Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Have you been told that if you want to be faster, you need to lose weight? Well let me tell you that athletic performances cannot be accurately predicted based solely on body weight and composition, assuming that if you are "less", you will gain "more". I have seen and worked with many athletes who don't recognize their past/current successes in their healthy and strong body. Despite good, great and/or better race results through proper fueling/eating, the athlete feels he/she does not have "an athletes body" and is constantly trying to lose weight through overtraining and underfueling in an effort to train for a lower body composition.....not for better performances.  We must also understand that to race "fast" we have to consider how you physically and mentally prepare for your races. Ultimately, the athlete who remains in the best health throughout a training cycle will out-perform a lean, yet underfueled, injur...

In a previous blog, I talked about  tips for healthy eating while dining out . It's nice to get dressed up every now and then and enjoy food prepared from someone else and to not have to worry about cleaning up dirty pots, pans and dishes.  Trimarni athlete Jim N was training with us in Greenville for his own private 3-day "camp" and there's nothing better than working out with our athletes and reflecting on workouts, with happy tummy food.  One evening, we want to  Breakwater  restaurant, downtown Greenville on Main Street. The atmosphere was great and Karel and Jim enjoyed a local IPA. We all yummed over the bread basket which was filled with bite size corn muffins and biscuits with a side of orange butter. For starters, I got the SPRING HERB SALAD: artisan and arugula lettuce, basil, cilantro, tarragon, split creek farm feta, spicy pecans, citrus vinaigrette For my vegetarian entree, I combined two sides which included:...

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 wha...

Dining out. We all do it. Whether it is for work, pleasure, convenience, travel, an event or for really, no reason at all. Eating out is part of our lifestyle.  But is it possible to stay fit and healthy when eating outside of the home? Despite close to 50% of all food spending from Americans being at restaurants, fast foods or food away from home, there was once a time when eating out was costly and inconvenient and an insult to your grandmother to compare her home-cooked meal to food served in a restaurant.  Karel told me that when he was growing up in Czech, they rarely ate out. Eating out was reserved for very special occasions and he said that for him and his siblings, it was a chance to practice their good manners.  Today, you don’t need a special occasion to have someone serve you, wait on you, prepare food for you and clean up after you.   Meal prep at home is far from a valued and necessary skill with available food at every street corn...

Just one year ago, Karel and I raced Ironman St. Croix 70.3. It was the most amazing experience and the course was ridiculously hard. We loved every mile of the race and we will never forget the entire experience of racing on this island. It's like a mini Kona, Hawaii!  If you are interested, I dedicated 10 blogs to all things St. Croix, starting with our travel to the race, our race week experience, our race report and post race.  Trimarni St. Croix 70.3 blog series As athletes, traveling is part of the racing experience. Eventually, you will be "forced" to travel outside your community or state to race in an event. You may be racing in a national or world qualifier race or the national or world championship. Or you may be racing in a really awesome destination as a bucket-list race. Traveling for a race should be a fun, exciting and memory-filled time for you, your friends and/or family. But let's be honest, there are so many unknowns and logistics wh...