Fueling Young Athletes - A Discussion with Sports Dietitian Lauren Antonucci

Welcome to Episode 7 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring Registered Dietitian Lauren Antonucci. Today’s topic of fueling young athletes (i.e. through the collegiate level) is one that I am particularly excited about, as I love working with this client population, and as a parent myself, hope to raise my girls to enjoy physical activity as much as my husband and I do! 

Lauren is the perfect person to talk about fueling young athletes, both from a personal and professional standpoint. She is a longtime runner and triathlete with thirteen marathons and three Ironman races under her belt, a Mom of three active children, and a sports dietitian who has extensive experience with both adults and younger clients (her additional specialties include diabetes and eating disorders, among others). Lauren is the director of Nutrition Energy, a Manhattan-based private practice where I have been freelancing for the past few years. If you need a dietitian for yourself or your child (especially while I’m on maternity leave), reach out to the office to work with Lauren or another RD on staff and please mention that you were referred from this episode.

Here are some of the things that we cover in our discussion:

• Personal experience as dietitians and athletes with raising active, healthy kids
• Role modeling healthy behaviors as a parent
• Making food and exercise fun and appealing
• Balancing treats with other foods to foster a positive relationship with food
• How parents can encourage optimal fueling for performance while still allowing their kids to enjoy being kids
• Nutrients that we keep a close eye on with young athletes
• Navigating body image and disordered eating issues, should they arise
• Red flags parents can watch out for re: underfeeding and disordered eating
• Handling scheduling challenges from a nutrition perspective, including travel to practice, games, camps, races, etc, especially with rigorous academic schedules 
• Addressing a child’s desire to follow a restrictive diet (e.g. vegan or vegetarian)
• Fueling adequately within the team environment, especially if the environment is not conducive to eating/drinking

Links & Resources:

•  Nutrition Energy’s Website: www.nutritionenergy.com
•  Follow Lauren on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (@nutritionenergy)

Announcements:

• Please help me grow the show by SUBSCRIBING if you're enjoying these episodes, and rate/review if you have a minute!
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• Have nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - claire@eatforendurance.com.
• Music Credit: Joseph McDade
• Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations. If you'd like to work with me for individualized nutrition support, please reach out!