22. Where do you start with your nutrition?
Where do you start when you want to transform the way you eat on and off the bike?
Weight loss is the most common reason cyclists want to work with me as a sports dietitian.
But half the time I spend ISN’T talking about food and telling people what to do.
Instead I’m talking about all the things that are going on in the background affecting food choices and helping my clients overcome these hurdles.
Improving your mindset and relationship with food is rarely the primary reason people want to work with a sports dietitian, but it's often the most life transforming one.
Today I talk you through the first step in my cycling nutrition framework to help you transform your nutrition. Once you understand where the problems are, you can build in the right nutrition solutions for you to address them!
Fuelled Podcast episode 22 with Advanced Sports Dietitian Dr Gemma Sampson.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Soundcloud or watch on Youtube.
I see a lot of people who ride bikes professionally, competitively or or just simply for the love of cycling who are confused or overwhelmed about their nutrition.
People who feel guilt or shame about what they do (or don't) eat.
People who find themselves extremely hungry after riding, crave sugar all the time then beat themselves up for making poor food choices in that moment.
People think that feeling exhausted after a long ride or uncontrollably hungry is a normal part of cycling (it's not by the way).
People who think that their nutrition cycling has to be really complicated for it work (it doesn't).
People who think that that they can figure it alone or that one nutrition consultation or meal plan will fix things overnight.
One of my FAVOURITE things ever is helping my clients transform their relationship with food.
Changing your nutrition habits takes time
Changing your nutrition habits and behaviours takes time - and having the right support to help you along that journey can make a world of difference.
The longer I've worked as a sports dietitian, the more I've realised just how important psychology, mindset and our external environment influences our food choices.
And it's not just about the food - because often we KNOW what we could be doing better. We just aren't doing it for some reason.
It's not just about knowing what to eat, but understanding how these behind the scenes factors play a part in our food choices and influence whether we are successful in achieving our goals or not.
Because of this, over the last 15 years I have worked as a dietitian I have invested a huge amount of time, energy and finances into additional training on behaviour change techniques and coaching because I am really passionate about supporting my clients to achieve their goals in the fastest, most sustainable manner possible.
It is possible to transform your relationship with food for life.
I am REALLY passionate about this and subsequently one of my favourite things about what I do as a sports dietitian is catching up with clients I worked with in weeks, months or years gone by and seeing them continue to put the work we did together into practice.
I love seeing my clients change their relationship with food on and off the bike for life. Food isn’t the enemy, what you eat in training REALLY makes a difference and how you do that really doesn’t need to be so complicated.
Are you ready to overhaul your cycling nutrition strategy once and for all?
Let me show you how!
Cycling nutrition coaching, workshops and resources to fuel peak performance as a cyclist. Become a well fuelled cyclist with Advanced Sports Dietitian Dr Gemma Sampson.
What is the Cycling Nutrition Framework?
My cycling nutrition framework is a 4 step process to simplify how you eat around the training you are doing in a way you can sustain whether you are in full training mode, on holidays (like I am at the moment in Mallorca) or taking a break from riding.
What that looks like in practice will be unique to you - and needs to be flexible to whatever changes your lifestyle may bring so that it can last the distance of time.
The first step is getting really clear on what you are currently doing with your nutrition so you can see where it does or doesn’t align with your training, once you understand where the problems lie, you can build in the right solutions for you.
Use the cycling nutrition framework to understand and use my smart carbs approach to transform the way you eat on and off the bike for life. Once you understand where the problems are, you can build in the right nutrition solutions for you to address them!
Are you ready to fuel your cycling peak performance on and off the bike?
Let’s get started!
Gemma
Fuel your cycling with confidence
Learn how to fuel before, during and after cycling with the Fuelled Cycling Nutrition Team for optimal body weight, recovery and performance.