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🎧 Trigger warning: This episode contains descriptions of childbirth and medical emergencies.

In this deeply personal episode of the Greenletes Podcast, host and plant-based sports dietitian Natalie Rizzo opens up about her unexpected health journey following the birth of her second child. Despite a healthy pregnancy and active lifestyle, Natalie experienced a series of complications after a planned C-section, including a severe uterine hemorrhage and a life-threatening pulmonary embolism (PE).

In honor of World Thrombosis Day (October 13), Natalie shares the full story of what happened, from the warning signs she missed to the lifesaving medical care she received. She discusses her emotional recovery, how she managed treatment while caring for a newborn, and what it took to return to running and regain confidence in her body.

This episode is a reminder that even the healthiest among us can face unexpected medical emergencies and that recovery, both physical and mental, is possible with time, support, and awareness.

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The Greenletes Podcast is back! Host and plant-based sports dietitian Natalie Rizzo shares what she’s been up to, her latest projects, and how she helps runners and athletes fuel better with plants. Get a preview of exciting new guests and topics coming your way.

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Natalie speaks with Registered Dietitian and Diabetes expert Erin Palinski-Wade to get to the bottom of blood sugar for athletes. They discuss:

• Why athletes are wearing continuous glucose monitors and whether or not they are recommended for all athletes 
• Do spikes in blood glucose do any long-term damage to the body?
• Is your insulin sensitivity heightened during the anabolic window, and does this help with muscle building?  
• What is the glycemic index and why do people talk about it so much?
• If someone doesn’t have Diabetes, should they care about the glycemic index? 

Follow Erin @erinpalinskiwade

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McKale Montgomery is an Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University, as well as a nutritional science researcher. She specializes in iron, specifically how changes in cellular iron affect disease progression. She's also a competitive marathon runner. In this episode, we chat about: 

• How she started running and her journey to the Olympic Trials
• How she balances mom-ing (yes, it’s a verb), work, and competitive running
• Why iron is her favorite nutrient
• Do runners lose more iron than everyday people? How common is foot strike hemolysis? 
• What about plant-based athletes— is it inevitable that they will be iron deficient?
• Has research found a link between iron and cognitive decline? 
• The relevance of iron in cancer and chemotherapy 

Read the Runner's World article about McKale here! And follow her on Twitter

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Dr. Kensa Gunter is a clinical and sport psychologist based in Atlanta, GA where she provides individual counseling, mental skills training, and consultation services to athletes and organizations. In this episode, we discuss:

• how psychological factors play into sport
• whether or not athletes are open to mental health discussions
• how to manage pre-competition anxiety
• How the idea of perfectionism play into an athlete’s mental health
• How athlete’s can balance the idea of wanting to win/be the best and also not beat themselves up if they don’t win.
• the definition of mental toughness and how can athlete’s harness it

Connect with Dr. Gunter or visit her website. 

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Natalie chats with Vic Johnson, a nutrition coach for outdoor athletes and an outdoor endurance athlete, who has competed in trail and ultra running, triathlons, and cycling.

They discuss: 

• What are some special nutrition considerations for mountain sports? 
• Should you just rely on carbohydrates for fuel? Should you add in other nutrients besides carbs? 
• What nutrients the body relies on for lower intensity exercise.
• How to you carry fuel and hydration with you during long outdoor events
• How the elements, like extreme heat or cold, factor into nutrition

Follow Vic or check out his website. 

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In this episode, Sports RD Natalie Rizzo answers your burning questions. She chats about: 

• whether or not vegans need to supplement with Vitamin B12 and how much to take
• how to fuel two-a-days 
• why you may be hungry at night on a plant-based diet
• do men have a faster metabolism than women?

Submit your questions for a future Q&A here!

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In this episode, Natalie chats with Sun Sachs, the CEO & Co-founder of Rewire Fitness, the first mental fitness platform that helps athletes reach their full potential and avoid burnout by providing tools that improve mindset, readiness and resilience. They discuss:

• Sun's journey as a plant-based athlete and how he recognized he was underfueling for sport.
• What is Rewire Fitness and what’s the mission of the company? 
• What is mental fitness and why is it important?
• His personal stories about mental conditioning for sport. 
• Tools athletes can use to prevent burnout? 
• Sun's favorite training & recovery recipes

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I'm back and ready to talk about nutrition for long runs! In this episode, we discuss:
how many grams of carbs you need before and during a long run, different types of long run fuel, the importance of hydration on your energy levels and how recovery plays a role in how you feel while running.

