Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

After an EZ form focused run with a few "fast feet" intervals on the treadmill on Tues evening, I made a delicious dinner for me and Karel of couscous, spiced with turmeric and salt, tossed with sauteed veggies (celery, edamame, yellow peppers, onion). Cooked tempeh was my protein of choice. This dish didn't take too long to prepare as I was able to cook everything at once by using three of the burners on the stove. Karel was on the trainer, doing his bike workout as I was cooking, so by the time he was finished, it was time to enjoy this yummy creation, which left us with a happy tummy and well-fueled body. After a great night of sleep (oh sleep, how I love you!), I woke up excited to run outside on Wednesday as this was the first morning in several days that it wasn't raining. Plus, I had a very specific build-run workout on tap and with a building confidence in my run fitness lately, I was excited to see what my body had in store for the morning run. ...

Picture source Over the course of 3 years as an inpatient clinical RD, I learned a lot. With so much textbook literature, research and science packed into my brain over the 4 years it took me to earn my dietitian credential, I quickly learned that in order to properly diagnose and treat my patients, every case study was different. You see, there was never just one clear diagnosis. Every patient was different based on his/her patient history, labs, other co-existing health issues and symptoms. Unfortunately, our society doesn't think like this, especially as it relates to daily nutrition. Our society succeeds at thinking in extreme - you either have a perfect diet or a horrible diet. Food is good or it's bad. You eat well or you cheat. Food is allowed or off-limits. You don't have to have a perfect diet to have a healthy diet.  Sadly, a lot of people feel great anxiety, guilt and judgement when it relates to food, especially if self-worth is tied...

A passion of mine is helping athletes adopt a more real food diet. I don't think I need to discuss the many benefits of eating real food, grown from nature, to support your health needs as you train for your fitness/athletic goals. For many athletes, there's a lot of confusion as to how to eat as an athlete vs. as a non-athlete. Yes, all human beings should adopt a more real food diet but for athletes, there are many times throughout the year when your lifestyle is not normal, and you need to relearn what "healthy eating" means as an athlete. You see, as an athlete, your body processes food differently than your sedentary counterparts and you need a lot of it. You burn more calories, your body requires key nutrients, at certain times, to help assist in metabolism, protein synthesis and glycogen resynthesis and food is not simply consumed for health but it is also your fuel. Far too many athletes think they are eating healthy but in reality, they are underco...

In mid October, I dedicated a blog post to recapping our 2016 season of triathlon racing.  If you missed it, you can read about it here:  2016 season recap.  Looking back, 2016 was a very successful season for me and Karel.    I fulfilled a long time goal of placing on the podium at an international Ironman, where I finished 2nd AG and 4th female amateur (10th overall female) at Ironman Austria. It was also my highest ever overall placing in an Ironman since winning the 18-24 AG at IMFL in 2006 (my first Ironman). Only this time, 11 Ironmans later, I finished 54 minutes faster than at my first Ironman (10:06 at IM Austria vs. 11:00 at IMFL).  I placed overall female at the  Lake James 50  triathlon.  Eight days later, I was leading the race by several minutes with 1 mile to go, at  Rev3 Knox,  until a pink arrow lead me and several others off the bike portion of the race course. Due to a 6+ mile de...

Before I share with you my latest creation, made with  Supergrain Pasta Spaghetti  (corn and quinoa flour), I'd like to tell you the reason why I don't label my creations as "gluten free" "Metabolically efficient" "Paleo" "Whole 30" or by any other name than what's in the recipe. I'm on a mission to help athletes learn how to have a better relationship with food. Far too many athletes have a dysfunctional relationship with food and this can create resistance to eat enough of the right foods, at the right times to meet training demands. Labeling, worrying or feeling guilty about food makes it quite difficult to eat according to your personal dietary needs. Combine that with issues with your body image and you will constantly struggle to meet your health and energy needs. Of course, I find great value when a recipe is labeled gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian or vegan, as I work with many athletes who need to follow a r...

Tonight I will be speaking at Furman University to a small group of exercise science students for career night. I will share my 11-year extensive educational journey and how it got me to where I am today. I will also share some of my real world experiences and tips of owning your own business (and lessons learned along the way).  It wasn’t too long ago when I was listening to experts discuss various professions in the fields of nutrition, exercise, health and fitness. I always found career night to be a valuable opportunity to learn about interesting and sometimes not so interesting careers.  My hope is to inspire the students to continue their education and to explore the many job opportunities out there. It's a great feeling to make a living from doing something that you love.  My best advice to the students is not to stress about finding the perfect career. Let it find you. There is no right or wrong path to finding your dream job. Whatever ...

It seems like an oxymoron to put cardio and strength training in the same sentence but that is one of the training outcomes in the foundation phase: Get stronger through cardio training to strengthen your muscles to prepare for heavier loads. There are many ways to do this, like swimming with an ankle strap and paddles in the pool or walking at an incline on the treadmill with a weight vest, but cycling heavy gear drills are a perfect for over recruiting muscle fibers while improving pedaling mechanics. On Saturday, we had a small group of Trimarnis join me and Karel for some heavy gear hill repeaters. We made sure to pick a gradual long hill (one of our many hills/climbs) that had a beautiful view at the top, which offered a little reward for each hill repeater. It's very apparent that I have made huge gains in my cycling fitness over the past two years, since moving to Greenville, SC. I have dropped by Ironman bike time from ~5:40-5:50 to 5:18.00 over the past two ye...