10 reasons why you should see a sports dietitian
As a sports dietitian I see a wide variety of people actively engaging in endurance sports - specifically cycling and triathlon. But you don't have to be an elite or professional athlete to benefit from nutrition support and advice. Here's a list of the top 10 reasons why you should see a Sports Dietitian to get the most out of your cycling and triathlon training.
Improve Body Composition
You want to gain muscle mass or lose body fat to help you perform better in your sport. Without having to compromise power or speed during training in order to reach your optimum 'race weight'.
Improved race results
You want to improve exercise or sports performance and get better results at races, sportives or granfondos. Better nutrition before, during and after an event ensures you make the most of the hours, weeks or days that you invest into training.
Nutrition advice for vegan and plant-based diets
Vegan, vegetarian or or plant based diet can be low in certain vitamins, minerals and macronutrients if you don't plan well and prepare. You want to ensure that what you are eating is well balanced and supports the exercise and training you do.
Read more about nutrition tips for plant based diets.
You want to increase stamina and endurance to go longer, faster
Low carb, ketogenic diets, fasted training all have their place and you want to learn how to incorporate these into your daily life without compromising performance. It's not about being ALWAYS high carb or ALWAYS Low carb, it's about being strategic with your carbs and how you fuel your training sessions according to the intensity. This is how you increase your stamina and endurance to help you go longer, faster.
Optimised training and recovery nutrition
You want ideas about what foods you should to eat before, during or after exercise and training to ensure you get the most out of each session, recover optimally and progressing forwards.
Read Should you eat before training?
Cooking, recipes and meal plan support
You want to make better food choices and need ideas for buying and preparing food and making meal plans. I often do mini cooking demonstrations with my athletes to show them how to make tasty nutritious and snacks like these lemon and coconut rice cakes.
Food allergies and intolerances
You have food allergies or intolerances and need to follow a specific diet such as gluten free or a low FODMAP diet. You want to be sure that you are nutritionally meeting your needs and are interested in specific nutrition guidance and a personalised meal plan. Read Does a gluten free diet improve athletic performance?
Hydration and dehydration
You want to choose the best fluids to drink before, during, and after exercise or sport to avoid dehydration, cramping or over-hydrating. Read how much should you drink while cycling?
Gut issues when training or racing
You keep experience gastrointestinal problems such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or cramping during training or racing that keep you from performing at your best and you want solutions that work FAST. Races can be won or lost in the port-a-loo. That's not where you want to be come race day!
Race plan nutrition planning
You want to create a race day nutrition plan that you are confident will give you the best performance come race day. You need a race day plan that uses real food, sports supplements, gels, electrolytes, sports drinks, bars or chews specifically to your event and preferences so you can podium or get a new personal best.
What food and nutrition struggles do you have as a cyclist or triathlete?
These are just some of the reasons why people come to see me as a sports dietitian and performance nutritionist but there are many, many more!
If you are interested in getting personal sports nutrition advice to help you train, recover and perform better as a cyclist or triathlete, book a sports nutrition consultation with me now.
Gemma
Gemma Sampson APD
If you’re interested in nutrition coaching to ensure you get the most out of your training and performance, book an online sports nutrition consultation to get you on the path to success.