The Gymnast Nutritionist® Podcast

Have you ever wondered if your gymnast actually needs a sports drink at practice? Maybe you have seen other athletes drinking Gatorade, Powerade, Liquid I.V., LMNT, Prime, BodyArmor, or electrolyte packets and wondered if your gymnast should be doing the same. Or maybe you have heard that sports drinks are “toxic,” full of sugar, dyes, or ingredients your gymnast should avoid. But here is the prob...

Have you ever wondered if your gymnast is actually eating enough to support everything her body is being asked to do? Maybe she is training hard, dealing with injuries, struggling with fatigue, or trying to keep up as her body grows and changes. And maybe from the outside, everything looks mostly fine. But here is the problem: underfueling in gymnastics is often much more common than most parents...

Are you asking ChatGPT, AI, Google, or Facebook groups how to get your gymnast to eat better? Maybe you already know she needs breakfast, more snacks, more protein, more carbs, or better recovery fuel. Maybe you have asked AI for meal plans, snack ideas, calorie needs, or supplement recommendations. And maybe the answer sounded helpful. But here is the problem: AI can tell you what your gymnast mi...

Are you asking ChatGPT, AI, or Facebook groups what supplements your gymnast needs? Maybe your gymnast is tired, sore, injured, getting sick often, struggling to recover, or not gaining strength — and as a parent, you just want to help. So you ask: Does she need magnesium? Iron? Creatine? Electrolytes? Protein powder? A multivitamin? But when it comes to pediatric and adolescent gymnasts, suppleme...

Are you asking ChatGPT, AI, or an online calculator how many calories your gymnast needs? It might seem like a simple question. But when it comes to pediatric and adolescent gymnasts, calorie needs are anything but simple. In this episode, Christina continues her four-part series on what ChatGPT and AI do not know about your gymnast’s nutrition, and today’s focus is calorie needs. Because while AI...

Are you using ChatGPT, AI, or a generic meal plan to figure out what your gymnast should be eating? AI can be helpful for a lot of things, but when it comes to your gymnast’s nutrition, growth, development, injuries, training load, and recovery, there are major limitations parents need to understand. In this episode, Christina kicks off a four-part series on what ChatGPT and AI do not know about y...

Is your gymnast heading into summer training with big goals, upgrade dreams, or hopes of moving up a level this fall? Summer in gymnastics may be short, but it is one of the most important times of year for building strength, power, endurance, and new skills. But your gymnast cannot get stronger, recover well, or make the most of upgrade season if they are under-fueled. In this episode, Christina...

Has your gymnast been told their injury is “just overuse,” “just part of gymnastics,” or something they’ll grow out of? Have you asked the doctor if nutrition could help — only to be told to “eat healthy,” take vitamin D, or maybe add a multivitamin? For many injured gymnasts, that advice is not enough. In this episode, Christina breaks down the connection between nutrition, under-fueling, growth,...

Is your gymnast going through puberty and suddenly looking slower, less powerful, or less consistent in the gym? Has a coach, pediatrician, or even your own worry made you wonder if your gymnast’s weight or changing body is the problem? This is one of the most sensitive and misunderstood topics in gymnastics and when it’s handled the wrong way, it can cause serious harm to a gymnast’s relationship...

Did it feel like your gymnast was constantly asking for sugar, snacks, or “junk food” no matter how much you tried to offer balanced meals? Do meals feel like a struggle, leaving you second-guessing what you’re doing? If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone and it may not be what you think. In this episode, we’re unpacking one of the most common (and misunderstood) challenges parents face: when...

Did your gymnast’s competition season feel harder than it should have? Were there unexpected struggles with strength, endurance, injuries, or consistency? As the season wraps up, it’s the perfect time to zoom out and look at what might really be going on beneath the surface. In this episode, we’re breaking down one of the most overlooked (but critical) factors in performance for TOPS, HOPES, and e...

Do you know how to keep your gymnast healthy this season as they make a run at Nationals?  Today is the second episode of our 4-part series, The Road to Nationals . I'm talking about everything you need to know in terms of fueling your gymnast, helping them stay healthy, and hopefully perform their best this competition season.   February is not only competition season, it's also cold an...

