Sports Nutrition for Enhanced Athletic Performance

LET ME HELP!

Having been an athlete throughout my life, I know what it feels like to want to try every possible wholesome way to make yourself faster, tougher, stronger, have more endurance or smarts on the field or court!

There are certainly multiple key nutritional factors that may help you improve your athletic performance. These include the ways and whys of how to fuel your body with the energy it needs before, during, and after your training and competitions. In addition to assisting you in improving performance, what I have to share can help you feel less fatigue, as well as mentally feel that physical challenges are easier than they used to be! Also, learn how to recover faster, be less susceptible to injury, and increase your physiological adaptations to training!

Furthermore, the changes that you make will help you on the track, field, or court, AND also in your everyday life: at home, school, and work!

Contact me today for a nutrition consultation!

Childhood Obesity and Healthy Eating for Infants and Children

Your physician has finally said those dreaded words, "Your child is obese." While it may sound scary, it's better to know now and make changes for which your child will one day thank you. Children pick up habits, good and bad, that last a lifetime. The results may not be seen for decades, but they will certainly not go without eventual consequences. Sadly, many of today's children are at serious risk for various diseases previously unseen in children. The good news is that kids adapt quite easily; that is, they are better than us at changing!

Working with me, you will learn the ways and whys of how to improve the overall quality of life of your whole family. Often getting moving is the most important factor, though this is more easily said than done. We'll work from the root of the problem.

Here is a post for beginning baby foods -- all simple and healthy choices!  Top 5 Quick and Easy Baby Foods

Optimal Nutrition for Pregnancy, Breastfeeding, and Beyond

So you're having a baby, or you just did. You want the best for your infant and you still need to care for you!

Working with me, you will learn the ways and whys of how to improve your overall quality of life, and that of your family. Having the baby-blues? Can't get those last ten pounds off? Want your little one to be the smartest little tot in town? Trying to keep those nasty bugs out of your family's system, especially those of your little ones? I have solutions that work!

Lots of things can help, and I of course believe strongly in the "what you eat" component. I also stress the importance of a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle. Also, eating healthily does not have to mean casting your taste buds into the wind! Together, we'll get you and your family eating healthily and living happily - in ways that you will all enjoy!

Wellness, Weight Loss and Disease Treatment and Prevention

Being overweight is often a cause of other health problems involving cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood sugar control, digestive imbalances, bone density, immunity, forgetfulness, fatigue, and even cancer.

Working with me, you will learn the ways and whys of how to improve your overall quality of life. That may mean finding out how to have more energy, to get off of those blood pressure, diabetes, or reflux pills, or to take your future health in to your own hands by finding ways to reduce your risk of cancer and keep your mental capacity strong.

Lots of things can help, and I of course believe strongly in the "what you eat" component. I also stress the importance of a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle. Also, eating healthily does not have to mean casting your taste buds into the wind! Together, we'll get you fit and eating healthily - in ways that you will enjoy!

Nutrition, Fitness, and Wellness Seminar Series

This service is a series of three classes for a small group interested in becoming healthier together. It's a fun and motivating way to jump-start your healthier life! The small group allows for lively discussion throughout, and you'll find everyone has something to offer! You practice healthy habits of your own right now, even if you don't know it!

If you know me, you know that all-around health is my passion! We have so much more control than most people think :) This series is a great way for all of us to explore new ways to be healthier, happier, and have more energy!

There will be delicious tastings to try at each session, like savory guacamole pizza and scrumptious cranberry peach muffin tops!

With my help, you will each set specific weekly goals to provide a clear and easy road map to a healthier you!

FAQs:

Who?
YOU! I am psyched about your interest in health and wellness for you and your family! Plus, if you know someone else who might be interested, let them know about it too -- it’s really fun with friends!

What?
A three-part series: “Live Your WHOLE Life Healthily!”, with each class building on the previous meeting! Week 1: Overview of nutrition and wellness for individuals and families.
Week 2: “Buzz on Breakfast” highlights weight loss, improved grades, and increased energy.
Week 3: “Save Money and Your Health” helps one shop, cook, and save -- nutritiously!

How?
Come with an appetite -- I have lots for you to try! The small group (around 6 participants), allows everyone to discuss, ask, and share as much as you like. I have Powerpoints, handouts, cupboards and a refrigerator full of food, nutrition labels, helpful resources like books and video clips, and who knows what else!

Where?

I almost always do the series in my home, but I HAVE done it at someone else’s house, so if getting together at your house appeals to you, and you have some friends who are interested, just ask!

When?
Weekly or every other week, on Monday nights, 7:30-9:30pm. Feel free to suggest a date when you and your friends want to meet!

