034: Carbs Are Not the Enemy – A Dietitian’s Guide to Fueling

What do Division I athletes and busy moms have in common? They both need fuel to perform. We're joined by a Registered Dietitian for a Division I college program, who shares her playbook for energy, recovery, and strength—without the fad diets or guilt. From pregame breakfasts to 20-minute meals, we cover protein, carbs, body image, and the one change you can make today to feel more energized. This is your no-nonsense guide to fueling like an athlete, no matter your arena. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 - Carbs: The Real MVPs
• 5:12 - Candy Before Cardio?
• 10:45 - Sports Teams & Snack Dreams
• 15:30 - Cooking Class Chaos
• 20:50 - The Myth-Busting Dietitian
• 26:15 - Protein: More Than Just Shakes
• 31:40 - Supplements: Fact or Fiction?
• 37:05 - The 80/20 Rule of Eating
• 42:30 - Eating for Your Cycle: Myth or Magic?

Transcript

Speaker 3 (00:00.952)
talk to us about carbs and by that I mean mostly the messages are carbs are the enemy.

That's the enemy for me, that myth right there. Like, why do we hate carbs so much? I just feel bad. Carbs provide so much energy for us and it's not just like fuel for your bodies. It's like fuel for your brain. You know, if you're at three o'clock in the afternoon, you're starting to feel a little foggy. I bet you, if you had a little carbs snack, you feel pretty good. You need that energy for your brain to perform in, you know, a class or work, or if you're going to the gym, whatever that is, you need some type of energy, right? But,

Yeah, it's 80-20. And then also if you are a woman that's like trying to work out and get a little quick boost of energy, having your favorite candy before a workout actually probably will benefit you. Like Sour Patch Kids. Have a little Sour Patch Kid before you workout or during your workout. You'll probably feel great.

Have you ever wondered why people get so hyped about their favorite sports teams? Well, it turns out it's not just about the game. It's about the community. My name is Teryn.

And I'm Ambre. Welcome to Almost Fans, the sports podcast that's fun, a little bit educational, and will give you plenty to say when you're trying to keep up with those diehard sports fans in your life.

Speaker 3 (01:20.174)
Mary Spain is a performance dietitian for the Wisconsin Badgers, where she keeps some of the fittest college athletes fueled, hydrated, and snack prepped to win. She's part food scientist, part motivator, part myth buster today. We're so excited. When she's not building fueling stations or balancing macros, she's probably explaining again that carbs are not the enemy.

Grace is here to help us feed our bodies like athletes, even if our main event is just preschool drop-off, maybe some Pilates. Grace, we are so happy to have you. Welcome.

Awesome, yeah, I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

So we're just gonna dive right in here. Can you start off telling us a bit about your path to becoming a performance dietitian and what drew you to this field?

Yeah, definitely. I grew up in a family with teachers, education. So that was always my go-to. was like, I want to be a teacher. So I actually went to school. I went to Illinois State. I went to undergrad for chemistry education. And I was very specific, but I was very interested in science. And yeah, I just wanted to pursue that. And then I got into the actual classes and was like,

Speaker 2 (02:41.086)
Okay, yeah, forget this. is terrible. And my mom and I sat down and just kind of went over like the the majors at ISU and nutrition popped up and I was like, like, I love food, you know, like that sounds cool. right, right. And actually, one of her best friends is a dietician in Chicago. And she was like, I wonder if you could like, you know, ask her some questions, just see what you think.

And she actually had a connection with Northwestern University and their sports nutrition program. So I got a great opportunity to work with my mom's friend in Chicago while also volunteering at Northwestern. And I was like, I think I was like a sophomore at the time. So I just kind of like fell in love with the career and just the idea of being a collegiate sports dietitian.

And honestly, from there, I just like sprinted into it. it was like any volunteer experience, know, any type of like webinar education that I could dive into, I was doing. and I ended up doing like my masters, to become a dietitian, you have to do a master's degree and do an internship. So I ended up doing my master's at South Dakota State University.

and they had an exercise science, sports nutrition kind of like combination degree there. So I did that. And then to become like a sports dietitian, you kind of have to have a fellowship under your belt. So after that, I went to University of Illinois, did a fellowship there for about 10 months. And then I finally, my poor husband, I finally got a full-time position in Virginia after that.

