coachsofi, Berkeley, CA (2025)

02/19/2024

I love coffee! 🤎 But while moderate coffee intake has some health & performance benefits, watch out for these signs that you’re drinking too much ⚠️

1/ You drink 3 or more cups per day (or 400mg / day for adults) ☕️☕️☕️
1 shot = 135mg, 8-oz drip coffee = 100mg, however caffeine content can vary wildly.
**Remember that other foods like tea, chocolate, sports gels, and energy drinks also have caffeine

2/ Disrupted sleep 😴 (you have a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, or the quality is poor)

3/ Increased anxiety, jittery, irritable 😡

4/ Using coffee as a meal replacement 😳
‼️this is the easiest trap to fall into. Caffeine is an appetite suppressant making it easy to skip meals. It increases cortisol AND adrenaline in the body, so watch out!

🤔If you ever experience nighttime over-eating or binging, look back on your day and see if you used coffee to replace a proper meal.

5/ It’s affecting or exacerbating your gut symptoms 🤢
*Caffeine can be a trigger for negative gut symptoms. Monitor how your gut reacts to caffeine

02/16/2024

Me flexing at the top of a mountain in the Pyrenees is only half the story…

The full story?
It was an arduous day when this photo was snapped but what I didn’t know is that the difficulty was only just beginning.

With two heavy packs filled with climbing gear and a dog carrier for my pup, my partner and I embarked on the “20 minute approach” to the bottom of the rock face for a day of what we hoped to be epic climbing in Tarrascon-Ariege region on this one sunny winter day.

We navigated the faint trail, guided only by a frustratingly vague description from our climbing book. “Go up, go through the burnt trees, turn right at some point when the trail completely disappears” 😭

We got lost on the way up, scrambling up horribly treacherous goat paths only to have to come back down and try another route. Arms and legs scratched to hell from the thorny plants.

After an hour, we found the climbing crag and began our warm up climbs. At this point, I felt accomplished and strong getting through some manageable adversity (⭐️see photo).

Like I said, that was only half the story. Rushing through our warm up climbs in easy grades, we started making dumb mistakes. First, I snagged the rope on a tree when I tried to pull it down. Forcing us to climb the route again on the tail end of the rope to get it unstuck. Bad luck I guess.

Next, we went onto the harder grades. This time, my climbing partner was so anxious to climb, he pulled the rope before I could untie my figure 8 knot 😣. Never done that one before and we were damn lucky there was another climber in this isolated region whose rope we could borrow to climb up and retrieve our stuck rope. Mentally I was getting tired.

This is when I started thinking about 🌟Allostatic Load🌟 — A.L. Is the impact of repeatedly activating the body’s stress response. I’m sure you’ve felt it yourself.

(Rest of the story in the comments & at coachsofi.com)

02/01/2024

Celebrating some big wins for this guy! 🎉

Gordon had big 6-month nutrition goals and I am so stoked he achieved them! (Check out 2nd slide)👉

🔥To see this guy come off of a 30-hour, 1,500 TSS training week and “feel good” is just phenomenal!🔥

🚴🏽‍♂️ At 6’1 and previously 148lbs, Gordon was already a lean athlete with a training load upwards of 20hrs per week. I knew we’d have to be careful managing a high risk⚠️ for Low Energy Availability with his goal of dropping 4lbs of body fat.

Gordon trusted the process and me as his sports nutritionist and I couldn’t be more pleased with his results!

In 6 months, he achieved his Goals:
✅ Lost 4lbs body fat 148-144lb
✅ Improved lipid panel: → 39% improvement in Total Cholesterol:HDL Ratio.
✅ Learned how (& why) to fuel specific efforts & training
✅ Learned tools for emotional eating and snacking

Many people struggle with but few speak openly about it. I always feel very honored when I can help someone manage their relationship with food and help them learn how to nourish their emotions with multiple tools other than food.

