Happy 2021! My Heartfelt Message To Athletes.....

Dear athlete, 

On the first day of the New Yearm you are likely reflecting on the past twelve months. The New Year brings with it excitement for new beginnings and hope for a better future. As you look ahead to the upcoming year, you may be planning your New Year goals, resolutions or intentions as a way to officially begin anew. 

Although goal-setting is an important component in the journey of self-improvement, I ask that you carefully think through your New Year, New You thoughts, actions and behaviors. 

The New Year symbolizes a time when most people resolve to make changes in health. I'm assuming that one of your New Year goals involves your diet, training, body composition or health. Even if you have great intentions with your New Year goals, I am concerned. Because the month of January is so deeply rooted in making changes in body size, shape or weight - supported by the toxic diet culture - I am extremely worried about how your current thoughts about your body size or health will influence your new nutrition strategies and training regime. 

I see and hear about it year after year.........

A seemingly simple resolve to become a faster, stronger, healthier or better athlete takes a downward spiral due to extreme measures. Although being driven, disciplined and highly motivated are great qualities to help you achieve athletic excellence, these same qualities can put you at higher risk for mental and physical health issues, an exercise addiction or an eating disorder. Because of the normalization of disordered eating and obsessive exercising among the athletic population, it can be incredibly difficult for you to recognize the difference between your self-care and self-sabotaging behaviors. 

As a Board Certified Sport Dietitian, many athletes come to me for help with daily and sport nutrition. Not surprisingly, far too many athletes try to optimize performance at the cost of mental and physical health. Sometimes this is unintentional, but many times it is from an intentional desire to achieve the idealized body in the name of sport. 

Because of an ongoing obsession with weight and performance, alongside the cultural norms of disordered eating and exercise behaviors falsely labeled as a "lifestyle change," I had to do something.

I will no longer sit by as a concerned outsider, watching you damage your physical health, destroy your mental well-being and sabotage your athletic capabilities. 

This is why I create The Whole Athlete.

There's nothing wrong with being motivated and dedicated. But when your extreme drive and perfectionistic qualities show up in your eating habits and exercise regime, your intentions can do more harm than good. Add in the pressure of wanting to be lean due to sport expectations and a societal obsession with health, I hope you can now understand how your good intentions can lead to unhealthy outcomes.

Taking health risks for a perceived competitive edge will make you lose in the long run. No matter your athletic goals or fitness level, you should not have to prioritize your athletic development over your well-being.

If this speaks to you, I create a program to help you get more out of your training without compromising your mental and physical health. Through The Whole Athlete 6-lesson course, you will learn how diet culture, a societal obsession with health and the chase for an ideal race weight could be negatively impacting your training, mental well-being and physical health. Once you understand why you think how you think about food, health and your body, you can fix the distorted views that you've developed. You can try out an intro course for free. The 6-lesson course will officially open on January 3rd. 

I care about your health. I also want you to succeed in sport. To help you truly optimize your health and performance, I want to remind you that overall wellness involves taking care of your mind, not just your physical self. 

As you look ahead to the upcoming year, please think about how you want to live your life and not what you want to look like. Remember, your thoughts drive your actions. 

Don't forget to thank your body. Give it credit for all it has allowed you to do and be grateful for what it continues to let you do in life. 

-Marni

What defines a healthy diet?

Food is fuel and nourishment. Your diet should include food that you enjoy. Eating should never cause anxiety, worry, guilt or frustration. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Every individual comes to the table with a unique food history - which shouldn’t be ignored when creating a personal nutrition plan. For example, an athlete may understand the importance of nourishing the body with proper nutrition, but when having to negotiate a packed work schedule and the diet needs/likes/dislikes of your family and/or spouse, it may be difficult to make nutritious choices that help you meet your body composition and performance goals. And in our weight and image-obsessed culture, trying to match energy intake to energy output may be tricky if you have a complicated relationship with body image. But for you to remain in good health, the daily diet is key. This means taking the time to learn about the nutrients that your body needs to function properly, and having a practical game-plan of how to turn this knowledge into action.

Proper nutrition is essential for all bodies. Whether you exercise for 30-minutes a day a few days a week or train for 15+ hours a week, your diet is the only vehicle that delivers nutrients to your body. These nutrients are required to support your overall health, supply your body with essential nutrients, reduce risk for disease, maintain a healthy body composition and power you through your busy work day A nutritious diet that supports your daily activity level will keep your body functioning at its best.

Because not all calories are created equal, learn to see food differently. It's the composition of your diet that helps you meet your nutritional needs - not individual foods or macronutrients.

Don't neglect proper eating until a setback occurs. Through education and a smart action plan, you can optimize health, delay fatigue, change body composition in a healthy way and consistently improve athletic performance.

The three macronutrients – carbohydrates, protein and fat – are required in relatively large amounts. Carbohydrates, like fruit, bread, potatoes and vegetables, are used as an immediate source of energy or stored in your muscles (glycogen) as a quick fuel source during intense and long training sessions. The liver both stores and produces glucose (digested carbs) for your brain and to stabilize circulating blood sugar levels. Protein, such as chicken, fish, milk or tofu, is not a preferred energy source during exercise but when broken down into amino acids (building blocks of protein), your body can use this nutrient to maintain, build and repair tissues. Fat is a slow, but long-lasting, source of energy. Foods like olive oil, nut butter, seeds and avocado are needed to support cellular growth, protect organs and support your hormonal health. Fat is also important for hormonal health and to keep you satisfied. Plus, fat tastest good! Micronutrients, like iron, B12, calcium and magnesium, are equally as important but are consumed in much smaller quantities. Although specific nutrients play a beneficial role in your health and performance, it’s the synergy of nutrients that greatly affect your well-being, recovery, sleep, mood, body composition and fitness.