And that was there for about two years is at VCU. And then, yeah, this job at Wisconsin just kind of popped up out of nowhere. I wasn't really looking for a job. I really loved my time at VCU, but my family's from the Midwest and Wisconsin was kind of like always on my radar. So I was like, I'm just going to apply and see how it goes. And I just like vibe really well with, um, the boss that I had at that time. And, um, yeah, I've been here for, this is my third season with the teams right now. So yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:57.216)
All of that kind of combination led me to where I'm at right now.

When you were a kid, did you play any sports yourself?

Yeah, definitely. I am like the definition of like tomboy. So I played all the sports, but I kind of like specified in basketball and soccer or my two main things, mostly soccer, but little basketball. still play a little pickup here and there, you know.

Hey, you have access to all the gyms, right?

Exactly. Yep.

Speaker 1 (05:27.022)
That's so cool. I relate to that so much. went to school when I was in school, I thought I wanted to be a dentist and then I took chemistry and I was like, absolutely not for me. It was not for me. So what does a typical day look like for you in this role?

Yup.

Speaker 2 (05:44.962)
Yeah, it's actually a really funny question. I feel like I get this question all the time. And as a sports dietitian, everyone's like, there's no typical day, right. Which makes it really fun and exciting. And that's why I really love this job, but it kind of depends on the time of year and like what is needed at that point in time. So the summers are probably my favorite because I'm really involved in the education piece of the athletes, specifically the ones that are like.

here to do their eight week lifting session. So that'd be specifically like hockey, basketball, volleyball, football, wrestling. Those are the majority of the teams that are here over the summer. But as a dietitian staff, we do a lot of cooking classes, team educations. You know, we get to know the athletes that are maybe new transfers or freshmen coming in. even new coaching staff. Like we just got a new women's basketball, head coach here. So just getting to know them over the summer is super important.

so that by the time we get to the season, there aren't any questions about what you should be doing. The athletes don't care about nutrition during the season. I should already have my habits down. All I care about is school and my games and my practice. That's all they should really be worrying about. So summer is the education, really hands on with that. And then as we get into the seasons, it's more of like...

food service base. I'm doing a lot of like catering for meals, working with our in-house kitchen staff to make sure that they're preparing the proper foods for our athletes. And then I also do like competition products. So whether it's in a way game or a home game, I'm like providing the actual snacks and electrolytes and you know, fluids and all that for them.

And then we also do some like performance testing with some of the teams. So I do like vitamin D testing with a couple of basketball and hockey teams. So we'll do like a little like finger prick and get some blood and send that into a lab and see what their vitamin D levels are and supplement them depending on what they need. and then kind of like as needed, we'll do hydration testing, sweat testing on like maybe higher needs athletes that cramp a lot or are sometimes they're just curious. I'm like, yeah, sure.

Speaker 2 (08:01.784)
Sounds fun, I'll do that. And then year round, on top of all that, I'm in charge of our fuel station here at the coal center. We also have a larger operation at Camp Randall, which my boss is in charge of, but we have a staff of a lot of students that make the smoothies, they stock our spaces, but I'm in charge of like managing them and ordering inventory and all that good stuff. So there's a lot going on, a lot of moving pieces, but it's really fun and.

I don't do the same thing every day, which I love.

Grace, I want to go back to what you said initially, how in the summer you're doing cooking classes. I'm picturing and tell me if this image in my brain is correct. You in some sort of large kitchen with lots of countertops and like 15 enormous football dudes teaching them how to make like chicken breasts.

Yeah, yeah, I mean, I don't oversee football. But yes, it is what our football dietician would laugh very hard at that because she does do that. But yeah, I we have a like a partnership with fresh market on campus and they have a cooking space for us that we get to use, which is awesome. So I've held like beginner classes where it's like, all right, this is how you chop an onion or this is how you like

you know, cook chicken where you don't feel like you're going to die of food poisoning. know, this is a very like simple stuff. But then also I feel like a lot of my teams are like maturing and, they know how to cook. So sometimes I'll just be like, all right, let's do a chop competition and we'll bring in the coaches. They'll be the judges. And yeah, last summer, two summers ago, we did it with hockey and it was hilarious. Cause all I had in my budget was like $30 to buy a trophy for them. And it was like this little like.

Speaker 2 (09:50.606)
spoon at like Trophy. It was so funny, but they're very proud of it. So yeah, it just kind of depends. But yeah, they're hilarious. And I love the cooking classes because they're always like, try my food. And I'm like, okay, if I trust them, sometimes I'm like, I don't really want to that.