🧐 🍔🍦🍩One of the most interesting findings with Gordon is that we discovered his late-night overeating amounted to almost exactly the same amount of calories he was in a deficit from his previous workouts. 🤯

✅SOLUTION: By shifting to front-loading his day with energy-dense foods, we all but eliminated the late night snacking. 🙌Not only did this result in better training rides that were properly field, but it also resulted in fat loss and less emotional duress at night. 🥳

⭐️If you want to see results with your daily nutrition and training, reach out and inquire about my 1:1 Coaching.

01/19/2024

Can eating a high-quality diet reduce depression?

An exciting new study explored the connection between diet quality and depressive symptoms across Omnivore, , and diets.

💡What did they find? 💡
🌟 diets accounted for the highest quality diets and therefore showed the greatest protective role and lower depressive symptoms!😱🌟

How can you make YOUR diet high quality?
✅Increase intake of plant-foods like 🥦vegetables, 🍒fruits, 🫘legumes, 🥖whole grains, 🥜nuts/seeds (healthy fat)
✅Eat FEWER ultra-processed foods with added sugar, salt and saturated fats

With a bit of guidance, going plant-based is a GREAT start to increasing your overall diet quality✨

💛Keep in mind, further research is needed , and these findings does not mean that depression is solely caused by a poor diet, or that a good diet can cure depression, however it’s an important finding highlighting the link between Food & Mental Health. 💛

🤓Walsh H, Lee M, Best T. “The Association between Vegan, Vegetarian, and Omnivore Diet Quality and Depressive Symptoms in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study”. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 13;20(4):3258.

01/11/2024

Don’t make the mistake of taking research performed on men and applying it to women! 🙅🏻‍♀️

❌Doing so is often erroneous and could be damaging.

😨There’s a huge lack of sports science and sport medicine research conducted on women, especially elite female athletes.

😶‍🌫️A review of 1,382 research articles involving over 6million participants showed just 35-35% of participants were females. 😡🤯

🔊🔊🔊
Female and menstruating people’s hormone levels like & fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle AND life cycle.

These s*x hormones affect:
🔸Carbohydrate combustion
🔸Muscle protein synthesis
🔸Metabolism
🔸Body water regulation
🔸Exercise capacity
🔸Temperature tolerance
🔸(And too many more to list)

🧐🧐🧐Remember this next time someone tells you about the latest nutrition or training advice they heard. 🙄🤥

🤓 Citation: Emmonds, S., Heyward, O. & Jones, B. The Challenge of Applying and Undertaking Research in Female Sport. Sports Med - Open 5, 51 (2019)

🤓Joseph T. Costello, Francois Bieuzen & Chris M. Bleakley (2014) Where are all the female participants in Sports and Exercise Medicine research?, European Journal of Sport Science, 14:8, 847-851, DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2014.911354

01/08/2024

Pancakes 😋 My favorite workout fuel recommendation. 👩🏻‍🍳

Why? If you’re doing long days on the 🚴🏻‍♀️ , about to go for a long 🏃🏻‍♂️, or spending the day at the crag 🧗🏻, this is the perfect snack to fuel your workout!

These pancakes are stuffed with peaches 🍑 and super simple to make. 🤩

Why do I recommend instead of Bars or Chews during long, endurance type workout?
- Whole Food fuel is always preferable to processed foods for overall health and long-term
- Pancakes will provide you with the your body needs during exercise
- Healthy mix of sugar types to support performance (sucrose, glucose, fructose)
- Includes a little to release energy steadily and keep energy levels even
- Affordable 🤑
- Appetizing! Sometimes we won’t feel “hungry” so appetizing food is important

👩🏻‍🍳
🌟🌟RECIPE LINK IN BIO🌟🌟

12/28/2023

Thanks to everyone who joined today’s webinar! 🔥Fueling for Metabolic Efficiency & Fat Loss🔥

A few snapshots from today’s presentation!

Couldn’t make it? You can get the video playback via email! Just register via the link in bio!