 If your gymnast is serious about making it to Nationals this year (or any other major competition), now is the time to dial in their nutrition. And I've got something special to help you and your gymnast really hone in on nutrition to support them throughout this very long competition season. There's no better time than the beginning of competition season to help bring it back to the ba...

Did your gymnast’s competition season feel harder than it should have been? Were there struggles with strength, endurance, injuries, or consistency that didn’t quite make sense? And now that the season is wrapping up… how do you make sure next season looks different? In this episode, we’re taking a step back to reflect on competition season through a lens that’s often overlooked: nutrition and und...

If your gymnast is putting in the work—20, 25, even 30 hours a week in the gym—but still not building muscle or getting noticeably stronger, it’s time to take a closer look at what’s really going on. In today’s episode, I’m breaking down one of the most common frustrations I hear from parents and gymnasts: "She trains so much… so why isn’t she getting stronger or putting on muscle?" Spoi...

Why do parents wait so long to get nutrition support for their gymnast? No parent has ever told us they started working on nutrition with us and their gymnast "too early".  In fact, it's almost always the opposite. When they learn how "off" their gymnast's nutrition was, how their underfueling (or not eating the right things at the right times) played a role in their...

Is it a rebuilding season for your gymnast this year? It’s hard to sit on the sidelines when everyone else is competing. We have a LOT of gymnasts in this situation right now, and honestly I am so grateful we get to support them. They are taking advantage of an unfortunate situation to dial in their fueling to support health and a strong comeback). And for many, it was wakeup call to the fact thei...

This biggest mistake we’re seeing high level gymnasts make right now is… Only eating WHEN and IF they “feel hungry enough”…  “my gymnast eats well” is 100% subjective This can lead to "acute" underfueling.  And a lot of gymnasts are already chronically underfueled, so this is a double whammy to acutely underfuel on competition day as well. Here's what we're seeing from gymnasts...

Is it really a food allergy or something else entirely? Are stomach aches, bloating, and food fears always caused by specific foods? And how do parents know when eliminating foods is helping… or quietly making things worse? In this episode, we’re tackling one of the most confusing topics in youth athletics: food allergies vs. food intolerances  and how both intersect with under-fueling in gymnasti...

Is it really normal for a gymnast to not get her period until much later? Are painful cramps, extreme PMS, or mood swings just “part of being a teenage girl”? And is birth control truly the best — or only — solution? In this episode, we’re asking the questions most families were never taught to ask about periods, nutrition, and hormonal health in gymnastics. Because missing periods, severe cramps,...

When parents hear “fueling,” they often assume their gymnast is doing okay —but our recent gymnast fueling audits revealed a very different story. Here’s what we found: 2 out of 3 gymnasts had already fallen off their growth curve. Most were missing 25% or more of their daily nutrition needs. Many were already at moderate to high risk for RED-S , not because they were training 30 hours a week like...

 If you’re honest, you’ve probably asked yourself this at least once: We’re trying so hard… so why does nutrition still feel so confusing? In this episode of the Gymnast Nutritionist Podcast , I break down one of the biggest disconnects I see with families of competitive gymnasts: parents believe they’re fueling well, but key pieces are missing that directly impact health, growth, and performance....

If you’re honest, you’ve probably asked yourself this at least once: We’re doing all the things… so why isn’t it working? You can work hard and still not get results. In this episode, we’re asking the hard question: are you and your gymnast really putting in the work for results you want? What does this actually looks like and why so many families are stuck despite “doing everything right”? If you...

As competition season approaches, many parents are suddenly seeing more fear, anxiety, and mental blocks in the gym. What’s surprising is how often these struggles show up right as families start asking about fueling. This episode explores the connection between gymnast mental blocks and nutrition , and why emotional challenges often intensify when the body is under stress. First, this is common....

If you’re listening to this episode, there’s a good chance you’ve been there... standing in a hotel room, a gym lobby, or in the car on competition morning while your gymnast says, “I’m not hungry,” or flat-out refuses to eat anything. And you’re left wondering, what do I do with this gymnast who refuses to eat before a competition? Is this normal?  Am I overreacting?  And… is it actually safe for...