So many questions. So go back to, you organize a cooking competition for the hockey team. The prize was a faux metal spoon on a platform is what I'm picturing. What did they cook you? Was it any good?

Yeah, actually, so we did one competition with the men's team, one with the women's, the men, I'm trying to remember the group that won. It was a very mature group, like older upperclassmen. They did like salmon with broccolini and I can remember the carb, maybe like risotto or something. Whoa. to the point where one of the guys that was like on the team was like, you know, this risotto, like, I really need a bottle of wine to make this. like, I can't.

I'm so sorry, I can't do that. And then there was another team that had, they're all Canadian and the meal was a chicken Caesar wrap with like maple bacon and sweet potato fries and like a diet Coke. cracked me up.

I would eat that for sure.

Speaker 3 (11:20.142)
Yeah

It was all tasty. In the women's teams, they did like very typical like burrito bowl, like shrimp bowl, stuff like that. Also very tasty, but they were very proud of the wooden spoon trophy.

That's amazing. So you said you did you said this I want to dive deeper into it. You said you don't oversee the football team. What teams for the Badgers do you program or what specific teams do you work with?

Yep. So I have a lot of the teams. have, um, all of the men's and women's programs of hockey, basketball, swim and dive tennis and rowing. So I have 350 athletes, which is crazy. Um, you know, obviously I can only do so much to help all of those teams, but it is fun to work with a variety of teams and get different, you know, things going with different athletes. And again, with like not doing the same thing every day, it just keeps it interesting.

Speaker 3 (12:22.872)
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So based on those different teams, they all are in different parts of their seasons at different times of the year. When they're in season, their bodies need different types of nutrients, I imagine, and electrolytes, et cetera. So how do you tailor your nutrition plans by sport?

Yeah, that's a good question. So usually we break them up into like power versus endurance or like aerobic. like, specifically, we'll think about like hockey, for example, I would think of them more of like a power sport, versus like cross country or, you know, something like that, which is more endurance or soccer maybe. So the recommendations will kind of

change depending on power versus endurance and honestly even individualized depending on like the event they might do or the position that they play like a goalie is going to need something different than a forward in hockey. it really kind of comes down to the individual comes down to like height, weight, age, body composition. Yeah, and even sometimes I will play with like supplementation to like a

Speaker 2 (14:18.872)
cross country runner, I will obviously have them like eat more carbs than a goalie. They're not burning as much energy. They don't need as much. And then same with like supplementation. I would have a cross country runner probably take like a nitrate supplement to help with like oxygen flow versus again, like a goalie. you don't, you're still moving, but not as much as a cross country runner or someone who has more of an endurance tile sport. But honestly, like everything is so like,

There's nothing black and white in nutrition. It's all like gray area. It's all like a lot of numbers moving pieces. So again, that like kind of keeps it interesting too. but just trying to individualize it to the athlete specifically is the best way to go about it.

So when you say you're individualizing it for each athlete, are you like sitting down with them in a meeting and talking to them about how they can prepare foods for themselves like at home? Or are you actually helping to provide the meals for them when they are getting the meals provided by the university?

Yeah. So honestly, this is where the education comes in a lot, like the summer education. So I will meet one-on-one with athletes. especially the teams that are here in the summer, I'll have a lot more time to do one-on-ones and then other teams. It's kind of like, you know, if you have questions, you can reach out or as needed, or high priority, but with the education, it's like, okay, these are your needs. And we have like a meal plan, app that I can make meal plans for athletes on.

and they just have like the app on their phone, is super helpful. And I can like see when they viewed it and if they logged anything, lots of parenting going on over here.

Speaker 2 (16:04.562)
but it's like, okay, here are your needs. I tailored them as much as I could to the meals that are provided here. This is how, like, when you go through the line through training table, which is what our like dining hall is called. when you go through the line, this is what you should be grabbing. So my office is literally across the hall from the dining hall. So I could just walk in there and walk them through the line and be like, all right, grab this, grab this. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

and yeah, again, it's just kind of where the education comes from. And then when season starts, we'll kind of like put a little bow on it, make sure things are good and they're on the road a lot. So it's hard to, you know, babysit a lot, but really the education piece is so important because then when they're on the road or even when they graduate, you know, afterwards, it's like, okay, what did I learn? How can I turn this into like, you know, I'm not an athlete anymore. How do I change this into eating as like a.

recreational active adults.