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be overly complicated. It’s not about strict rules, eliminating food groups, counting calories or depriving yourself of foods that you love to eat. Improving the nutritional quality of your diet doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to change everything all at once. Like your love of physical activity or sport, think of your diet as something that you want to stick with for the rest of your life. Make small changes to keep you satisfied, energized and fueled, without feeling deprived. Prioritize nutrient-dense, real food, packed with vitamins and minerals. When cutting back on nutrient empty foods like chips, candies or soda, don’t view these foods as “off limit” – this will only heighten cravings and make you feel like a failure if giving in to temptation. A healthy diet is supported with a nutritious foundation but includes "extra" foods for enjoyment. As with most things in life, don’t make healthy eating complicated. 

Do you fall victim to fad diets?

How many times have you fallen victim to the dieting trap?

-Restrict food to try to lose weight or to gain control over food choices.
-Feel deprived.
-Crave foods you are restricting.
-Feel miserable, isolated or confused.
-Give into temptation and eat off-limit food.
-Mentally beat yourself up for eating something you shouldn't be eating and think "What the heck. I failed again so I may as well eat it all."
-Feel guilty, uncomfortable and anxious. Become overly critical of your body. Feel like a failure. Get angry. Blame yourself for not having willpower.
-Binge eat or give up on the diet and go back to your old ways of eating.
-Begin the cycle again.

If you are one of the 45 million Americans who go on a diet each year, please keep these important reminders in mind when you consider a new/popular diet as a new way of eating.

• Dieting affects your self-esteem. You don't fail at dieting, the diet fails you.
• Diets severly restrict your food choices, making you feel deprived. In return, the desire to eat "off limit" food increases.
• You blame willpower for not thriving on your new diet but body is likely not receiving the energy and nutrients it needs to function at its best. 
• Dieting makes food the enemy. As a result, dieting can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food and unhealthy behaviors such as fasting, binging, excessive exercising, food obsession, social isolation and skipping meals. 
• It's common that eating disorders start off as dieting. 
• It's difficult to love our body and diet at the same time. To respect and care for your body, you must nourish and fuel your body. 
• Food does not need to be labeled "good or bad." Labeling food as bad suggests that if you eat a certain food, you are a "bad" person. 
• Food doesn't fix feelings or emotions. When you feel anxious, bored, lonely, stressed or upset, find ways to comfort yourself without food. 
• Get in touch wih your body's signs of hunger, fullness and satisfaction. Learn to eat more mindfully. 
• Don't use exercise as a way to lose weight. Exercise because it feels good - mentally and physically - to be active. 
• Eat for health, not weight loss. A sustainable diet is balanced, non-restrictive and easy to maintain for a lifetime. 

Ahhh, I need to lose weight!!

As an athlete, you probably feel that you work very hard to develop the necessary skills, resilience, stamina, power, speed and endurance to help you prepare for your upcoming athletic events. Developing the fitness to participate in a running or triathlon event requires a lot of training and it takes commitment and requires patience, so it's assumed that skipping workouts, being "all in" all the time, not caring, deviating from your training plan to do what other athletes are doing, or haphazardly guessing your way through training are not effective ways to reach your race day goals. You simply become inconsistent with training, you lose confidence in what you are doing and you may compromise your health.

Is nutrition an important component of your training?

If you don't work at healthy eating, you miss out on one of the best opportunities to improve your performance and to keep your body in good health. To perform at your best, your body needs to function at it's best and the best fuel comes from a healthy, balanced and well-planned and timed diet.

So what's an athlete to do if weight loss is a goal, alongside performance/fitness improvements? And for the purpose of this article, I'm speaking about weight loss that brings you to a healthy weight and not weight loss for aesthetics, to show off your abs or to tone up your butt or to lose a few vanity pounds.

I can't say it enough but eating a healthy diet as an athlete is not easy. When your time is limited, you are exhausted from training, energy expenditure is high, you get up early to workout and your appetite is ever-so unpredictable, energy comes and goes and you are tired and sore, developing the SKILLS to maintain a healthy diet as an athlete takes a lot of work.

Most athletes would rather put the time into training than to work on improving dietary habits but this strategy does not work. You see, if you don't work on developing healthy eating habits in your early season, how do you expect to carry healthy habits with you as your training volume and intensity increase as the season progresses?

Healthy eating and performance fueling requires education, trial and error, a lot of planning, commitment, organization and an open-mind. Most athletes need help to learn how to eat healthy as an athlete. Because of this, there are many credible professionals that specialize in helping athletes learn how to eat a healthy diet and how to eat for performance, so that you can develop healthy daily habits and smart fueling and hydration strategies in order to make the best food choices possible throughout the day and before, during and after workouts, in order to reach athletic excellence.

With so much nutritional advice available at your fingertips and a lot of overly confident nutrition experts, it's important that in your attempt to lose weight, you understand and accept that there are significant physical, psychological, emotional and social changes associated with dieting. Asking an athlete to restrict calories, starve the body of nutrients or avoid/restrict carbohydrates, when energy expenditure is high, can cause great emotional, cognitive and behavioral symptoms that are performance and health limiting....NOT ENHANCING. Intentional or not, when athletes do not "eat enough", the body systems become compromised and you feel horrible.

Dieting, or restrictive eating, may cause food obsessions, social isolation, fatigue, weakness, hormonal issues, bone loss, irritability, body temperature changes, anxiety, depression, low blood sugar, sleep disturbances and the desire or motivation that you once had to do what you love to do with your body is no longer a driving force to keep you present in your sport. Instead, your mind is obsessed with your body and not on performance or health.