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Learn more from me in my FREE 5-Day Mini Course: Fuel Your Fitness with Plants.
And check out my book: Planted Performance

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Julie Shobe is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and ultra runner. She helps ultra runners learn how to improve their fueling before, during, and after running so they can dial in their nutrition during training and ultimately race faster.  In this episode, we chat about: 

• How ultra nutrition is different from marathon nutrition
• Whether or not she recommends that ultra-marathoners track calories
• How many grams of carbs should someone eat per hour while running for hours on end
• How to fuel during an ultra--should you use sports products or whole foods or a mix of both?
• How to incorporate protein and fat into fueling
• Can ultra runners adapt to use fat as fuel?
• Ultra-marathon hydration needs and how to meet them 
• How will someone know if they are eating too much or too little

You can find Julie on Instagram @ultra.runner.nutrition or email fuelingultras@gmail.com
Julie's course is located here!

Connect with Natalie @greenletes or visit www.greenletes.com

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Today is all about meal prepping for plant-based people! Welcome Nicole Osinga, a Registered Dietitian in the Greater Toronto Area. You can find Nicole on local or national TV and on Instagram/TikTok, where she is known as the 'Plant-Based Meal Prep Expert' and has an audience of over 100 K on Instagram and 44 K on TikTok. 

We chat about: 

• Her meal prepping journey
• The benefits of meal prep, particularly for athletes
• How to go about picking and organizing meals for the week?
• Tips for cooking multiple meal at once 
• Are there certain foods that are easier to meal prep?
• Tips to include packages foods into meal prepping
• How to make meal prepping less overwhelming
  
  

Follow Nicole @nicoleosinga_rd and Natalie @greenletes.

Read more about meal prepping here: https://greenletes.com/plant-based-meal-prep-athlete/

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Let's talk about carbs! Will the extra carbs in plant-based protein make you gain weight or cause health issues, or are they a healthy part of your diet?

Follow @greenletes and visit www.greenletes.com for more. 

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Ginger Hultin is a Seattle-based Registered Dietitian, who has worked with hundreds of clients to help them reach their weight loss goals. She has a new ebook called Meal Prep For Weight Loss 101.

In this episode, Natalie and Ginger chat about:

• Your "why" behind wanting to lose weight
• How much weight is it realistic to lose in a month 
• Are calorie trackers harmful or helpful?
• Do you have to cook all your own meals in order to lose weight?
• Do some people just have a slow metabolism that prohibits weight loss?
• The biggest weight loss mistakes people make
• Should you worry about the carbs in beans and legumes if you're trying to lose weight

Follow Ginger @champagnenutrition and Natalie @greenletes
Visit www.greenletes.com for more info!

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Welcome to the Marathon episode! Today's guest is Ali Nolan, the author of Master the Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide for Women. She writes for Runner's World, Women's Running, Livestrong, and Self and works as an audience producer for This is Alabama. She's run three marathons and countless other races. We chat about:

• How female runners differ from male runners. What do they need to think about when tackling a marathon?
• What’s the first thing someone should do if they are considering running a marathon for the first time? 
• Why you need an intrinsic goal to stay motivated during marathon training 
• How to tell if you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced runner 
• What else goes into marathon training besides the actual physical training
• The biggest training mistake among marathon runners

Follow Ali at @alialinol
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This week's 5-minute Friday gives simple tips to incorporate meal prepping into your weekly routine!

Read more here: https://greenletes.com/plant-based-meal-prep-athlete/

And download the Free meal plan here: https://nutrition-natalie.ck.page

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Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDN, is a plant-forward registered dietitian nutritionist, classically-trained chef, award-winning cookbook author, professional recipe developer, media personality, spokesperson, and food writer. She’s the author of five cookbooks, including her newest, The Clean & Simple Diabetes Cookbook. She is a private plant-based cooking coach and a former healthy cooking instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. We chatted about: 

• Her definition of "plant forward"
• Her journey to becoming a chef
• Whether or not it's difficult to develop a well-balanced meal without animal products
• Jackie's favorite plant-based proteins
• Alternatives for dairy and eggs 
• Creative ways to use plants for anyone who is stuck in a cooking rut
• Tips for those who find cooking intimidating to help them get started in the kitchen 
• How to serve a plant-based meal that meat eaters will enjoy

Follow Jackie and visit her website.
Follow me @greenletes and visit www.greenletes.com

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Spend 5-minutes with Natalie learning about how much processed food is okay to eat and the difference between ultra-processed food and other "processed" foods that may be okay to eat. 

