the blog is a newsletter subscriber. So, as we kick off this new year, I share with you what I hope will be one key practice you and especially your athlete keep in mind going into and throughout this next year…..
… I see young athletes in my practice for a variety of reasons. Some have sustained an injury, some have recurring injuries, some are struggling with body image related to their sport and some simply want to learn about sports nutrition so they can make food and fueling decisions on their own to improve their training and performance.
As I thought about this newsletter, I wondered, “if there was one thing I wanted athlete families and athletes to remember throughout this entire year, what would it be?” I reflected on most of the clients I worked with last year and, for our winter newsletter, I quickly landed on this…
If your athlete’s training increases, whether it’s the duration of practices, intensity of practices, or number of practices a week, then his/her intake should increase as well. Let me share a little more…
So many athletes have walked into my office over the last year due to injuries like stress fractures. Many are runners. Some play soccer. Some run and play soccer. Some are dancers. Some are gymnasts.Some play lacrosse. These injuries are not exclusive. Some are new to the sport and quickly take to it and some have been playing since they were six years old. Either scenario, they have recently been ramping up their mileage or hours in the studio or the gym or decided to play for school and club. During our conversation in my initial session I ask my usual questions about training schedule and level, food allergies, recent labs and appetite, specifically if there has been a change in appetite or intake over the last year or so. It’s often a casual conversation revealing no big allergies, altered labs or changes in intake or appetite and we continue on with our discussion.
Now PAUSE for a moment, as the sports dietitian I have already seen a big red flag. Did you see it?
It was the fact that there was no change in appetite or intake over the last year or so. What I would have wanted to hear, was “yes, we’ve seen an increase in his appetite” or “yes, she’s been packing bigger snacks or been snacking more since his training has picked up”. The fact that this adolescent athlete, who already has high energy and nutrient needs for growth and development, is intensely training daily, logging lots of miles or hours in the gym or on the field but without an increase in intake tells me he/she is very likely underfueling and likely has been underfueling for quite some time. And, if you have been following my blogs and social media, you know that underfueling puts an athlete at a high risk of stress fractures (and I’ll be talking more about this on the blog this year).
I share this with you today because I think we can (1) forget to think about our fuel when life gets busier and practices and school pick up and (2) get caught up in macros and micros and “healthy” and “unhealthy”. I know I did as a young adolescent athlete. However, it doesn’t matter what ratio of macros our athlete is getting or how much magnesium, potassium, calcium, etc. our athlete consumes if at the end of each day, day after day, they are at an energy deficit. If they are chronically in an energy deficit at the end of each day then they are still at risk of injuries like stress fractures, among other health concerns or it’s going to be super hard to reach goals for those trying to build muscle / gain weight.
So, this year, let’s help our athletes first and foremost fuel enough to help prevent injury and perform their best! Only when they are fueling enough will specific fueling strategies put in place be most effective.
This is what I intend to help you with this year. Over the next few months I plan to shed some light on underfueling. I saw this a lot in 2023. I saw injuries that could have been prevented if the athlete was optimally fueling. And the thing is, so much of it was unintentional. A lack of awareness of how food needed to change along with the athletes training and involvement in sport. I saw girls get their periods back, I saw runners reach new PR’s, I saw football and soccer players reach weight goals and I saw anxiety and moods improved as athletes learned nutrition fundamentals and built off of this foundational knowledge to improve their fueling. I’m even more passionate about this topic going into 2024 than going into 2023 (and I thought I was pretty passionate about it then). So, I share this with you today and shed a little light on what to expect in the months to come.
Follow along my newsletter (sign up HERE), on my blog, on Instagram (@taylormorrisonRD) or on Facebook (Taylored Nutrition, LLC) where I will continue to share content with you and hopefully create more ease and understanding when it comes to fueling the young athlete. I know fueling can be really hard in different seasons for a variety of different reasons. My goal here at Taylored Nutrition is to guide you and your athlete through some of those difficult scenarios and give you both facts and resources so that your athlete can feel more confident in fueling enough and fueling well through those tough situations and perform his/her best.
There are other big topics I want Taylored Nutrition to cover this year such as: factors around recovery after injury, supplement use in YAs, energy drinks and more. But as we get started, this topic of underfueling (unintentional and intentional) is where I want to start.
Stick with me and I’ll talk to you again soon!
Much love and a well fueled athlete,
Taylor
If you’re looking for direction on where to start when it comes to helping make sure your athlete is fueling well, you can download my FREE Getting Started Guide HERE!