Seeing that so many negative physical and psychological issues develop when exercise and nutrition are taken to the extreme, there must be a stop to all of this talk on "righteous, good vs bad, eliminate whole food groups, sugar is bad, don't use sport nutrition, fasted workout" eating. This is NOT a healthy approach to weight loss. Sadly, there are far too many misinformed athletes that do not have a good perspective on what is needed in the diet and before, during and after workouts, in order to keep the body in good health while working for fitness improvements. 

As for the athletes who ignore fad diets and work hard to organize and plan the diet in order to eat "enough" and fine-tune details like proper fueling and hydration for individual needs (often working with a sport dietitian), well, those are the athletes to look-up to on race day because not only are they having a lot of fun in training but they are fit, fast, healthy and prepared on race day. These athletes don't diet or obsess about body image, but they give themselves permission to eat, indulge and fuel for performance and well, a better overall quality of life.

If you are trying to lose weight for health and/or performance reasons, you should not have to devote every minute of your day eating or training as you try to lose weight. And never should you have to use extreme exercise and food restriction in order to achieve or to maintain your "goal" weight.

It makes me so sad to hear that there are so many athletes who feel so unhappy with their body shape, size or weight. Worrying all day about what to or not to eat, trying not to eat "too much" and grinding out workouts on empty just to look differently. When you restrict yourself from food, you don't become a better athlete. Instead, you become weak, tired and withdrawn. Extreme exercising to burn calories or to reward yourself with food is not performance enhancing and it's not health promoting. You can't perform well with this type of lifestyle. You may think that you look fitter but you may not be able to do much with your body. The mindset to be "thinner to be a winner" is not worth the price that your body has to pay when you are energy deprived and trying to train consistently.

Seeing that there is a safe way and an unhealthy way to lose weight, ask yourself the following YES or NO questions to see if you are taking a smart approach to weight loss?

-You have drastically cut out a significant amount of calories?
-You are avoiding specific food groups?
-You are frustrated that you are not losing weight fast enough?
-You are intentionally avoiding taking in calories before and during workouts?
-You have your weight on your mind when you are working out?
-You are finding yourself overeating on the weekends because you "deserve it"?
-You feel irritable and moody, often low in energy and hungry?
-You feel confident that you can maintain this type of diet for the rest of your life, and be happy?

A smart eating approach maintains energy levels as you change your body composition. A smart eating approach does not negatively affect your health.
A smart eating approach does not limit you from food groups.
A smart eating approach keeps you training consistently. 
A smart eating approach helps you get fit, fast and strong.
A smart eating approach is sustainable and sets you up for a lifestyle of healthy eating habits. 

If you have recently found yourself saying "Ahhh, I need to lose weight!!" remind yourself that it won't come from a diet, weight will not rapidly fall off, there's no quick fix and you can't maintain good health and optimize your performance with a rigid and restrictive style of eating.  

Not sure if you can safely and confidently lose weight on your own, without affecting your health and/or performance?

Don't use forums and the internet for advice.

Reach out to a Board Certified Sport Dietitian for help. 

Nail your 2017 nutrition goals

There is a lot of information available to athletes on the topics of nutrition, specifically as it relates to how food can change your body composition, improve your health and boost your performance.

I think it is safe to assume that most athletes view food as a naturally safe way to boost athletic performance and the diet as a method of changing body composition.

But with so much information available to athletes, the topics of eating for health, eating for fuel, eating to change body composition and so forth, can make the simple topic of "diet for athlete" so confusing and overwhelming.

Due to information overload, I wouldn't be surprised if you are one of the many athletes who have explored (or tried) a dietary trend or fad at least once a year (likely around January) in an effort to get your diet under control in order to change body composition.

The interesting thing about a diet trend is the unique marketing of the dietary strategy which accurately identifies everything that you are doing wrong (insert you saying "this diet is exactly what I need!") and finds a sneaky way to convince you that this diet is the only way to fix your issues.

At Trimarni, we do not restrict food in any way.
We do not diet or jump on any hot sport nutrition trends or fads.
We apply research to real world settings but we always put our health before performance.

We eat a balanced diet every day of the year, we use sport nutrition products properly and we eat before and after our workouts.
Food has a positive role in our life and it enhances our performance and keeps us healthy.
There's no extreme method of eating (or not eating) and absolutely no food rules or off-limit food list.

Doesn't this sound peaceful and reassuring that this style of eating really does exist?

Sadly, you may still be searching for a diet plan.

If you want to create a sustainable style of eating, there's no better time than right now, when your training volume is low and you have extra time in your day to spend on your lifestyle habits, to focus on yourself and your own nutritional needs and to create a great relationship with food and the body.

As a qualified nutrition expert (Board Certified Sport Dietitian), it's important to me to remain a great nutrition role model to my coaching athletes but also to the public, as I know many athletes follow Trimarni and obtain services from Trimarni.

If you insist on changing your diet in 2017 without the help of a nutrition expert, I hope you find value in my latest Triathlete Magazine article (pg 56) as I share a few simple smart nutrition tips to kick start your nutritional success in 2017.

Did/Will your "healthy" diet turn unhealthy?

If you have been trying to train your way to great fitness with a dieting mentality, you better believe that in your attempt to improve performance, you may actually be becoming less healthy.

Don’t assume that just because you are an athlete, that health and fitness are interrelated because for many athletes, they are not.

Just because you can run for 2 hours, swim 4000 yards or bike 100 miles, perhaps all in a weekend, this doesn’t mean that you are healthy, especially if you are not fueling and eating adequately and making smart lifestyle habits (like good sleep, good stress management, etc.).  

I have witnessed many athletes who are extremely active, look fit or are dedicated to training, yet when it comes to making smart choices with their diet, they are either too extreme and restricted or too careless and negligent.    

Have you or someone you know, experienced one or more of the following while training for an event? 