How much?

The cost of the series is $100 per person.

Why?
I’m certain you will come away with powerful knowledge, motivation, and ideas to be on your way to a healthier and happier you, after each class, and as the series ends!

Let me know if you are interested and I will email you when I run the next session :)

Additional Services

Other services that I offer regarding your personal nutrition, fitness, and wellness include: body composition, fitness evaluations, and in depth nutrient analyes.

Body Composition Analyses

Fitness Evaluations

Nutrient and Diet Analyses

Fitness Consultation

A consultation consists of together formulating workout plans that will mesh with your lifestyle.  There may also be step-by-step instruction on how to carry out the workout plans that we have discussed.

Nutrition, Fitness, and Wellness Presentations

Is your fitness center, school, small or large business, place of worship, library, PTA, community or non-profit organization, or cooking club looking for someone to share some words of wellness wisdom? I love to present lectures on a wide variety of nutrition topics, from heart health to marathon preparation.

Choose any topic of interest to you and your group, or select one of the following lectures:

• Let Food Be Thy Medicine
• Healthy Living for a Lifetime
• Cardio Balance: Decrease Your Risk or Meds
• Sports Nutrition: Eating for Optimal Performance (may be geared toward a specific sport or activity)
• How to Get Moving
• Making Nutrition Fun for Kids (may be geared toward all children or specifically to overweight/obese children)
• Nutrition News for New Moms (baby blues, weight loss, nursing needs, infant nutrition, brain food, and more!)
• Other topics: The Truth about Dietary Supplements, Food Safety, Weight Loss that Lasts, Cutting the Carbohydrate Craze, and Cooking Quick and Healthy Meals, Diabetes, Mental Health, Cancer Prevention, Super Foods, Eating Out.

Fitness Consultation

A consultation consists of together formulating a combination of aerobic and resistance workout plans that will mesh with your lifestyle. There may also be step-by-step instruction on how to carry out the workout plans that we have discussed.

Whether you're training for your first or fiftieth marathon, training for a 5k, want to learn how to lift weights without the body builders intimidating you, want to score more goals, lose a few pounds to give yourself the extra edge in your sport, or you want to bulk up to attract the ladies, I'm here to help!

Nutrient and Diet Analyses

Here your diet will be compared with recommended levels (based on age, gender, weight, height) of various nutrients including: important vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin C, minerals, like iron, calcium, sodium, and magnesium, fiber, carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and protein. Link to all nutrients.

The intake of any additional vitamins or minerals with which you may be concerned could also be evaluated.

Additionally, your diet will be analyzed for variety, moderation, and balance. Meal and serving sizes, food groups, and frequency of eating in your daily regimen will be evaluated.

These analyses will help gear your instruction toward your individual nutritional and habitual needs.

Fitness Evaluations

Aerobic capacity (endurance ability of your heart and lungs) may also be determined through various methods. Here we will use a few different techniques such as a non-exercise questionnaire to estimate aerobic capacity. There is also a useful walk test and a walk-run test. All of these methods aim to come as close as possible to the gold standard of aerobic capacity measurement which you may be aware of as a "stress test" often completed on a treadmill in a hospital or laboratory setting.

There are also several other fitness components that may be measured and evaluated. There are various short tests to determine muscular endurance and strength (absolute and relative), as well as balance, flexibility, and power tests.

As with body composition, these initial fitness measurements may serve as indicators of positive changes that you are making that are impacting your life already.

Height-Weight Charts

Height-weight charts, as well as ideal body weight (IBW) calculations based on your height are also available. However, charts are based on heights and weights reported to life insurance for statistical purposes. These may be an inaccurate representation of the population, they are also outdated, and do not provide scientific risks associated with different weight ranges.

The ideal body weight (IBW) calculations do account for gender and and body type, such as small, medium, or large body frame (somewhat subjective), but they do not take age or ethnicity into account.

Waist Circumference

Waist circumference is a quick measurement that may be used to assess your disease risk, similar to the information provided from BMI results.

Other simple measurements (mid-upper arm, hip, and mid-thigh circumferences) may also be taken to show you body changes that your body may be undergoing that you are not necessarily noticing on your own.

Body composition plays a large role in showing you the progress that you have made that you may not see on the scale right away. You may lose several inches before you begin shedding pounds and progress is always encouraging!

Body Fat

Body fat and lean tissue mass (primarily muscle mass) in terms of percentage as pounds may be determined through several methods.

Skinfold thickness through measurement with calipers are quite accurate, nearly equally the results from that of the gold standard of underwater weighing (UWW), or the newer technology of Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scanning (a procedure primarily for the purpose of measuring bone density). Skinfold measurement is my method of choice when appropriate, based on it's accuracy and relatively simple procedure.