Yeah, it makes sense. So what's your approach to working with athletes who have like a different relationship to food and their body image? So I'm sure that's an interesting line to navigate when you're working with people who maybe have, you know, grown up with a lot of different voices in their head about what their body image and food and all that stuff. So how do you deal with that?

Yeah, it's such a sensitive topic, honestly. And it's so common in our athletes here. And I think a lot of people don't realize they even have these thoughts and tendencies. And it's just like very socially acceptable to be like, I shouldn't eat that. And, know, so we have to be really sensitive about it. But at the same time, I just kind of have like a blunt personality. And I honestly think you just need to be that way with

Speaker 2 (17:58.668)
the athletes that you meet with, you know, obviously like make a relationship with them and make sure they feel comfortable talking to you. But pick up on those cues that they might be dropping. Like, like I mentioned in those one-on-one counseling sessions, they might say like, you know, I don't eat that or I don't eat this or, you know, I would never have XYZ. So you just kind of pick up on those things and then trying to either like educate them, you know, otherwise like, actually because of what you're doing in your sport.

This is misinformation. This is actually what you need to do. You need carbs for energy. You shouldn't not eat ice cream once a month just because you're scared of it. It's okay to have that. So breaking down those barriers and then also on a team level too. Sometimes I'll go into a whole team education and talk about, we don't need to restrict. We don't need to not eat these things or talk bad about our body image.

It's helpful to do on an individual basis and a team basis. but then we also have like a dietitian that we consult out to that is very like disordered eating, eating disorder specific. So if I have someone that I feel like I can't handle because it's like very severe, then I can refer her or refer them to her and she can set them up with this whole like care team that we have here, which is great. but yeah, anyway, I try to be like very, like have my radar on for disordered eating.

and tried to like myth bust stuff all day long. And honestly, my athletes, like they know if I hear them say something, they know I'm going to pop my head out of my office and be like, don't say that. Like they just know that sometimes they do it to get me like worked up. I'm like, yeah, they'll like order us mainly and be like, I can't get the honey because like I'll get fat. And I'm like, please stop saying that. Yeah. So yeah, they know it gets me rolling.

Ha

Speaker 2 (19:56.492)
Yes, yes, they know I have no like shut down, no filter. So.

With this age group, what is the most common myth or misconception that you hear from them?

Hmm. That's a hard one. There's so many, would say like supplements right now are such a big push. Like, Hey, if you take this like sea moss extract from the bottom of Atlantic ocean, you know, like you're going to be the best athlete in the world. It's like, where did you hear that? Tik Tok? Cause stop doing that. Yeah. So like, did you buy that supplement from Tik Tok shop? Because it's probably not safe. Yeah.

Yes.

Speaker 2 (20:37.176)
So anyway, I would say supplements are probably the biggest thing to myth bust. And you have to like, you know, the thing that sucks about dieticians is you have to be on your game and like know what's good, what's bad. So it's like constant re-educating yourself and trying to stay up with the trends on social media. not, I'm not up there, but you know, I'm trying.

So, and I like to think of ourselves as athletes. We're like hauling groceries. We're chasing kids. We're also doing our own personal workouts. But just speaking for the general human who's juggling work, family, fitness, what are some just like really basic foundational habits that you recognize?

Yeah, I'm with you. I got a baby. I understand. Yeah, I think people like to over complicate nutrition and eating. And honestly, it's like, don't over complicate it. As long as you're getting like three meals a day with some snacks, we're eating enough protein, like you're probably fine. Like I just feel like there's a lot of like, especially on social media, it's like, you need to eat this, you need to eat this. And it's just like, can we just like get back to the basics, please? So honestly, like,

Yeah, just being consistent with eating three meals a day snacks. mean, I'm even guilty for skipping meals. And then by the end of the day, I'm like, okay, I'm starving. Like that was stupid. So it's all good. Even the dieticians do it. But honestly, as long as, yeah, as long as your meals have like the most important parts, we're looking for protein. We're looking for carbs. We're looking for a fat and some type of color, whether that's like a fruit or a vegetable, we're looking for some type of fiber.

you're probably doing just fine in terms of like micronutrients and macronutrients, getting enough of what you need. Obviously you could see a dietitian if you want to dial it in or if you're worried about like, Oh, I'm gaining a ton of weight or losing a ton of weight. I feel like I'm not eating the right amount. Then obviously that, you know, that's individualized, but I also think it's really important to like have a plan, right? Like not just trying to go off the cuff. So, um, either meal prepping like, you know, on Sundays or Mondays, like whatever day works for you or

