Forbes Performance Nutrition

02/04/2022

🌙 Nutritional considerations for athletes during Ramadan 🌙

As we’re currently in Jordan and Ramadan starts tomorrow I thought it’s good timing to share this brilliant article by .x

https://www.nutritionx.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/The-Nutrition-X-Change-Vol.-7-Ramadan-and-Sports-Performance-1.pdf

I’m looking forward to learning more about the local culture, religion and people over the next couple of weeks!

Key considerations for athletes during Ramadan:

⚡️Total amount of energy and type of macro nutrient intake
⏱Timing of energy macro nutrient intake
💧Hydration

During the month of Ramadan, using fundamental sport nutrition knowledge it’s possible to minimise the performance decrements that may be associated with fasting and achieve the approximate sport specific nutrition requirements of elite athletes during training and competition.

DM me for more info or speak to a SENr registered Sports Nutritionist.

23/03/2022

🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

Feedback like this makes me so happy! I recently did a nutrition presentation for a running club and I’m thrilled they all found it so helpful. Soon they will be smashing their PBs 🔥

Are you a member of a sports club?

Do you think your club would benefit from a nutrition presentation?

I offer club presentations tailored to specific sports. DM or email me for more info 📩

22/03/2022

What a cracker of a week we’re having! ☀️ ☀️☀️☀️☀️

The sun puts a smile on everyone’s face, and so will my delicious smoothie recipe! Great as a snack to increase your micronutrients & fibre for the day 🫐🌱🍓 but also a good recovery option too 😄

150ml milk of choice
50g Greek yoghurt
125g blueberries (frozen or fresh)
A couple of strawbs
1/2 a banana
25g spinach
1 tsp honey or to taste (optional)

Blend all ingredients together! Add more milk if you want a thinner consistency 👍🏻

08/03/2022

This year's theme is 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Female athletes make up nearly 50% of sports participants, yet in sports medicine research the majority of participants are male! Female-only research accounts for just 4-13% of all studies. In practice this means that research on males is applied to females, like for like. But as says, WOMEN ARE NOT SMALL MEN!! The good news is that there is more funding being put into female specific research, something I feel very passionate about.

So what do we know about female specific sports nutrition principles?? Answer: we're still learning.

💥However, sufficient energy availability and hydration is FUNDAMENTAL. If your energy needs are not being met, everything else is futile.

💥During exercise at high intensity, women have higher rates of fat oxidation and lower rates of carbohydrate and protein metabolism compared to men.

💥In the luteal phase, female athletes are less reliant on muscle glycogen for fuelling compared to exercise during the follicular phase and compared to men.

💥Deficiencies in iron, vitamin D and calcium are common in female athletes.

Take home messages:

✍️Female athletes should pay close attention to their menstrual cycles to monitor for changes and irregularities (which might flag nutritional deficiencies).

🥗Eat a diverse range of foods to ensure adequate micronutrient intake.

🚫Be wary of "experts" on social media - seek nutrition advice from a Registered Sports Dietitian or Sports Nutritionist.

I'm looking forward to learning more tonight ’s 'Break the Bias' webinar on female health with , &

24/02/2022

Whether you’re going for a long run, a weekend cycle or heading to Crossfit, what you eat can make or break your experience no matter how fit or prepared you are!

A well planned nutrition strategy will help support any training programme, whether you are training for fitness or competition.

It can enhance your performance, promote efficient recovery between workouts, reduce the risk of illness or overtraining; and help you to achieve your potential in sport.

But how I hear you ask!?
Well, nutrition strategies include…..
⚡️Ensuring energy needs are met
🥗Optimising macronutrients, micronutrients and fluids (including their composition and spacing throughout the day).

💡It’s important to remember that these strategies vary according to the individual, the sport, the season, personal goals and practicalities. Everyone has different nutritional needs and there is no one size fits all!

🍽Eating to enhance your exercise (whatever you do) should be a priority so you can maximise the results of your time and efforts!

👩🏻‍🏫If you need some support with your nutrition make sure you use either an AfN or SENr Registered Nutritionist (those who have met strict standards of professional education in nutrition science & are evidence based)….that’s where I come in! DM me for me info or check my link in bio 🤗

10/02/2022

So, I finally got round to writing the summary of my MSc research and thought I’d turn it into a post 🤓

Aim: To understand if social lockdown impacted the nutrition behaviours and training practices of female athletes in the UK.

Methods: During Feb-May 2021, 132 female athletes competed an online cross-sectional survey. The questions compared their training practices and nutrition behaviours prior to the first social lockdown in the UK (23rd March 2020) to the time of survey completion.

Results:
🍰The majority of participants reported that lockdown resulted in negative changes to their current eating habits, no matter which level participants competed at.
🍰A third of participants gained weight.
🍰Participants reported a significant increase in consumption of homemade sweets/biscuits/cakes/chocolates, coffee and snacking.
🍰 Lack of motivation, boredom and stress were main reasons for change in behaviours.
⚽️Training habits were severely negatively affected.
⚽️Participants reported significant reductions in quantity, quality and type of training.
⚽️Team players experienced a greater decrease in quantity of training.
⚽️A larger proportion of individual sport players received self-reported adequate coaching support compared to team sport players.
⚽️Lack of future competition dates negatively affected motivation, as well as general effect of the pandemic on mental health.

If you want to read more, check out the blog post I’ve written about this - link in bio ☝🏻

29/01/2022

A great short listen! The answer? It depends. As always, context is everything with sports nutrition. But generally, if you’re doing high impact exercise for an hour or more it’s not recommended. It will impact your performance and ultimately your results and potentially your health! Women listen up - if you’re not fuelling your training appropriately, you run the risk of low energy availability which can cause havoc with your body, health and performance.

So basically, eat the food. Especially carbs!! 🍞🥪🥯❤️

20/01/2022

I thought it was about time I actually made a post! First of all, introductions 👋🏻 I'm Gillian, a Registered Performance Nutritionist living in North London. I support athletes and active people to optimise their nutrition to improve their performance 🏃🏻‍♀️

10 facts about me:

1. I'm Scottish but have lived in London for 15 years. Delighted to say that my accent is still going strong even though my mother in law still doesn't understand me on the phone 😂

2. I have two MScs. One in Public Health, one in Sport and Exercise Nutrition 👩🏻‍🎓

3. Before training as a nutritionist, I spent 8 years working in the NHS, local government and the World Health Organisation, specialising in public health, behaviour change and workplace wellbeing 🍎

4. I have two young sons, both of whom are sport mad! Namely football, tennis, golf, rugby, cricket and swimming ⚽️ 🎾 ⛳️ 🏉 🏏 🏊‍♂️

5. I used to be a gymnast and can still do a backbend from standing (but I can't do it in reverse anymore!) 🤸🏻‍♀️

6. I love to travel ✈️ Jordan is our next adventure, travel restrictions dependent 🇯🇴

7. I have a BIG birthday this year!! 🎉4️⃣0️⃣🎉

8. I've just started playing tennis. Thought it was about time I kept up with my sons and husband! 🎾

9. I love to cook. The pandemic stole some of that joy but it's making a come back! 👊🏻

10. I NEVER want to home school again! 🙅🏻‍♀️

And if you’ve read this far then well done and hello 👋🏻 😂

05/01/2022

Woohoo!! It’s official, I’m a Registered Performance Nutritionist 🎉 I’ve got lots of goals for 2022, one of which is to grow my business 🙌🏻 So if you want personalised nutritional support to maximise your health, well-being and sports performance then contact me! Check out my new website, link in bio.

13/12/2021

13/12/2021

13/12/2021