Hormonal dysfunction, poor bone health, stress fractures, decreased thyroid output, increased cortisol, impaired mood and cognitive functioning, suppressed immune function, muscle catabolism, anemia, inadequate hydration, hypoglycemia, constipation, diarrhea, anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, interrupted sleep, inflammation, sudden/chronic loss of motivation, trouble sleeping/restless sleep, preoccupation with food, eating disorder, nutrient deficiencies, unintentional weight gain or loss, chronic muscle cramps/weakness, kidney issues, adrenal fatigue, cardiovascular stress, respiratory issues, gastrointestinal disturbances, nausea, intense headaches, skeletal, tendon and ligament injuries, thinning hair, decline in performance. 

Whereas we all know that injuries and sickness are typical health issues that affect athletes (especially endurance and high intensity athletes and new athletes), the above list features some of the health issues that are becoming more and more common among athletes, especially new or endurance athletes, due to not fueling properly around and during workouts, training too intensely or too long or due to food or calorie restrictive diets.

The physical demands of training and racing, especially in endurance events can be so extreme that it is no surprise that many athletes are unable to maximize performance and keep their body in good health at the same time. 

But, when an athlete intentionally restricts food, sport nutrition or calories in an effort to lose weight or to get leaner, you can see why health issues, beyond sickness and injuries, can occur. 

And the above list does is not a list that should be brushed off as "well, I'm training for an event and this feeling/issue is "normal".

If you do want a change in muscle or body fat for performance or health and want to ensure that your season is not derailed due to a nutrient deficiency, low energy availability or a complicated health issue, you must have an appropriate, safe plan to ensure that health is not compromised in the process of improving performance.  

If a body composition modification is a desired goal to enhance performance, the methods should not be strict, limited or extreme. You should allow for gradual weight loss (not a quick fix), without extreme food restrictions, excessive exercising, unsafe behaviors (starving, purging, laxatives) or use of weight loss supplements.   

If there is too much focus on what not to eat in an effort to be thin, rather than what to eat in order to win, an obsession and hyperawareness with food may intensify disordered eating patterns, which could turn into a clinical eating disorder and severely affect your health and quality of life. 

If you are constantly focused on the outcome, like being a great fat burner and/or getting leaner, you will find a constant struggle as to how you can actually improve your performance to be fit enough to race well on race day while intentionally trying to lose weight.

Ironically, when you put emphasis into how to train and eat in order to optimize performance, thus becoming "performance adapted", favorable body composition changes occur naturally because you are trained, fit and strong for your upcoming event.

Athletes, it is time to forget the diet mentality. Let’s make peace with food. Stop associating all of your health, performance and body issues with carbohydrates. 

Instead of trying to manipulate your diet or training regime to become better fat adapted, how about train and eat in a way that helps you become more performance adapted. 

Please love your body in motion. 

Respect it with food and exercise. 

Stop the body bashing, food restriction and overexercising.

YOU are an athlete.

Train smart, fuel smart and don’t forget to thank your awesome body.

Athletes, please don't diet.

A few things are going to happen in the next few months.

In a few weeks, you will see and hear a lot of people trying to kick-start a new way of "healthy" eating in order to lose weight. People will say they are ready to get "back on track" and may say other things like "I'm going to be so good" "I'm so tired of being fat" "I ate so bad over the holidays" "I need to get beach body ready."
Sometimes, people will talk about making a lifestyle change for a health improvement.

In a few months, I can assure you that most of these people will find it difficult to maintain their "healthy" eating plan if the plan was not realistic, flexible or non-extreme.  But if the plan was extreme and strict, they will likely say "I couldn't follow it any longer," feeling like a failure (crazy how diet plans make you feel like that) and move on to the next diet plan.

But for you, the athlete, you don't need to do anything drastic and you certainly should never ever think like this.
Why?
Because your lifestyle choices keep you healthy. Even if you indulge a bit, eat too much at times or occasional stop for fast food, in general, you probably live a lifestyle that is conducive to health improvements.

But if you think like the normal population and try to diet (restrict food, mega calorie restriction, don't fuel/hydrate properly), as you advanceyour training, your body may not be as healthy as you think.

So let me remind you of one very important thing before you begin to bash your body and seek a quick fix to feel better in your skin.
First off, your body is amazing. Don't forget to thank your body every now and then. You ARE allowed to to experience a change in your body composition throughout the year and you should NOT be going into every workout seeing it as a weight loss intervention.

Secondly, in a few months, you are going to experience an increase in your training intensity and volume as you begin to prepare your body for you upcoming races. Guess what, without even trying, you will be burning more calories than you have been in the last few months and there's a good chance that if you fuel and eat according to your metabolic and health needs, your body will change naturally - without dieting!
In order to experience the performance gains that you aspire to achieve this coming season, it is critical that you stay healthy and not get injured and you can do this with a healthy diet and understanding how to fuel properly before/during/after workouts.

Only consistent quality training will take your fitness to the next level so if your body is not fueled properly, you are not going to sleep or recover well, have the motivation or energy to train, strength to keep good form or energy to tolerate your training load.
And if you aren't fueled well, you will find it hard for your body to respond well to training and get faster, stronger and more powerful (because this is what you really want, right?
I hope you aren't signing up for racing just to try to get lean???)

So in all honesty, any diet plan that you are thinking about following in a few weeks will likely increase the risk for inconsistency in training as you need a very healthy, strong and well-fueled body to tolerate all of your planned training stress.
And you DO NOT need to change your body composition in January (and even if you tried, you probably won't see results for several weeks and this may leave you frustrated, forcing you to make more extreme choices with your eating and working out).

So, if you want a change with your health, body composition, performance or quality of life, why keep doing the same things over and over and over and over again?

If you want a different result, you have to make a long-lasting change.
Respect your sport.
Respect your body.
You are an athlete.
Not an exerciser who needs to diet.

