Over the past few months, I have had some athletes ask “What can you do for me?” and “What does a sports dietitian do?”. I thought I would use this forum to briefly answer these questions in case you have had the same questions and are considering hiring a sports RD to help you in 2012.
Here is a sampling of what we at Fuel4mance do for our athletes:
- Provide guidance on daily nutrition food choices and combinations
- Periodize daily and training nutrition throughout the training year
- develop hydration strategies
- perform and interpret metabolic efficiency assessments
- evaluate dietary supplements, sports nutrition products and ergogenic aids; make recommendations if appropriate for your health status and your sport(s)
- coach on behavioral strategies to support your goals
- create race day nutrition and hydration plans
- educate how to shop and prepare simple meals and snacks
- work with athletes who have medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease
- we stay current with the latest sports nutrition research
- we practice what we preach
Here is a sampling of the benefits you may receive from our nutrition coaching:
- Stable blood sugar and energy levels during your day and during training
- Optimized nutrition to support improved health, healthy body weight and improved body composition
- Nutrition models to follow throughout the base, build, taper, and competition periods to support your energy needs
- Improvement in your body’s ability to utilize fatty acids for fuel
- Decreased risk of gastrointestinal distress (vomiting, bloating, cramping, diarrhea) during training and racing
- No over- or under- hydrating during training and racing, less risk of cramping
- Trusted, expert advice on healthy and safe ways to enhance your training, performance, recovery...from sports dietitians who are also athletes!
- You spend less time trying to decipher all of the sports nutrition philosophies in the media
- You find happiness in our “simple is sustainable” model
Hopefully this helps you see more of what we serve up and how you win. Think about these things as you start to work on your 2012 goals. When you’re ready to get on the Fuel4mance bus to a successful finish line, hop aboard!
Dina Griffin, MS, RD, CSSD
Sport Dietitian
dina@fuel4mance.com
