My passion
Marni Sumbal, MS, RD
It's no surprise that I love triathlons. During graduate school I wanted to become a strength and conditioning coach. I wanted to work with pro athletes, mostly working with football or basketball players. During my last semester of my masters I took a nutrition class with a free space in my schedule. I absolutely loved the class and since then I knew I wanted to do something with nutrition. I started running more and by then end of my Masters I had completed a marathon without knowing a lot about sports nutrition. After bonking for 5 miles of the Miami marathon in 2005 (miles 18-23) I wanted to learn more about sports nutrition. Since graduating with my masters in exercise physiology I have found a deep passion for sports nutrition. I am currently in the proces of getting classes together in order to go back to school and get my dietetic degree. I know the road will be a semi-long one but the next couple years will be worth it. Once I finish my dietetic courses and do my internship I can take the exam and hopefully I will fulfill my dream of being a registered dietician. Since graduating from grad school I have continued my education by reading, researching, writing and speaking. I have written many published articles on the internet in addition to an article in Triathlete magazine (not my Gatorade Athlete of the Month column) in the July 2007 issue (pg 140). I have had the opportunity to help so many people with their nutrition and it is such a reward to hear about people losing weight and/or improving performance. Through a detailed nutrition write-up based on a person's consultation form I am able to help people through the internet and continue helping that person reach their racing and weight loss goals. I wanted to post some of the comments i have received from some of the people I have helped. Congrats to all and I look forward to helping many more people!
"Marni, just wanted to let you know how the eating plan is going. i started last thursday and weighed 200lbs with clothes on. i have been eating about 5-6 times a day. mostly small meals of around 300-500 cals. the biggest difference i have noticed is that i'm not hungry very often. if i do get hungry its usually right before dinner so i have been eating a cheese stick or a few nuts to curb my appetite so i don't gorge myself at dinner. that helps a lot. today i weighed 193 with clothes on. of course most of that is water weight but i definitely feel like this is a way of eating that will be easy for me to continue and maintain for life. The best thing about the write up you gave me is that it covers all the training scenarios so i know how i should be eating under all those circumstances." -lost 7 lbs
"When I found myself at a loss for how to continue to improve my body composition and eat properly for my training and racing, I contacted Marni for help. She not only helped me properly apply the nutrition knowledge I had, she taught me about how to time my eating and helped me see several things I was doing that were counterproductive. Once I started doing the things Marni suggested not only did I drop the extra off-season weight quickly, my energy levels improved dramatically both in my training and my day to day life. It was important to me to seek out help from someone who understands the nutritional demands of triathlon." -lost over 30 lbs
"Marni, I am stsrting to get a fantastic reaction from people. Always being asked what am I doing to lose weight. Being told I look great, always nice and complete stranger stopped me in town yesterday and asked how I was doing it as she had been talking to her pals and wanted to know the 'secret'. LOL. So these things are nice and I take them and try to act modest. However it is more important to me know how my fueling will effect my ultimate goal of IM than how much I lose. (Still nice though). I have even started to think (dream) that I might actually stand a chance (faint) of one day qualifying for Kona." - lost over 35 lbs
"Wow! First, I'd like to say that I am very impressed because I have never seen anybody take the time to be this in depth. You defintely have a passion for what you do Marni and I look forward to working with you.Again, thanks Marni and I'm totally stoked that we'll be working together!" 1 week later.... "I've been feeling better overall by eating cleaner foods and staying away from constantly eating bars. I've lost 3lbs. in the last week so I think we're on track!" - lost 6 lbs in 5 weeks
"Hi! I wanted to thank you for the pre-marathon diet suggestions....that was really helpful"
"Just a quick update cause I'm feeling psyched about this today. I have officially lost a solid 10lbs. I am lighter than I've ever been since my husband has known me. (got together in 1994) Yeah!!Great feeling......but I need new clothes! That's fine by me! Thank you Marni. It feels great. I love going out for a run on a humid day and only wearing a jog bra. I never would before. I feel so fit and strong. Love it!" - Lost over 10 lbs, PR in 2 races, first time 70.3, top in age group
"Marni, just wanted to let you know how the eating plan is going. i started last thursday and weighed 200lbs with clothes on. i have been eating about 5-6 times a day. mostly small meals of around 300-500 cals. the biggest difference i have noticed is that i'm not hungry very often. if i do get hungry its usually right before dinner so i have been eating a cheese stick or a few nuts to curb my appetite so i don't gorge myself at dinner. that helps a lot. today i weighed 193 with clothes on. of course most of that is water weight but i definitely feel like this is a way of eating that will be easy for me to continue and maintain for life. The best thing about the write up you gave me is that it covers all the training scenarios so i know how i should be eating under all those circumstances." -lost 7 lbs
"When I found myself at a loss for how to continue to improve my body composition and eat properly for my training and racing, I contacted Marni for help. She not only helped me properly apply the nutrition knowledge I had, she taught me about how to time my eating and helped me see several things I was doing that were counterproductive. Once I started doing the things Marni suggested not only did I drop the extra off-season weight quickly, my energy levels improved dramatically both in my training and my day to day life. It was important to me to seek out help from someone who understands the nutritional demands of triathlon." -lost over 30 lbs
"Marni, I am stsrting to get a fantastic reaction from people. Always being asked what am I doing to lose weight. Being told I look great, always nice and complete stranger stopped me in town yesterday and asked how I was doing it as she had been talking to her pals and wanted to know the 'secret'. LOL. So these things are nice and I take them and try to act modest. However it is more important to me know how my fueling will effect my ultimate goal of IM than how much I lose. (Still nice though). I have even started to think (dream) that I might actually stand a chance (faint) of one day qualifying for Kona." - lost over 35 lbs
"Wow! First, I'd like to say that I am very impressed because I have never seen anybody take the time to be this in depth. You defintely have a passion for what you do Marni and I look forward to working with you.Again, thanks Marni and I'm totally stoked that we'll be working together!" 1 week later.... "I've been feeling better overall by eating cleaner foods and staying away from constantly eating bars. I've lost 3lbs. in the last week so I think we're on track!" - lost 6 lbs in 5 weeks
"Hi! I wanted to thank you for the pre-marathon diet suggestions....that was really helpful"
"Just a quick update cause I'm feeling psyched about this today. I have officially lost a solid 10lbs. I am lighter than I've ever been since my husband has known me. (got together in 1994) Yeah!!Great feeling......but I need new clothes! That's fine by me! Thank you Marni. It feels great. I love going out for a run on a humid day and only wearing a jog bra. I never would before. I feel so fit and strong. Love it!" - Lost over 10 lbs, PR in 2 races, first time 70.3, top in age group