Speaker 2 (22:43.81)
A lot of the times I'll recommend to my athletes, like if you're already cooking dinner every night, just make another serving for the next day, eat that for lunch. And then you don't even have to think about lunch. It's already prepared. So then you're down to just worrying about breakfast, which like you can do a little oatmeal, yogurt, some fruit. You're probably solid, honestly. So just trying to plan ahead and not trying to like just, what's in the fridge today? You know, it's, usually not a good choice, but

All of that. then also like this on the supplement side of things. Again, I think people just kind of go crazy for supplements, but honestly, as long as you're doing like a multivitamin, a vitamin D in the winter, especially in the Midwest where we are, where there's still like no sun, where is it? and then for bonus points, like if you have some fish oil or omegas or maybe like creatine, if you work out a lot, but those aren't like needed by any means.

but yeah, think just keep it simple. Just do the simple, plates and simple supplements and you're golden. Don't overthink it.

Yeah, that's really good. So you're saying frozen pizza for dinner every night is probably not the right choice.

Probably not, but we, but we live in the 80 20 rule, know, the 20 is totally fine.

Speaker 1 (24:02.69)
Yeah, like Friday nights, that's my go-to.

You are talking to the queen of frozen pizza here. I'm with Yana.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. mean, put a little veggie on the side. It's going to be fine. Yeah.

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Speaker 1 (25:03.182)
Okay, so talk to us about protein. You mentioned a little bit about that. How much should we eat? When and how do we know if a food is a quality protein source? Because there's just a lot of things out there, right? The sugary bars, all the different things you can think of, the protein shakes, all that. I know that was, I do this all the time. I just ask like four straight questions, but hopefully you understand what I'm getting at.

Yes, definitely. Yeah, protein is super important as like an athlete or just an adult, even if you're sedentary, super important. But the biggest thing about protein is just like eating it every few hours, right? Like the whole point of protein is to help build up our muscle mass or like keep our muscle mass on us. And also it helps to keep you full during a meal or during a snack so that you're not starving like right after. The example I give to my athletes all the time is like, okay,

How do you feel fullness wise after you have a cup of yogurt versus like a bag of Cheetos, right? Cheetos are great, love Cheetos, but like I'm not gonna be full. So it's super important to get it every few hours so that you aren't super hungry. And what we're shooting for is about like three to four ounces of protein per meal, which if you think about it in, not everyone is weighing their food and I wouldn't really recommend people to do that.

But if you think about like the size of a deck of cards or like even the palm of your hand, that would be about three to four ounces, which kind of equates to like 25, 30 grams of protein. That's all we're really looking for for meals. And then, well, obviously depending on the size of the person, but at snacks, we're looking for about 15 to 20 grams of protein. So snacks that come to mind would be like yogurt, cottage cheese, jerky, hard boiled eggs.

some protein bars would be fine. And again, it kind of falls in that like 80 20 mix where it's like, you know, most of the time I'm going to be shooting for whole food options, like all those things I just mentioned, but it's okay to have a protein bar every, you know, every so often, but I wouldn't be having it for multiple snacks a day every day, you know, cause those, the sugar and carbs and stuff will add up, especially if you are a sedentary individual, but the best

Speaker 2 (27:17.806)
type of protein we're looking for is probably like lean proteins. so chicken, poultry, fish, low fat dairy, lean beef, any like plant based protein, like a tofu tempeh edamame, any of those would be great options. Again, with that like 80 % of the time, 20 % of the time, you know, I'm gonna have bacon, I'm gonna have sausage, you know, whatever, it's great. The pizza, frozen pizza, I'm a pepperoni girl.

It is what it is, but if you're doing those like lean options, most of the time, you're probably going to be just fine. And yeah, I mean, whole food is best with those options and just getting them every few hours. So like a typical day I would recommend for an adult would be three meals and then maybe one snack either in the morning or in the afternoon. You're probably golden, honestly. Thank you.

Great.

On the flip side of that coin, talk to us about carbs. How should active people, active women think about carbs, especially with all of the mixed messages? By that, mean mostly the messages are carbs are the enemy. What's the truth about carbs?