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Wendy Sterling, MS, RD, CSSD, CEDRD-S is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and Approved Supervisor through the International Eating Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, and a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics in the Bay Area in California. She has consulted for the Oakland Athletics, Golden State Warriors, NY Jets, and NY Islanders. Her newest book, A Parent's Guide to Diet-Free Living, Exercise and Body Image, just came out this past March 2022. In this episode, we chat about: 

• The difference between an eating disorder and disordered eating
• Factors that play into the development of eating disorders 
• How eating disorders are diagnosed
• Is there any particular sport or population that is at a greater risk of disordered eating and eating disorders? 
• Differences in eating disorders between males and females
• What can an athlete do if they think they have an eating disorder? 
• Wendy's plate by plate approach

Check out Wendy's website at: www.sterlingnutrition.com. Follow her on Instagram at @wendy_sterling and @platebyplateapproach   or  Twitter: @WendyMSRD.

Follow Natalie @greenletes or visit www.greenletes.com  

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Special Thursday release due to the holiday weekend! Should you eat less on rest days? How to know how much to eat and the nutrients you should include on rest days.

Read more about this topic: https://greenletes.com/rest-day-nutrition-and-meal-plan/

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Alyssa Lavy, MS, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian, who focuses on digestive health, using her foodie-first approach. In this episode, we chat about everything you've ever wanted to know about GI issues, including:

• Common GI issues among athletes
• What’s the difference between IBS and IBD?
• How can someone tell if they have a sensitive stomach or a condition, like IBS?
• What are the most common culprits of runner’s trots?
• the low FODMAP diet and its implications for athletes
• Why plant-based proteins may make you bloated and what you can do to banish the bloat
• If someone has IBS, can they still try to use sports supplements, like sports drinks, gummies and gels?

Learn more about Alyssa and follow her @alyssalavyrd
Trust Your Gut Course

And follow Natalie @greenletes or www.greenletes.com

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Get my RD-approved tips for beating gas and bloating on a plant-based diet!

Read more here: https://greenletes.com/gas-bloating/

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Let's chat about triathlon nutrition! Chrissy Carroll is an RD, an RRCA Running Coach and a USAT Level I Triathlon Coach. She discusses:

• how nutrition differs from running to triathlons
• how athletes know if they are fueling enough during a training cycle
• supplements for triathletes
• How to handle unexpected gut issues on race day?
• How to carry fuel while training and on race day
• What foods best support recovery after completing a triathlon?
• Training in a pool in vs open water swim 

Head to Chrissy's website for triathlon training plans and follow her!
And follow @greenletes and check out www.greenletes.com

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For this week's 5-minute Friday, I'm answering the question "Does running make me hungrier?" I chat about some research that looks at the effects of exercise on ghrelin (the hunger hormone).

Follow @greenletes or email podcast@greenletes.com to submit your questions for future episodes. 

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Bone health is something that athletes don't think about enough. This episode dives into the science of bones, including how bones grow and develop and when you start losing bone density. I chat with Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD, the Nutrition Advisor for the California Prune Board, about nutrients and foods that can protect bones. 

We also discuss some really interesting studies featuring prunes. Study links below:
Prunes may protect you from fracture risk
Prunes have also been shown to lower inflammation, decrease oxidation and increase antioxidant activity

Learn more about California Prunes here!
Follow @greenletes and check out this Chocolate Smoothie, made with prunes. 

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Introducing the new series: 5-minute Friday! I spend 5 minutes every Friday answering your sports nutrition and plant-based eating questions. Today I'm responding to a listener who asked:
"I recently switched to a plant-based diet, and I feel like I'm always cold. Why?"

Submit your own question to podcasts@greenletes.com
Follow me @greenletes

Read more about plant-based iron here: https://greenletes.com/plant-based-sources-of-iron/

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