Are you ready to make that change?

No more diet plans.
No more quick fixes.
No more body bashing.
No more just getting by.

Don't you think 2016 is a great year to see what you are truly capable of achieving as an athlete AND stay healthy and strong?

If so, start thinking about how you can make 2016 great for you and your body.

If you don't know where to start with your diet in order to make sure that you are not over/under eating, that you maintain a healthy relationship with food and your body all season long and that you fuel properly to support your training load, consult with a sport RD who can help. 

Healthy eating without following a diet plan

Healthy Eating Without Following a Diet Plan

(for the original source, visit USA Triathlon multisport zone)

By Marni Sumbal, MS, RD

All fitness enthusiasts and athletes must understand the importance of consuming a balanced, wholesome diet. And above all, this diet shouldn't leave you unsatisfied, without energy, feeling isolated, requiring an excessive amount of planning and prep or costing you a lot of money. It’s time to start thinking about food for fuel and health. 

Here are six tips for eating a healthy diet without following a diet plan.

1. What's your motivation to change? If you feel the need to eliminate or add certain foods to the diet, be sure to have a really good reason to do so. A good reason would be doctor's/dietitian's orders or lab work that reflects the need to place emphasis on certain areas of your diet. Weight loss is typically a top priority for most people wanting to change nutrition habits but a better focus would be on what you can do with your body when you start eating healthier. Maybe less sick days, reducing risk for cancer, being around longer for your grandkids/spouse, having more energy, taking better care of your body, performing better, having less focus on food and more focus on living life to the fullest? Whatever your reason may be, let a change in body composition be that added bonus as your health is always top priority.

2. Create a positive food environment. Stock your kitchen with everything you need to prepare wholesome foods at home and store leftovers in Tupperware. And don't forget the foods that you want to eat as well. I recommend shopping every three to four days when you are transitioning to a more real food diet so that you do not overwhelm yourself with a lot of produce and then find yourself throwing it out after a week. Think of what you can keep in your pantry, refrigerator and freezer for easy and healthy meal prep.

3. Don't be perfect; aim for progress.
Create a very simple lifestyle log to plan your day. The diet mentality is to log your day as or after it happened and this often doesn't initiate change but instead guilt, control and self-defeat. Instead, create a plan for yourself. When you think about what you will eat before or after workouts, for your three meals and then snacking with a purpose, you have a better opportunity to set yourself up for success. Not only do you have a plan for staying nourished and satisfied but you are now forced to make sure you have those food items available which reduces the risk for overeating later in the day as well as going long hours without eating (or eating on a whim). This also helps the athlete fuel better so that pre- and post-workout nutrition isn't an afterthought.

4. Rethink your plate.
I'm all about  a plant strong plate. You can pick your protein choice. Fill up your plate with fresh foods, packed with vitamins and minerals. Your plate should never limit fats, carbs or protein so find a way to create that beautiful plate that leaves you satisfied and feeling great about your meals. If you can't do this on your own, have a dietitian who specializes in sport nutrition help you plan your diet to support your active lifestyle and health goals.

5. Get in the kitchen!
Do I even need to give you a reason as to why you should cook more? Don't find the time to cook, make the time.

6. Give it time.
Don't expect to change everything overnight. Focus on a few changes every one to two weeks so you can make that lifestyle change. Be sure to have a strong, supportive team around you who will keep you motivated and inspired to learn how to eat for fuel and for health. Also keep in mind that even though you may find yourself questioning your new or improved eating habits, your diet is created by you and for you. You have your reason for your dietary changes and you are making these changes for the right reasons. You are not chasing a body image or wanting a quick fix but instead, you are taking the time to make a lifestyle change. Enjoy this wonderful journey that you are taking your body on as you learn how to eat for fuel and for health and how to develop a great relationship with food and your body.

Marni Sumbal, MS, RD, LD/N is the owner of Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition, LLC and holds a master of science in exercise physiology, is a USA Triathlon Certified Coach and a nine-time IRONMAN finisher. She enjoys public speaking, writing, plant-strong cooking and traveling. She will be racing in her 4th IM World Championship this October with her husband Karel. Learn more at trimarnicoach.com.

The views expressed in this article are the opinion of the author and not necessarily the practices of USA Triathlon. Before starting any new diet or exercise program, you should check with your physician and/or coach.

2015 diet plans

Hello 2015!!!
The best time of the year to start a diet!! 
Big feast, lots of treats/sweets, off your typical routine. 

You have gone a bit overboard and now feel as if you have sinned with overindulgence or enough is enough and you are tired of your flaws and you have self-criticized yourself enough that you now have all the motivation in the world to finally start that diet plan. 

Sure, these are all things associated with the holiday season but they are also associated with individuals who seek diets. 

And let me tell you about diets these days...they are all over the place in terms of the rules, guidelines and promises that they make. 

What's always the same? 

They offer best-seller books and cookbooks because the media loves the attention that the diet is getting. You know about the diet because it's all over social media. Of course, those who aren't on the diet don't talk about it and those not on social media, well, they aren't in your bubble to talk about it so it certainly seems like everyone is doing it.

These diets, well, they have big results that make you believe that this diet is a life changer and convince you that as long as you "stick to the plan" you will lose weight and feel better. And above all, they have a tough love type of appeal - as you read the diet plan information, you can't help but think about what's not going well in your diet and although it may be the processed food you have heavily relied on for the past few years, the inability to pass on any sweet that comes your way, your lack of desire for home cooking, your unhealthy relationship with food, your lack of understanding about how to fuel for your workout/training routine or your lack of motivation to make a few healthy swaps in your diet, you go big and you know that a diet plan will not let you down because they told you if you followed the plan exactly (no slip-ups, cheat days or off-moments) you will change your life. 