👉👉Link in Bio

12/27/2023

Tomorrow! FREE webinar to teach you how to periodize nutrition, improve endurance and increase fat loss!

Thursday Dec 28, 12pm PST

✅Register via LINK IN BIO!

12/23/2023

Need a last-minute gift?! 🎁

I’m offering GIFT CERTIFICATES for a 50-minute Nutrition & Training Consultation.
✅Get $10 OFF using code “SANTA” at checkout
❇️Coachsofi.com/shop❇️

Get answers to all your Nutrition & Training questions!

The perfect gift for:
⭐️People who want to learn healthy, sustainable nutrition tips
⭐️People who feel lost on how to fuel their workouts and events ⭐️People who want to learn about nutrition
⭐️Women who want to understand how to feed their body according to the menstrual cycle and/or perimenopause
⭐️People who want to fact check the most popular nutrition trends/myths

Buy directly on my shop: coachsofi.com/shop
❇️LINK IN BIO❇️

12/09/2023

Super excited to share this fantastic opportunity with you! I will be hosting a FREE webinar on Thursday Dec. 28 at 12pm PST / 3pm EST / 9pm CET

⚠️Register ASAP via link in bio as space is limited!⚠️

🥳 In this webinar, I will teach you how to shift your to maximize adaptations - specifically to help you become a better fat burner and improve metabolic efficiency.

🌟This webinar is for:
-Any endurance athlete who is interested in getting the most out of training
-People who want to lean up in a sustainable way
-Anyone interested in sports nutrition or physiology
-Athletes who want to take their training & nutrition to the next level

🌟In this webinar, you will learn:

✅About the body’s primary energy systems and how this relates to fueling workouts

✅How to enhance training adaptations and performance long-term by practicing 🔺Periodized Nutrition🔺
✅How to adjust your nutrition to maximize and spare to last longer
✅How to improve and endurance via the “Train Low” nutrition protocol

Empower yourself with evidence-based strategies!

🌟Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Spread the word to your fellow athletes 😊

12/06/2023

She won the whole dang thing! 🏆 Congrats to for taking home the overall win at the Bay Area Super Prestige Cyclocross Series!

This was Liz’s first year racing cross and I’m sure she’ll be back for more. Even sweeter, her fiancée also took 2nd place twice in this series. 💞

I have always LOVED the series and this series was also my introduction to in 2009 where I also took that overall podium.

Makes me so happy to see BASP spreading the joy of racing after all these years! 👍I thank them for tricking me into thinking all cross races are short track courses raced on bikes whose brakes don’t work. 😆

12/05/2023

Healthy made simple🧡

✨ Grilled tofu, quinoa and kale with tahini sauce drizzle ✨

I prioritize and when it comes to daily lunch.👏 How about you?

This meal takes less than 15 minutes & is packed with fiber, protein, and nutrients.

If you want to feel satiated after your meals and without a big crash, make sure to include all 3 macros:
✅protein, ✅whole-grain , ✅a little fat.

The from the veggies and grains also goes a very long way to helping you stay , lean and feeling full!

Quinoa - best if you make a large quantity ahead of time (aka ) to save time during the week

Tofu- high protein/firm tofu, slice into filets, cook in 1/2 Tbs olive oil on high heat, flip and add soy sauce. So simple- so tasty!

Kale - sautee for

12/08/2022

What’s the best change you can make to your diet Right Now??

ADD C O L O R!🌈

If there is a lot of color on your plate, it tells me:
🍑🍌🥬🌶🍋🍓🫐🧄🫒🍒🥦
1/ You’re eating high food diversity
2/ Your intake is likely on point
3/ You’re consuming a high amount of and
4/ You’re filling up on , low calorie foods that the body

Did you know:
⭐️A healthy Gut is *Dependent* on Food Diversity

⭐️ Your microbiome has the ability to alter your physiology, including , , and
(Hello 👋 , and health!)

⭐️ An imbalanced gut microbiome can contribute to weight gain, mental health issues, high blood sugar, high cholesterol and other disorders

Solution?
Ramp up the plant foods you eat and incorporate lots of color and diversity.