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) may be an accurate alternative, however careful attention must be paid to the client's water level as results are strongly affected by hydration status. This method does have the benefits of being non-invasive and quick. A small electrical impulse is send through your body (so small that you do not even feel it) and the speed at which it travels provides an estimation of the ratio of fat-to-lean tissue in your body.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Body mass index (BMI) may be easily determined with the equation: weight/height squared, in kg and cm respectively. This is an accurate representation of morbidity and disease risk (heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, gallbladder disease, and some cancers) for the majority of the population. However, it is less useful for those with an unusually high muscle mass, like some athletes and perhaps those people with physically challenging jobs, such as working in construction. This is because muscle mass is not taken into account in the BMI calculation.

Body Composition Analyses

Body mass index (BMI) is an accurate representation of mortality and disease risk (heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, gallbladder disease, and some cancers) for the majority of the population.

Body fat and lean tissue mass (primarily muscle mass) in terms of percentage as pounds may be determined through several methods. Skinfold measurement is my method of choice when appropriate, based on it's accuracy and relatively simple procedure. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) may be an accurate alternative, however careful attention must be paid to the client's water level as results are strongly affected by hydration status.

Waist circumference is a quick measurement that may be used to assess your disease risk, similar to the information provided from BMI results.

Height-weight charts, as well as ideal body weight (IBW) calculations of your ideal weight based on your height are also available. However, these methods come with limitations described in the above height-weight charts link.

Body composition plays a large role in showing you the progress that you have made that you may not see on the scale right away. You may lose several inches before you begin shedding pounds and progress is always encouraging!

Stress Analysis

Without a doubt, even the healthiest eater and fittest individual may suffer the consequences of stress. It is a serious enemy of high quality of life. That said, we cannot all eliminate stress from our lives, so how we handle stress is very important.

While reducing stress may be more difficult, there are many simple ways of coping with stress, which I can help you implement. Mediation, spirituality, yoga, laughing, having fun, relaxing time doing nothing, fresh air, and breathing are some easy ways to handle the stress that surrounds us.

You will answer some questions to provide an idea of the amount of stress in your life, since you may not even realize your stress level.

Sleep

This is a factor in life that I have only learned the importance of since my college years, with the help of my husband (then boyfriend). Since then, I've been fascinated by and researching the many factors of sleep as well as consequences of lack of adequate sleep and rest. Additionally, I've gotten a lot more of it, sleep that is!

You will complete a brief questionnaire to evaluate your quantity and quality of sleep.

Just a few consequences of inadequate sleep to keep in mind include: extreme carbohydrate cravings leading to weight gain, inefficient mental capacity, negative alterations in mood, and of course the fatigue that may plague you during the day...

Nutrition, Fitness, and Wellness Consultations

Prior to your consultation, we will briefly discuss your main concerns and what you wish to achieve by working with me. Additionally, I will provide instructions on what I will need in order to best plan your individualized instruction.

A consultation consists of a diet analysis, as well as a fitness evaluation, and brief sleep and stress evaluations. Prior to your consultation, your diet will be analyzed for variety, moderation, and balance. Meal and serving sizes, food groups, and frequency of eating in your daily regimen will be evaluated. Overall nutritional adequacy will also be evaluated. These analyses will help gear your instruction toward your individual nutritional and habitual needs. Regarding fitness, your regular physical activity regimen will be evaluated. After completing the above anlyses, I will utilize your results to formulate my instruction toward your specific needs. I will discuss with you the results, and we will set measurable and achievable goals which will give you specific ways to feasibly implement the changes in your diet, fitness program, and lifestyle to improve your quality of life!

In future consultations, we will measure and discuss your successes, as well as obstacles that have been challenging. We will discuss further ways that you can make healthy changes in your life, as you can't do everything at once. Further goal-setting, as well as additional evaluations, such as body composition, fitness, and nutrient analyses may also be conducted.

