Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

~18 years old On Monday, as I was about to dry my hair after my early evening swim, I overheard three young girls (~9-11 years old) talking to one another by the bathroom mirrors. I didn't think much of it until I heard one of the girls talking about her body. Still in her swimsuit, she stood in front of the mirror and was telling her friends about her body. She first said that she liked how she looked from the front but she didn't like how her butt looked in her swimsuit. While "fat talk" or self-degrading, negative body-related comments have sadly become somewhat normalized among adult women, it saddened me that these young girls were taking part in body shaming.  I started swimming when I was 10 years old. Although I really enjoyed being in the water, I always looked forward to swim practice because it was an opportunity to be around my friends. There was no social media to make us feel dissatisfied with our bodies so any negative body talk would have been learned ...

Height, hair color, eye color, skin color. We can't control or determine these things when we are born. Yet we are taught that we can (and should) force our bodies to achieve a specific shape, weight, size and appearance. We are fed information that our weight matters, even if it comes at a cost of our mental and physical health. But not all bodies are set to be at a specific body composition. Every human has a specific weight range for their body to function optimally. If you've forgotten or failed to learn the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, you may be familiar with the difficulty and frustration of restricting food in an effort to change your body composition. Trying to achieve or maintain a body composition that goes below your body's set point often by restricting energy or over-exercising impairs the functioning of your body. No matter how hard you fight, your body will fight back to stay within a range where your body operates and functions optimally. The...

Food is often viewed as a tool to manipulate the look of the body. From a very young age, diet tricks, hacks and tips are introduced as a way to change the way that you look, to improve health or to gain control over eating. While some of these strategies can be helpful, many are unhealthy and sometimes hazardous to your health and well-being. When food goes from being pleasurable and nourishing to serving as the primary method to manipulate body composition, you no longer have a healthy relationship with food. Your thoughts about food matter. Seeing food as an enemy can make it difficult for you to eat for fuel and nourishment. In our diet-crazed society, constantly eating too little, eating too much and always eating with fear (or guilt) can cause serious mental and physical health issues. Undereating and a cycle of restriction and binging can have serious mental effects, especially when this style of eating becomes a way of life. This is the time of the year when it's so easy to...

Back in March, I crashed twice within two weeks while riding my gravel bike - the first in a race and the second in a training ride. Both falls left me with a good amount of road rash. Thankfully, nothing was broken and after both crashes, I got back up and kept on riding. A comeback is defined as a return to a previous state. On Saturday, Karel took me to Walhalla, which was my first real gravel ride since March. It was my courageous comeback. I wasn't sure what to expect as I had never been to this area. Karel had ridden there twice (once on a group ride and once by himself) and he thought it would be the perfect place for my first real gravel ride since March. I say "real" because I have been on my gravel bike a few times (mostly on the paved road) over the past 7 months. He felt like this would be a good area for me to ride because it was scenic and the route was not extremely technical.  It took about 50-minutes to drive to Walhalla and we parked at an elementary sc...

It's been interesting to hear the reactions to Kara Goucher's recent Facebook post which was a response to the body shaming within Oregon's Track and Field program ). From "amen" and "enough is enough" to "she's so thin, what is she talking about" and "she has body dysmorphia if she thinks she has fat" the feedback has been mixed. I assume that most reactions to the Oregon situation of fat shaming and eating disorders are outrage and sadness whereas some people are finding it hard to believe that an athlete like Kara Goucher would have body image issues - especially when the pictures she posted were what appeared to be a lean and fit athlete. There's a lot to unpack here but I will try my best without writing a book on this topic. Although I've probably written over a hundred articles/blogs on this topic so I could very well turn that into a book. Nonetheless, here we go.....how did we get here? Diet Culture Diet ...

  When planning my 2021 race season, I had intended on the Ironman 70.3 World Championship and Xterra trail run being my last two events of the season. Although I felt officially finished with my season when returning home from Utah, I've been itching to be back in a competitive atmosphere.  The itch got stronger over the past two weeks when riding with the Supra Bar Cycling Club. We pre-rode parts of the course (Skyuka and Saluda Grade one week and then Green River Cove switchbacks the next week) during each ride and it made me realize how much I love being around others when I'm on my road bike.  By the time I decided I wanted to do the Hincapie Gran Fondo for the 4th time, the registration price was at its highest amount. I questioned if I wanted to pay that much and I decided it was too much and instead, I would just volunteer. I signed up for a volunteer shift from 6am-9am at Bag Check as I figured it would be the most "social" activity and I could see some famil...

Photo: @ingo_kutsche_photo When it comes to women in sport, having relatable role models is extremely important. Seeing is believing. When you see a female athlete achieving a goal and you can identify with her, you can believe that you too can also achieve the same things. You have to see it to be it.  Photo: Grant Halverson, Getty Images Many female athletes struggle with body image issues. In today's society, mainstream media has an unhealthy obsession with the "ideal" body type. Far too many athletes are bombarded with unrealistic images of how an athlete body should look. Thin arms, toned legs, firm butt, defined abs. Constant exposure to an idealized body type can lead to lower self-esteem and eating disorders.  As a sport dietitian, tri coach and accomplished triathlete, I use my platform to empower women of all body shapes, sizes and types to feel comfortable in their bodies. My hope is that commentators, media, coaches and the athletic population as a whole can b...