Sports Performance Nutrition Counseling

Did you know that nutrition is typically the missing link to optimizing athletic potential? Knowing how to optimally fuel and refuel your body is essential to maximizing your athletic performance. Food selection and quantity as well as meal timing affect athletic performance, health and wellness. Yet, athletes often struggle with how to balance sports nutrition guidelines with eating for nourishment, fuel and enjoyment. This is why Mindful Fueling is key. 

What is Mindful Fueling? 

Mindful Fueling helps athletes find a healthy balance between sports nutrition guidelines and how best to nourish, fuel and hydrate their bodies. It involves developing a mindful eating practice that is centered around self-care. Curiosity, awareness, non-judgement and self-compassion are instrumental to Mindful Fueling. This approach places you, the athlete, in the driver’s seat. It enables athletes to make decisions regarding how best to nourish, fuel, and hydrate their bodies by observing their body’s internal cues and responses so that they can decide how best to apply sports nutrition guidelines to their sport, training schedule, food preferences and lifestyle to achieve peak athletic performance as well as reach optimal health and well-being.

For additional information on Mindful Sports Performance Fueling, check out the Am I Hungry?® mindful eating book for athletes, “Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat for Athletes: A Mindful Eating Program for Sports and Life” at

To learn more about mindful eating, visit: https://fitnutrition.net/what-is-mindful-eating/

Think. Fuel. Excel. TM

By applying Katie’s simply message of Think. Fuel. Excel. TM to how you fuel and hydrate your body you can maximize your energy and reach your full athletic potential.

Think. Why do I eat?

The first step to reaching your full athletic potential is to be aware of the reasons why you eat. Thinking about why you eat will help you eat mindfully and make conscious decisions about how you fuel and hydrate your body.

Fuel. What foods and drinks do I consume to fuel my body for performance?

The type and quality of fuel you choose affects your athletic performance. All foods can fit when applying the 4 principles of eating: balance, variety, moderation and enjoyment.

When do I fuel my body?

Nutrient timing is essential for peak energy, strength, speed, stamina, fluid balance and recovery.

Excel. How do mindful sports performance fueling and sport performance nutrition guidelines optimize my athletic performance?

Finding a healthy balance between nourishing, fueling and hydrating your body as well as eating for enjoyment will enable you to achieve peak energy, strength, speed, stamina, fluid balance and decrease recovery time.

Working together as a team you will learn how to optimally fuel your body which will lead to:

1. Peak performance. Your speed, strength, power and stamina will be at its best.

2. Improved academic performance, mood, and decision-making

3. Postponed fatigue and enhanced energy levels during exercise and all day long.

4. Better and faster recovery.

5. Minimized soreness and inflammation

6. Reduced injury risk and improved return-to-play time after injury or surgery.

7. Enhanced immunity.

8. Ability to excel at sports for many years.

The benefits of us working together are:

  • Explore reasons for wanting to make changes by discovering what motivates you.
  • Learn to enjoy all foods in the real world without depriving yourself by applying the four principles of eating: balance, variety, moderation and enjoyment.
  • Make peace with food and eliminate possible feelings of guilt/shame associated with eating.
  • Learn to use your hunger and fullness cues to decide when to start and stop eating by developing a mindful eating practice.
  • Recognize and reduce reasons for overeating and/or underfueling
  • Learn why dieting doesn’t work and can lead to disordered eating and eating disorders.
  • Develop a positive relationship with food and your body.
  • Understand how to apply scientifically-based sports nutrition guidelines to your specific sport, training regimen, and lifestyle
  • Find a healthy balance between training, recovery, and rest for optimal athletic performance, and enjoyable, sustainable physical activity for health and wellness.
  • Develop personalized skills and strategies that foster lasting change.
  • Support, compassion and encouragement throughout your journey to reach optimal health, wellness and athletic performance.

What does a typical Sports Performance Nutrition Counseling Session include?

Sessions may vary based upon your personal athletic goals.

Initial sports nutrition session typically includes:

1. Review your medical health history
2. Review current supplement &/or medications
3. Discuss your past and current relationships with food
4. Review current food and beverage experiences
5. Examine current lifestyle and food preferences
6. Explore reasons for wanting to make changes by discovering what motivates you
7. Discuss mindful eating and how you can begin to develop a mindful eating practice
8. Discuss the all-foods-fit approach to eating based on the 4 principles of eating: balance, variety, moderation and enjoyment
9. Challenge the diet mentality and the food police
10. Cultivate self-compassion based eating
11. Finding a balance between enjoyment movement and rest
12. Gentle nutrition and sports information that can be used as a guideline for making food decisions

o Determination of macronutrient requirements for optimal performance

o Review of the essential nutrients that affect athletic performance and also which many athletes are consuming inadequate amounts of

o Recommendations for how to consume appropriate intakes of essential nutrients from whole foods and beverages for optimal health and athletic performance

o A review of the foods and beverages that provide carbohydrates, protein and fat

Follow-up sessions include a review of the prior session, an evaluation of recent lifestyle changes, a discussion of how to accomplish any goals not yet achieved as well as relevant, cutting edge sports performance nutrition information.

All sessions are personalized to meet your specific needs and optimize your sports performance.

Topics that may be covered include:

o Peak performance meals and snacks.

o Meal timing for peak athletic performance and training.

o Sport specific guidelines for:

o optimally fueling and hydrating your body before, during and after training and competition

o Alcohol education (when appropriate).

o Eating on the go and when traveling.

o How to increase your antioxidant intake to reduce inflammation and decrease your recovery time.

o The benefits of a plant-based meal plan

o Supplements and performance enhancing aids:

  • Are they right for me?
  • Are they safe?
  • Recommendations and scientifically-based information.

Please contact me for additional information or to schedule an appointment.

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