Rates for Services

Volunteer Experience

Girls on the Run, 2014 - present

Mayfield Soccer Club, 2012 - present

Wellness Ministry, 2010 - present

Body Composition Assessments, Family Fun and Fitness, 2002 - 2010

Public health presentations, various institutions and organizations, 2000 - present

Team Dietitian, Skidmore Women’s Soccer, Rowing, Basketball, 2003 - 2006

Team Dietitian, Mercyhurst Rowing and Women’s Hockey, 1999 - 2000

Nutrition Presentations, Mercyhurst Volleyball and Basketball Camps, 1999

Professional Memberships

ACSM, ADA, 2001 - present

Sports Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutritionists ADA Practice Group, 1999 - present

CWRU Graduate Student Senate, 2000 - 2002

Athletics

Marathons and Triathlons, 2003 - 2014
Marathon PR: 3:17
Half Marathon PR: 1:33:01
5-Mile: 33:30
5K: 19:30

Co-ed and Women’s Soccer, 1998 - 2016

CWRU Intramurals, 2000 - 2002

Mercyhurst Varsity Cross Country, 1996 - 1999

Mercyhurst JV Crew, 1996 - 1998

Leadership

Girls on the Run, Coach, 2014-2015

Mayfield U8, U9, U10 Travel Soccer, Coach, 2013-2016

Shaker Heights U13 Travel Soccer, Coach, 2003

Mercyhurst College Student Government, President, 1999 - 2000

Student Dietetic Association, President, 1999 - 2000, Vice-President, 1998 - 1999

Mercyhurst Cross Country, Captain, 1999

Previous Practical Experience

Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2003 - 2007

Visiting Assistant Professor

* Taught courses and laboratories: Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Human Nutrition for Health and Performance, Introduction to Exercise Science, and Nutrition and Bioenergetics.

Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach

* Led drills, conditioning, mentored, and advised athletes nutritionally.

University Hospitals, Cleveland, OH, 2002 - 2003

Research Exercise Physiologist

* Conducted many maximal and submaximal exercise tests.

* Composed peer-reviewed manuscripts and Institutional Review Board research plans.

* Directed 8-week conditioning programs with 25 adolescents.

* Designed a physiological data analysis program.

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 2000 - 2002

Graduate Researcher

* Compared economy and efficiency between girls and women of similar height and weight.

* Compared critical power and anaerobic work capacity in children, adolescents, and young adults.

Various Healthcare and Public Health Institutions, Erie, PA, 1998 - 2000

Patient and Public Health Educator

* Instructed individuals during dietetic rotations at various healthcare institutions.

* Taught groups (preschool, elderly, prenatal, renal, diabetic, etc.) on various nutrition topics.

Certifications

ADA Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, 2001-present

eLicense Ohio Professional Licensure Licensed Dietitian, 2007-present

ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist, 2010-present

AHA Basic Life Support: CPR / AED, 2003-2005, 2010-present

Awards

• Recknagel Graduate Scholastic Excellence Award, 2001
• Outstanding Student Dietitian of the Year, 2000
• PA Dietetic Association Scholarship, 2000
• Sister Carolyn Herrmann Service Award, 2000
• NCAA and GLIAC Conference All-Academic Teams, 2000
• Dean’s List Scholar, 1998

Research Presentations and Publications

Similar Cardiorespiratory and Performance Benefits from Small-Sided Soccer and High-Intensity Training in Youth Soccer Players, North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine (NASPEM) Conference, 2004

Energy Economy and Efficiency in Female Adolescents and Young Adults Matched for

Height and Weight, NASPEM Conference, 2002 (Manuscript accepted in Pediatric Exercise Science, 2004; Abstract in Pediatric Exercise Science, 2003)

Effects of High-Intensity Training on Exercise Performance of Pre-Adolescent Female Soccer Players, Pediatric Work Physiology, 2003

Criteria for a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)

Criteria for a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)

• Complete a minimum of a bachelor's degree at a U.S. regionally accredited university or college and course work approved by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).
• Complete a ACEND-accredited supervised practice program at a healthcare facility, community agency, or a food service corporation, or combined with undergraduate or graduate studies. Typically, a practice program will run six to twelve months in length.
• Pass a national examination administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR).
• Complete continuing professional educational requirements to maintain registration.
• Use the following link to verify a dietitian's status (my RD#: 882691): RD credential verification.

Here is a link to an explanation of a Licensed Dietitian (LD) in Ohio.

Definition of a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

A registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) is an expert in food and nutrition who promotes good nutrition through healthy eating. Some RDNs call themselves nutritionists, however, the term "nutritionist" by itself is not regulated. People may call themselves nutritionists without the educational and professional requirements of registered dietitian nutritionists. Dietitians are registered with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (the certifying agency of the American Dietetic Association) and are only able to use the label "registered dietitian nutritionist" when they have met strict, specific criteria. Use the following link to verify a dietitian's status (my RD#: 882691): RDN credential verification.

Here is a link to an explanation of a Licensed Dietitian (LD) in Ohio (my LD#: 6197).

Education

Case Western Reserve University

Department of Physiology, Cleveland, OH

MS in Physiology, 2003

Mercyhurst College

Department of Human Ecology, Erie, PA

BS in Dietitics, 2000