🌱 Aim to eat 30 different plants per week, coming from veggies, fruits, nuts/seeds and whole grains 🥳

11/02/2022

Want to increase your fat burning during workouts?🔥🔥

Here’s how!

☝️1. Avoid Lactate Accumulation
✅Main Point: Avoid short, high-intensity bouts of which cause high lactate levels and pushes fat out of aerobic metabolism. Result = less fat burning. 🚫

🤓Nerd Notes: Any time you're doing anaerobic or high-intensity interval training, fat combustion is LOW and Carb/glycogen burning is HIGH. The byproduct of glycolitic or high-intensity exercise is lactate. When high levels of lactate are present, the aerobic metabolism uses the lactate as fuel, not fat! So even "recovery" during interval training will not be helping your fat burning goals.

✌️2. Decrease Carb Intake
✅There is strong evidence showing that low carb intake can decrease carbohydrate metabolism and increase fat combustion.
🤓The trick is to pair your low-carb diet with low-intensity exercise, and to time it right within your training season. Otherwise, you'll come across problems.

🤟3. Increase VO2Max
✅A higher VO2max (aerobic capacity) leads to better fat combustion.

Why? Because a strong aerobic metabolism delays and pushes back the involvement of your anaerobic (aka carb-burning) metabolism.
🤓Combusting fat requires more oxygen, so a high Vo2max will always result in a higher fat burning capacity.

🚴🏻‍♀️TIP: You can accomplish this with many hours of low-intensity training, or with very hard interval workouts.

🙋🏻‍♀️Try these tips and let me know how it goes! Off-season is the best time to prioritize fat burning workouts!

10/26/2022

Final Day at UCI world cycling center! Adding up 4 weeks in Switzerland, 170 hours of class, 10 nations represented, 13 high-performance coaches, and one big fat UCI Coaching Diploma!

Really proud of myself and these other coaches for sticking with it and finishing out an intensive 1 month of non-stop all-things-cycling. They made the experience a whole lot better!

Looking forward to bringing more knowledge, expertise, and experience back to the USA. 🥳

09/29/2022

Are those $500 carbon wheels really worth it? 👀 🚴🏼💨

Check out .cycling latest video 🎥 featuring my boy of to find out the answer!

📣Shoutout to James for being such a major contributor to the local community putting on events like fixed classics , Red Bull Bay Climb & Triple Crown, San Rafael Crit and more.

LAST PHOTO: Check out a sneak peak into the kind of power James puts down on the bike 😈🔥

🥇🎊

09/06/2022

So many disciplines, so little time! Especially proud of a few athletes this month who showed grit and determination to complete some tough cycling events!

1/ ROAD 🔥 Italy where pulled off a fantastic & grueling 30 hours of , 47k feet of climbing and 378 miles thru the

2/ MTB🔥 Crushing it at race but not before going to a late race “dark place” as anyone who’s a legit endurance athlete knows well 🫠

3/ TRIATHLON🔥 completes a FULL snagging a top spot in the cycling leg, plus earns 2nd place in a Michigan Sprint Tri! 🏊🏻‍♂️🚴🏼🏃🏻‍♂️

4/ TIME TRIAL 🔥 is your 2022 NorCal Nevada Champion in 35+ P1/2!!! 🍾🎉

5/ ULTRA is a top contender at and is in the best shape of his life leading into one of the most unforgiving bike races in the world. Super disappointing to have him work so damn hard and have a car hit him on but he’s recovering quickly and we know he’ll be back again soon ❤️‍🩹

Congrats riders - you represent your sport and disciplines well! 🥳

07/29/2022

When your junior athlete develops into a world championship rider and all-around great person… 😭🫶🚵🏻‍♀️

I really feel so grateful for the lives I’ve been able to touch and feel a deep connection and investment in my riders. Thanks to all who have put their trust in me as their coach & mentor over the years.

coachsofi