   Lowered blood pressure, reduced diabetes risk/controlling diabetes, renal disease, improved cardiovascular health, reduced risk for cancer, GERD, IBS, Celiac disease, Crohn's - did you know that there are specific, clinical diets that have been studied for decades and the "diet" will assist in a positive way to control symptoms in all of these conditions? 

By why start there when you can follow a diet that cures everything....even what you don't have!

Just eliminate sugar, dairy, legumes and grains and eat real food, your gut will be healed forever, your hormones will be balanced forever and you will never have inflammation ever again!
Interesting that these days, no diet talks about the big reasons why people die -  the conditions that have a high mortality rate like heart disease, cancer, stroke, lung disease.

Interesting that these days everyone is so concerned with their gut, inflammation and hormones and the diet plans understand this. Perhaps they can make you feel better by eliminating food but show me the science that these diets will improve longevity and quality of life?

If you have a serious gut, inflammatory or hormonal issue, visit a doctor, get extensive testing and work with a RD. You are an individual so treat yourself as one. 

Food freedom
As a former clinical RD who has a lot of experience working with athletes who athletes who have clinical issues/food intolerances which require dietary changes, I understand how life-changing it can be to have to change the diet. Although a diet change can make that person feel better, it is not easy to know that you have to abide by certain dietary guidelines for the rest of your life in order to control your situation or manage the symptoms. The diets you see that are popping up all over the internet  they are for everyone but they often promote that they are for those who have clinical issues.
The rapid rise of gluten free cookbooks and blogs is fantastic....for those who have celiac disease or a severe gluten intolerance.

But let me tell you this, the moment you find out you have a disease or a food allergy, your life changes forever. You no longer have food freedom. You quickly learn what food elimination is all about because it is not temporary. There is no cheat day or I'll be better tomorrow.

If you do not have a clinical condition, consider yourself extremely lucky that you do not have to deal with these things on a day to day basis.

When was the last time you thought about your food freedom? The ability to eat what you want, when you want, anytime. It doesn't matter if that food makes you feel good or bad but rather, the freedom that your food choices are not limited by a clinical situation related to your well-being.

Talk to someone who has Crohn's, lupus or Celiac disease, live a week with them and you will quickly learn what "gluten-free" or food restriction is really all about and talk to that person about the symptoms she/he experiences when she/he eats foods that are "off limit" - it's far more serious than the inflammation, gas or bloating that can be eliminated by going gluten-free.

The ultimate goal of any individual, regardless of clinical issues, is to eat the most varied diet possible and not feel food-restricted so that food ultimately enhances life and improves health.

Feeling "off"
So once again, I hear ya! What's not to love about a diet that cures all diseases and conditions and makes you so healthy that you have no choice but to be so happy in life with your lifestyle changing, "non calorie-counting"  diet?

Anytime you overindulge, it's normal to feel a little off. It doesn't matter if it's in the entire month of November and December or 5 days of traveling - we have all been there.
If you are off your routine, it's easy to feel guilty or as if you are failing on your weight loss/body composition goals. 

So my question to you is, how do you define you idea of "ON". What's typical for you that makes you feel great about how you are eating?

A few days here or there of overindulging will not set you back in your weight loss/body composition goals and is perfectly normal and even healthy. The biggest problem with overindulging is how you feel afterward. But more so, it's not just a feeling but the actions that follow. 

For many people, there is no shortage of motivation to start a diet plan on January 1st because it follows the holiday season. It's a great time of the year to start fresh and begin a new journey. Not sure why our society doesn't have the same mentality about birthdays as the New Year is a mass celebration whereas your birthday celebrates your time on Earth.
But regardless, due to the way you may be feeling after the holidays, you may find it very hard to separate the methods of eating to improve health vs eating to lose weight.
You just want a change and you need it to feel better about yourself, your body or how you are living life.

I get that and I can't blame you for thinking that way. 

If you currently feel "off" right now, you must ask yourself what your diet looked like when you were feeling "on". If you feel your diet is typically very balanced and nourishing, you probably have the foundation in place, you just need to get back to your routine and I'm sure you will have no trouble achieving that come January 2nd. 

But if you feel "off" right now and motivation is really high to kick-start a new (or previous) diet plan, you must be careful of what diet plan you are super excited to follow to regain your great health or to help you reach your weight/body composition goals. If you have no "on", anything will sound better than what you are doing now or have been doing for the past x-months. 

If you have ever had experience dieting come the New Year, you may have noticed that most diet plans promise huge results and offer a quick fix. They probably won't make you feel this way at first and when you fail the diet, you will only blame yourself.

One of the biggest issues with dieting is the process that you put yourself through to get healthy or to change your body composition. Diet plans are products. You buy it (or buy into it) and then you "use" it. But when you can no longer adhere to the rules or the plan, you blame yourself for giving-in, cheating and not being disciplined enough. So, essentially, you fail the plan and it's on to the next diet or you try to buy-in one more time. 

I can't deny that most diets (if not all) will help you lose weight if you stick to them. But weight loss doesn't mean improved health. It makes no sense to change your body composition if you do not experience an improvement in health or quality of life. (Please agree with me on this). 

So if you think about starting a diet plan, it should be one that makes you healthier than prior to starting the plan. Not deprived, not hungry, not starving, not restricted, not isolated, not sick, not broke and not unhappy.

But of course, I am speaking to those who have food abundance. Sadly, 805 million people in this world are undernourished. Yet in America, we obsess about what not to eat, we throw out food that is "bad", we eliminate food to make us be healthy and more active. And what's crazy is that once the processed and fast food is gone in your diet (which is a big culprit of health issues in the USA), you begin to eliminate real food that can actually nourish someone who is hungry and malnourished!

But our society doesn't think like that. We don't think about those who don't have food because we are too busy talking about how easy it is to change our diet by the next time meal time comes around. 

