Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

In a world where there is so much technology to assist people in living a healthy lifestyle, you may consider a nutrition app like MyFitnesspal or a fitness tracker like Fitbit to help with eating and exercise habits. While your initial intention may not start out harmful, if you struggle with your relationship with food or body, an app may turn into an obsessive habit that encourages you to undereat and/or overexercise. According to a recent study, nutrition and fitness apps can cause unintended negative consequences such as fixation on numbers, rigid dieting, obsession, app dependency, high sense of achievement, extreme negative emotions, motivation from negative messages and excess competition. When a person has a healthy relationship with food and the body, using technology to track food or exercise should not harm mental or physical health. But in our weight-loss obsessed society, it can be difficult to maintain a healthy relationship with food and the body. How can you tell if a...

  We only had two full days in Charleston, SC so we brought our gravel bikes to ride in Francis Marion National Forest. I used routes from the Swamp Fox Gravel Fondo Race .  I was looking forward to this trip for a few reasons. The first was to explore a different style of gravel riding - flat roads. The second was to enjoy different scenery for a mental boost. The third reason - which was the main reason for our trip, was to take advantage of a promotion that I purchased last year from Blue Green Vacations. For $229 I received a 3-night/4 day stay at a Blue Green Vacation Location of my choice. And for an additional 40,000 Choice Hotel Points, $25 Amex Gift card and $100 Visa Gift card, Karel and I would need to sit through a 2-hour presentation. Karel was not thrilled about having to sit through a sales pitch for Blue Green Vacations but since I'm getting into travel hacking, I felt like I could "sell" Karel on this trip by throwing in some gravel riding. Originally we ...

  What's your favorite indulgence? I'm indifferent to ice cream, chocolate, cakes and cookies but when it comes to cinnamon rolls, banana bread or soft salty pretzels, I can't resist.  There's nothing wrong with having a comfort food. A comfort food is something that makes you feel good - it brings you comfort. Comfort foods have a strong psychological link - reducing loneliness, improving mood and possibly connecting you with childhood memories. Interestingly, comfort foods aren't connected only to emotions. For many, comfort foods are consumed because you feel you deserve a treat. Or, perhaps it's because you survived a long day or accomplished a physical feat. Maybe it's because you are celebrating a special occasion or having fun with friends. And sometimes comfort foods are turned to out of habit - without any rhyme or reason.   Sadly, comfort foods don't always bring positive emotions - sometimes they bring great shame, anxiety and guilt. Learning ...

  As an athlete, you may not realize how much your thoughts influence your actions.  How you think about your body matters. As I begin a new style of training for my upcoming events, I am focused on two things from my body - strength and health. But well before I decided to take on the new challenge of XTRI (think Ironman distance but more extreme weather conditions, elevation and terrain), I've always focused on developing a strong body in motion. In our body image and appearance obsessed culture that has encouraged us to place too much importance on how we look, I want to make it clear that a 'strong' body is NOT a look. Strength is something you feel. It's an action. It's not a look, a size, shape or number. The reason for this is because your body is functional....it's not an object.  When you think about or see your body and your mind immediately focuses on your flaws, what you wish looked differently or what you feel you need to fix, you are objectify...

I was really looking forward to my Saturday workout. A long ride followed by a brick run. I hadn't ridden with a group in a few weeks so I was really excited to join my friends for their 80-mile route.  Karel participated in the  South East Gravel Battle of Sumter Forest Race . This race was his first gravel race of many this year. Karel is preparing for the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder 5-day stage race in June so every race prior is a learning opportunity. Karel spent much of Friday tinkering with his bike to get it race ready. Karel's race started at 9am and I left for my ride around 8am.  Although I had a great ride, Karel's race didn't go as well. He experienced an issue with his tubeless valve that got loose in the first gravel section of the ride. While he was able to fix it within a few minutes, he was dead last as the pack of riders flew by him with the downhill start. The gravel conditions are super rough to start this race and the valve must have bounced itsel...

Trigger warning. This post talks about dieting, weight and body image. You may have noticed that your wardrobe changes from season to season. Warm weather often means less or lighter clothing compared to the layers that keep you warm in the winter. Although we are still a few months away from summer, it's worth the discussion of how your body image impacts a warm weather getaway. If you struggle with body image issues, you may find yourself hyper aware of your body in anticipation for your upcoming vacation. You may fear wearing a swimsuit or having your photo taken. You may worry about systemic fatphobia issues during travel and begin to internalize messages that your body isn't good enough. You may begin to "body check" things like your weight, size or shape. You may suddenly begin to compare yourself to other people, likely making you feel inadequate. Anytime you feel heightened awareness of your body, you may feel the urge to diet or overexercise in order to chan...

Preparing for a triathlon is much more than registering for a race and training to improve fitness. Sport nutrition plays an important role in race day readiness. Whether you are traveling to compete in a full distance triathlon or participating in a local sprint triathlon, dialing in your race day nutrition is key.How you fuel during a race primarily depends on the duration of the event, the weather and your racing intensity. No matter your experience, proper fueling will help you maximize your performance without compromising your health. While you may be able to get away with a haphazard sport nutrition strategies (or not fueling at all) during your workouts, an enjoyable race day means avoiding these common performance limiters - extreme fatigue, cramping, dehydration, gastrointestinal issues. Because proper sport nutrition should be part of your training and not something you only do a few times per month (or in the two weeks before your race), I'm providing some easy 'get...