If you’re looking for a little more help and okay spending a bit of money ($30) to start off the new year, I’m excited to announce that I’m hosting our first parent chat of 2024! Our Winter Parent Group Chat will be held virtually on Thursday January 25th at 7:15pm CST! This is a great chance to discuss some basic nutrition info to know for fueling the young athlete with a registered sports dietitian (me) and other parents of young athletes. You can learn more about these by reading this blog here or reading more here. It’s only $30 per person and space is limited to allow for good discussion. If you would like to join us this month to kick of the year, you can REGISTER HERE!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out via email (taylor@taylored-nutrition.com) or send me a DM on Instagram (@taylormorrisonRD). I would love to hear from you!
Hi everyone!
How is it going? My family and I just got back from celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with our family at the ranch and I always feel so refreshed and ready for the Christmas season (and more mentally equipped for the Dallas holiday hustle & bustle) when I return. As my children are getting older it has become such a source of joy to see the holidays and the celebration of family traditions through their eyes. This time is a mix of fun and excitement and I do my best to prevent it from creeping over into overwhelming.
Coming back from the Thanksgiving break, I wanted to make this week’s topic about a scenario I have been working with more often this past year. My post today will speak to a narrower audience, but I think that even if this isn’t 100% you / your athlete, you will still find it informative, helpful and maybe get your mind thinking. I have seen young male athletes (typically between ages 12 and 17 years old) with this request numerous times over the course of this past year. They have been in all different sports, which has been interesting and a fun challenge for me to work with, some have sustained an injury and are working through their recovery and others are healthy and well but going about changes in not the best way. However, despite these differences, they have one thing in common and that is the main reason they have come to see me is because they want to increase or maintain muscle but decrease body fat.
I’ve talked about weight gain a bunch on the blog, male athletes wanting to gain weight and build lots of bulk for their sport. Today I’m going to share information and my thoughts on something slightly different though. These young male athletes that I’m talking about today specifically want to build or just maintain muscle and lose fat or at least not increase their body fat percent. We have to remember, however, that young athletes are not just little adults. With this specific scenario there is a lot to consider and, I think, a lot to unpack so I want to outline that for you today. Todays’ post is not a how-to on getting a young male athlete to achieve body composition goals, but more of a “what to think about first” to (1) determine if he is ready for this goal and (2) to set him up for long-term success. Here are my thoughts when it comes to body composition change goals in young male athletes.
First, how old is this athlete AND what stage of development is the athlete in? Remember that boys can begin puberty at different ages. It is not the exact same for each athlete.
Second, is this an appropriate goal for this athlete? Does this athlete already show signs or have risk factors for disordered eating or an eating disorder?
I ask this because making weight changes, going on any type of restrictive diet and being focused on one’s physique can be triggering for some individuals and turn into more serious underfueling and, if not monitored and confronted, can develop into a very serious clinical eating disorder.
The above could sound extreme, but I know and have seen the damage and hurt and pain that eating disorders cause, not only on the athlete, but also on the family, the friends and all involved. We want to avoid these AT ALL COSTS. To me, this means even if it looks like changes take longer or the athlete competes in a different weight class than he may like.
Third, let’s talk about the developing male adolescent body…
We know from the scientific literature that as males go through puberty their hormone shifts involve an increase in the production of testosterone (I am, of course, wildly oversimplifying their hormonal cycles here but this is the main thing I want to point out today). As they go through puberty and reach adulthood, their bodies start to naturally build more muscle and their body fat decreases (different from females whose hormonal shifts wire their bodies to store more fat).
We also know through recent research on the Male Athlete Triad and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) that underfueling, ie not providing the body enough daily calories (and therefore under consuming micro and macronutrients, like carbs and fats), can set a young male athlete up for many complications including, but not limited to: compromised bone health, illness, GI complications, altered cardiovascular functioning, and endocrine dysfunction, including altered hormone production.
That said, as a young male athlete, you really want to be careful with any extreme body composition change attempts. Puberty could actually work in your favor if you let it. In general (there are always exceptions and everyone is unique), children will have phases of childhood where they may have more fat on their bodies and that is ok! Their bodies need everything to allow them to have their growth spurts and to start puberty. If you get nervous about body fat at a young age and start to take measures to decrease that, there is a chance that you could mess with hormones, delaying puberty and delaying those hormonal changes that could actually help you reach your goals.
Make sure lean protein is a fixture in each meal and snack (although likely doesn’t need more than about 20 or so grams per meal for muscle maintenance)
Make sure the protein in the meals and snacks are complemented by quality carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
Include fat as an accompaniment to the meals and to snacks, as desired
Remember in past blog posts and in my new Getting Started Guide, we talk about how children actually tend to be more efficient at using fat as fuel and that it’s not until they get through puberty that they start to utilize carbs for fuel like adults do. This doesn’t mean we need to load their plates up with high fat foods, but it does give an extra point to why our children need fat (ideally making a majority of it the healthier fats as they will let us) and balance in their meals each day.