A diet should not make you develop an unhealthy relationship with food. 

In 2015, I encourage you to stop dieting. Dieting is not a lifestyle, it's a product that you use until you are tired with it or can't follow the rules. Many times it does not serve you well long-term. 

I spend most of my time with athletes discussing their relationship with food. It's not exciting, it's not extreme, it's not hardcore and it's not media-catchy. It doesn't happen overnight so it's certainly no quick fix. 

But, it's life changing. 

In a diet and body image obsessed society, it's very difficult for many athletes/fitness enthusiasts to create and maintain a healthy relationship with food and the body. Dieting, food restriction and dietary fads fuel the fire when it comes to moving further away from improved body image confidence and understanding of how food makes you feel. 

Eating healthy

Healthy eating is extremely important and we are all in our own individual quest to be as healthy as can be. Your definition of healthy may be different than the next person and your methods of improving health may be unlike your best friend or significant other. But when you feel pressure on January 1st to follow the crowd and follow a diet plan (even if it's termed "lifestyle change") you must develop long term methods to healthy eating. 

Diets have a start and an end but a lifestyle change means you are focusing on sustainable changes. They aren't big nor extreme but manageable and realistic. They don't always make your body change quickly and that may make you feel like you are failing and question needing a new plan. 

But let's not forget one very important thing - with every change you consciously decide to make in your life, it should make you a better person. If it's a change in the diet, it should make you healthier. If it's a change in your workout routine, it should make you fitter. And if it's a change in your personal life, it should help you live better. 

Changes don't produce quick results.

I am trying my hardest but I know that many people are 100% set on following a diet plan in 2015. If anything, there's going to be a lot of support and enthusiasm for following a plan in January and you will have no shortage of motivation at the start of the New Year. 

Because it is my passion to help athletes and fitness enthusiasts learn how to create a healthier relationship with food and the body, I want to help you understand a few key points that you need to consider when changing your diet this New Year. 

Stay tuned for m Part II: Diet tips

12 reasons why you shouldn't diet

Have you found yourself (for non clinical reasons) recently eliminating food sources or food groups titled dairy, sugar, grains, gluten, refined foods, carbs or un-natural in an effort to eat more “clean” or because those foods are bad?

It’s ok to have good intentions with diet changes as you want to better understand what foods work best for your body in motion but extreme dietary shifts in eating patterns are one of the most common red flag signs that you may be developing (or furthering) your unhealthy relationship with food and your body.

Sure, improvements in any area of life require attention and perhaps some degree of obsession but when your eating/food thoughts and habits are all-consuming and have taken over your life, it’s time to re-evaluate your relationship with food.

If you are a performance-driven athlete, keep in mind that rule-based eating does not take into account your personal needs, your performance goals, your periodized training plan, your lifestyle and your health goals. 

In other words, diets don't work. 

As an athlete, it’s very easy to critique your body and blame food, especially when you feel vulnerable or emotional or have a bad day or workout.

Fat, ugly, heavy, disgusting, off limit, bad, guilty, remorse, hate. 

Consider all the many thoughts that go through your head in regard to food and your body and now consider how much of your day you are spending thinking about food and your body?  

If you have an unhealthy relationship with food and your body, a diet won't solve underlying issues. Believe it or not, but improving your relationship with food and the body can actually help you improve your health, improve performance and help you reach body composition goals!

When you do not perform well, compare yourself to others, are unable to meet your prescribed pace expectations or feel overwhelmed with the training/life balance, you may find yourself taking out your frustrations on your body and seeking a dietary quick-fix to make the situation better.

It seems crazy, right? 

Focusing all your attention on what not to eat? Living life thinking about what you can't eat, what you shouldn't eat, what you regret eating.....I hope you agree with me that that is absolutely no way to live!

It is completely normal to want a healthier lifestyle, improved performance (speaking to the athletes) and a body composition that makes you feel great but you must also be realistic with the goals that you have and most of all, how you go about achieving them. 

Do I really need to explain why diets don't work?
Well, to make sure that you do not consider a diet plan come the New Year (or within the next 13 days), I want you to stop the diet mentality.
Here are 12 very good reasons why a diet is not the route you want to take when learning how to have a healthier relationship with food and the body. 

12 reasons why you shouldn't diet! 

1. Your body deserves food. A varied diet provides your body with a variety of vitamins and minerals.

2. Food is not bad. It is not out to harm you. Your food choices should make you feel good while you eat and even better after you eat. 

3. Being hungry is no fun. Your day should not revolve around when you get to eat and how much you are allowed to eat. Honor your biological hunger and fuel for performance. See food for nutritional value. 

4. Not being able to enjoy eating around others is no fun. Eating around others is special and an opportunity to connect. 

5. If the methods you have to take to lose weight are extreme, there is another way to be healthier/change body composition but it probably won't be as quick and you need to be ok with that. 

6. Your body doesn't suck. It is actually quite awesome. Just look at how old you are and how much you have accomplished in life. 

7. You can not count calories and measure food for the rest of your life. You must learn how to eat so that you can be anywhere in the world, at any age and in any situation and still feel great about the food you put into your body. 

8. Special occasions will always have food and you deserve to enjoy those foods on special occasions. Would you rather eat birthday cake on a Friday because it was on sale at the grocery store or enjoy a slice of cake when celebrating another year of life.  

9. You need to be a good role model for your kids or friends. A healthy relationship with food is just as contagious as an unhealthy relationship with food. 

10. Food is your medicine. Make time for healthy eating because a healthy body can do amazing things in this world. Food should enhance your life and fuel your lifestyle. 

