“Should my gymnast be on a low carb diet to ‘stay trim’?” Oh boy. Let’s unpack this question.First off, in a sport that is so image-focused, we’ve all wondered if there’s a “magic bullet” out there that would allow gymnasts to stay lean with visible 6-packs and not an ounce of cellulite ...
disordered eating
Parenting the Gymnast Body: Navigating Weight and Body Shape Concerns
Gymnastics is an aesthetic sport, defined as “concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty”. This can be problematic as our appreciation for body diversity within the sport of gymnastics is still not where it should be, with false assumptions that “lighter girls fly higher” still held fast in ...
What does food freedom look like for the high level gymnast?
What does food freedom look like?Food freedom is the ability to eat whatever, whenever, wherever.Food freedom is NOT the absence of eating for health.A lot of gymnasts are afraid that if they allow themselves to have “sugar” or “carbs” or something “fried” that they’ll get “all the inflammation”, ...
Help! My gymnast won’t stop eating sugar.
If I had a dollar for every time a parent tells me their gymnast’s number one nutrition struggle was “eating too much sugar”, I’d be rich! Just kidding. But really... Gymnastics is a sport where misguided advice like “create a culture of clean eating” and endless, unfoundedfood rules like “no ...
Why is your high-level gymnast not eating before or during workouts? A guide to gymnast performance nutrition
It’s one thing to tell you “how” to fuel your performance in the gym. I’ve got tons of free resources for you on this (Instagram posts, blogs) and paid content (premium 1:1 coaching for high level gymnasts or my course The Balanced Gymnast Course for a really comprehensive education—launching again ...
Food rules for gymnasts: Too good to be true?
How many of you have heard things like “don’t eat egg yolks”, “eat clean”, “don’t eat sugar”, or other “food rules” that are massive, sweeping claims? All of us. These “claims” are all over social media, print magazines, news segments, and frequently come from the mouths of “nutrition pros” like ...
Parenting the Gymnast: The Gymnast Body
Gymnastics is an aesthetic sport, defined as “concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty”. This can be problematic as our appreciation for body diversity within the sport of gymnastics is not quite where it should be, but things have improved. For example, we can recognize that ...
Parenting the Gymnast: Injury Edition
Nagging gymnastics injuries and nutrition. It’s that time of year! February means we’re starting to look towards National and Elite competitions, but many athletes may not quite be “there” yet. Even worse, for some, nagging aches and pains are starting to threaten injury. Nutrition is an ...
Why refer to a pediatric dietitian nutritionist?
Our job as registered dietitian nutritionists is to translate the science of nutrition into applicable information for the public. I LOVE my job. I love working with parents, children, and families. Kids are different, and that’s only one aspect that is exciting. At every visit, the child has ...
Food and Fear Mongering
I generated some heat on social media yesterday stating that dietitians have an ethical responsibility to practice evidence-based medicine. Below are things I lay awake at night thinking about. I take great responsibility in what I tell patients/clients to do, knowing that advice can be helpful ...