Ok, I hope this information I provided today has been helpful for any young male athletes already wanting to make body composition changes for sport. Don’t rush it. Be patient and work with your body as you get older. The best results that can support best performance for the long-run do not happen overnight. It takes time, patience, dedication and accurate information and understanding.
If you feel like this is you / your athlete and you would like to work together to figure out the best fueling strategy for your athlete, remember you can reach out to me here to chat more and see if working together would be a good next step. I am taking new clients in the new year and would love to make a spot for you if we feel it’s the right thing for your athlete.
Wishing you much love and a well-fueled athlete!
Taylor
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!
Ready to get started improving your fueling?
Download your FREE Getting Started Guide to a Well-Fueled Young Athlete!
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!
Last week I got the opportunity to do something really fun! I got to spend about an hour and a half with a group of about 6 moms talking with them about nutrition for their young athletes. It was super casual, there was wine, we talked about nutrition, we talked about parenthood in general. It was fun for everyone in attendance.
This was a chance for me to share some foundational sports nutrition information specifically pertaining to children and adolescent athletes - things that I really wish all parents and their young athletes knew. It was also a chance for these moms to ask me any questions they had, whether they centered around my basic topics or not. We went into chats about everything from sports drinks and electrolytes to protein to meal, snack & recipe ideas to kids’ attitude and relationship towards food at this young age. These moms had kids in a variety of sports at different ages and it was such a great discussion!
I’ve had an idea like this in my head for a while now and, by chance, this opportunity presented itself and I finally got to make it happen! It was so fun and I got such positive feedback that I have decided to offer more of these!
So, if this is something that interests you, here are the details…
7 to 10 people per group
60 to 90 minute meeting
Virtual or in-person (depending on location of host)
$36 per person
You will receive copies of our NEW Getting Started Guide and our Grocery Guide + additional resources that we think may benefit the group
Please note: this is not a time to get detailed specialized nutrition recs or meal plans for your kiddos. However, you will leave with a good understanding of the general needs of your athletes, the different nutrition needs of young athletes vs adult athletes, and what products out there are better options for your young growing athletes
If you are interested in doing something like this with other parents, please let me know by completing the form HERE! You can create your own group with parents from a team, or it could be a group of friends who all have young athletes in various sports, or you can ask to be added to a group independently.
Ideas to include when completing the form…
Title: Parent Group Chat
Do you want in-person or virtual?
Do you have a group of 8 to 10 people who want to participate?
Don’t have a group but want to be put into a group of 7 to 10 people that you don’t know?
Is there a date range you would like to do this?
Have questions about these session and want to chat with me? You can find me on Instagram (@taylormorrisonRD) OR send an email to taylor@taylored-nutrition.com.
Wishing you much love and a well-fueled athlete!
Taylor
Good morning! Well, on a personal note, our kids have started waking up very early in our household. Our 3 year old who has always been the best sleeper and slept easily until 7 or 8am is now coming in our room at 6am and takes five tries to get to bed at night. With that said, time to work has been limited and so this blog will be short. However, I really wanted to get some content out to you that I feel is important as many athletes are well into their season. And that content is around weight loss. I work with and hear from many of you who are struggling to keep your athletes well fueled now that sports have really ramped up and school is in full-swing and maybe your athlete is involved in additional activities outside of their main sport.
Today I am going to share a post that I actually wrote a year ago on this topic. I think it is super applicable to what many of you / your athletes are facing right now. We know that weight loss is a sign of underfueling (often unintentionally for this busy athlete population) which can lead to consequences in health and performance and so we want to try and reverse the trend as quickly as we can. I hope this post gives you some guidance and initial steps to take with your athlete if they are facing the frustrating situation of weight loss during his/her season.
Also, I got to speak on the topic of underfueling yesterday with a sports medicine center that I work closely with. If you are interested to learn more about the signs and symptoms of underfueling, I would highly recommend watching the recording. I plan to link to it in my last newsletter of the year.
If your athlete is struggling with weight loss this season, please give this post a read….
Help! My Athlete is Losing Weight
Initital steps to take to stop the weight loss and get your athlete well-fueled for their season
I hope this post is helpful for you and your athlete as he / she works to stay fueled for the remainder of this season.
If you work through the tips here and still are needing more, I am always happy to chat about working together. You can reach out to me here to schedule a free 15-minute call to chat about your athlete’s needs / goals and see if working together is the best fit.
Or, if your athlete isn’t ready to meet one-to-one with a sports dietitian, we have a great starter course created to help athletes start eating more in an intentional way (stop the weight loss, stop the fatigue, etc. that comes with underfueling). It’s our Ending Underfueling Course. You can learn more about the course HERE and it’s available to purchase any time from the Services tab on the website!
Wishing you a well-fueled young athlete,
Taylor