Got a nutrition question?
Mark your calendars for tomorrow, Friday December 19th when I will be hosting a LIVE Q&A on the Girls Gone Strong Facebook page from 11:30-12:30EST to answer any questions you might have regarding fueling the plant strong athlete (omnivores are welcome too!!)

Healthy eating without following a diet plan

When I was 10 years old and decided to not eat meat anymore, my choice to become plant strong was not for a body image, to get healthy or to follow the crowd. I had made a personal decision that not eating meat would be my way of showing respect to animals and thus I titled myself as a vegetarian. 

Almost 23 years ago I made a dietary choice to become a vegetarianism. But unlike the brand of shoes I prefer or my favorite color, choosing to eliminate meat from my diet started a lifestyle change that had no deadline in place. Because plant strong became my new lifestyle, it required commitment and knowledge to make the diet work for my personal health and performance goals. 

I have never persuaded anyone to be a vegetarian athlete to boost performance and I have never told a person that his/her health and performance will automatically improve once meat is removed from the diet. 

All fitness enthusiasts and athletes must understand the importance of consuming a balanced, wholesome diet so no matter where you get your protein from, you should never let your dietary choices keep you from reaching your fitness potential and ultimately improving your health and quality of life. And above all, your diet does not have to leave you unsatisfied, without energy, feeling isolated, requiring an excessive amount of planning and prep and costing you a lot of money. And if your current diet does not leave you with any of the above statements, that's great but just make sure that you are eating for a lifestyle, and not for a body image. 

The cost of getting lean: is it worth it?

When you think about the diets that are marketed to the masses these days, many come across as "eating healthy". Or, perhaps they boldly read that "this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle."

“Healthy eating" is extremely confusing in our food-obsessed society which is supported by a multi-billion dollar diet and health industry.  Therefore, meat or no meat, in our sugar is horrible, carbs are bad, gluten is evil, is soy out or in today, society, many athletes struggle to understand how to consume a healthy diet and fuel appropriately while training for sports. 

Therefore, it’s important to have an appropriately planned diet to support your athletic development. Because any diet that is restrictive (ex. Paleo, Gluten-free) or lacking in variety (ex. you rely on fast food, you don’t like to cook, etc.) may demonstrate potential nutritional deficiencies, all athletes should consider working with a dietitian who specializes in sport nutrition, prior to making dietary modifications/swaps. Also, for any athlete who is seeking a change in the diet, be mindful that if there are underlying dietary clinical issues (ex. IBS, food allergies, gluten intolerance/sensitivity, Hashimoto’s, PCOS, etc.) those should be top priority in an effort to create the most balanced, varied diet possible. 

I'm not here to waste my time to discuss every diet out there but let it be known that regardless of what diet name you give to your dietary habits, all fitness enthusiasts and athletes should remember that your personalized style of eating should never limit your performance potential or compromise health. A restrictive, low energy diet may change your body composition but there’s not a lot you can do on race day with an underfueled and undernourished body. 

Because the focus of this blog is not on body image but instead eating a healthy diet without following a diet plan, here are a few tips to get you thinking about food for fuel and for health. 

Healthy eating without following a diet plan

1. What's your motivation to change? - If you feel the need to eliminate or add certain foods to the diet, be sure to have a really good reason to do so. A good reason would be doctor's/dietitian's orders OR lab work that reflects the need to place emphasis on certain areas of your diet. Weight loss is typically a top priority for most people wanting to change nutrition habits but a better focus would be on what you can do with your body when you start eating healthier. Maybe less sick days, reducing risk for cancer, being around longer for your grand kids/spouse, having more energy, taking better care of your body, performing better, having less focus on food and more focus on living life to the fullest? Whatever your reason may be, let a change in body composition be that added bonus as your health is always top priority.

2. Create a positive food environment - stock your kitchen with everything you need to prepare wholesome foods at home and store leftovers in Tupperware. And don't forget the foods that you want to eat as well. I recommend to shop every 3-4 days when you are transitioning to a more real food diet so that you do not overwhelm yourself with a lot of produce and then find yourself throwing it out after 7 days. Think of what you can keep in your pantry, refrigerator and freezer for easy and healthy meal prep.

3. Don't be perfect, aim for progress - create a very simple lifestyle log to plan your day. The diet mentality is to log your day as or after it happened and this often doesn't initiate change but instead guilt, control and self-defeat. Instead, create a plan for yourself. When you think about what you will eat before/after workouts, for your 3 meals and then snacking with a purpose, you have a better opportunity to set yourself up for success. Not only do you have a plan for staying nourished and satisfied but you are now forced to make sure you have those food items available which reduces the risk for overeating later in the day as well as going long hours without eating (or eating on a whim). This also helps the athlete fuel better so that pre and post workout nutrition isn't an afterthought.

4. Rethink your plate - I'm all about  a plant strong plate. You can pick your protein choice. Fill up your plate with fresh foods, packed with vitamins and minerals. Your plate should never limit fats, carbs or protein so find a way to create that beautiful plate that leaves you satisfied and feeling great about your meals. If you can't do this on your own, have a dietitian who specializes in sport nutrition help you plan your diet to support your active lifestyle and health goals.

5. Get in the kitchen! Do I even need to give you a reason as to why you should cook more? Don't find the time to cook, make the time.

6. Give it time - Don't expect to change everything overnight. Focus on a few changes every 1-2 weeks so you can make that lifestyle change. Be sure to have a strong, supportive team around you who will keep you motivated and inspired to learn  how to eat for fuel and for health. Also keep in mind that even though you may find yourself questioning your new or improved eating habits, your diet is created by you and for you. You have your reason for your dietary changes and you are making these changes for the right reasons. You are not chasing a body image or wanting a quick fix but instead, you are taking the time to make a lifestyle change. Enjoy this wonderful journey that you are taking your body on as you learn how to eat for fuel and for health AND how to develop a great relationship with food and your body.