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:26.39)
Yeah, yeah. Well, that's the enemy for me that myth right there. hate that. Yeah, carbs are the best. Like, why do we hate carbs so much? I just feel bad. They're like, love. Right. Like, why are you getting so much hate for carbs? But yeah, carbs provide so much energy for us. And it's not just like fuel for your bodies. It's like, feel for your brain. You know, if you're, you know,

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:37.87)
carbs.

Speaker 2 (28:52.576)
At three o'clock in the afternoon, you're starting to feel a little foggy. I bet you if you had a little carbs snack, you feel pretty good. so something I would mention to like all my athletes, male and female is like, you still have to go to school, you know, you still need energy for your brain. And same with us as adults, I would assume most of us have jobs or even if you don't like still are doing something, right? So you need that energy for your brain to perform in, you know, a class or

work or if you're going to the gym, whatever that is, you need some type of energy, right? So we do not need to avoid them. Please don't avoid them. Now, similar with like the protein is like, there's always an 80 20, right? So 80 % of the time we should be shooting for like those whole grain options or those like complex carbs. So that would be like brown rice, you know, whole grain bagels, whole grain tortillas, just kind of like doing those like swap outs as you can.

And they're usually about the same price as like the, you know, the white flour options. And then also like shooting for starchy vegetables, like peas, corn, potatoes, all of those would be good options versus the quick digestible options such as like candy, granola bars, fruit snacks, Gatorade, any of those. But again, it's 80 20. It's okay to have a snack here and here and there. That's like super carb heavy, like Cheetos, whatever. Love a Cheeto. Like I mentioned before, it's like my ultimate car ride.

snack or munchies. love munchies. But yeah, it's 80-20. And then also if you are an adult that or a woman that's like trying to work out and get a little quick boost of energy, having your favorite candy before a workout actually probably will benefit you. Like Sour Patch Kids. Have a little Sour Patch Kid before you workout or during your workout. You'll probably feel great. Yeah. Why not? Give it a go. Let me know how it goes.

May.

Speaker 1 (30:49.108)
and Filipina

There go.

There's a peanut in there somewhere, right?

Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1 (31:01.688)
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Okay, so is there such a thing as eating for your cycle? And is this helpful for active women?

Yeah, I feel like I get this question a lot too. Personally, I don't think there's enough research around this right now. I know it's like very hype on social media of like, I'm in my luteal phase, I'm eating walnuts. Like I don't, I don't really know. I'm not 100 % sure on that. Like, I'm not convinced. Now, it's not gonna hurt you by any means.

to do that and all the options that they say to eat at certain times are all healthy options, know, like it's probably fine, but it just cracks me up. Cause I really don't think that there's a lot of research out there right now.

Speaker 1 (32:29.826)
Could be wrong, but nobody's studying it.

Right, right. And women are so understudied in research too. So it's kind of like hard. Like who's doing this research? I would highly doubt there's a lot of places doing this right now because yeah, women are just so undervalued in research, which sucks. But I will say though, like we burn extra calories when you're menstruating or like on your period. So

I always say like, follow your cravings. Like it's usually your body being like, wait, actually I do need like 150 extra calories or whatever that is per day. Like have the snack, have the treat. It's only a couple days out of the month or a week out of the month. It's fine. Back to the 80, 20 rule. Like it's no big deal. So yeah, I don't know if the research is there, but I say always listen to your body, follow your cravings.

So Grace, to close things down, we've got a couple of rapid fire questions for you. So super fast. What is your go-to breakfast?

My go-to breakfast? I'm a breakfast burrito gal. So sausage, egg, cheese, potatoes, little sour cream. Yep, yep, yep. That's good.

Speaker 3 (33:39.766)
That sounds delicious. What is your favorite performance snack or supplement that you believe actually works?

I'll probably go with Cheetos. Yeah, actually I'm recommending Cheetos pre-workout for everybody here. No, I'm just kidding. no, I'm just messing, but yeah. I mean, I feel like carbs just generally carbs, like so underrated, but, I would say creatine for a supplement. Like it's the most studied supplement.

Hahaha

Ha

Speaker 1 (34:00.071)
You heard it here people.

Speaker 2 (34:16.826)
in basically history and it's shown that it really helps with performance and recovery. And now there's some more research about like how creatine is helpful with potentially reducing the risk of like Alzheimer's dementia. So I'm like trying to beg my parents to get on creatine. My mom's like, why would I take creatine? So yeah, I just think it's overall really awesome and I think everyone should get on it. So plug for creatine.

change blog. Got it. You've already hit a bunch of these today, but do you have maybe one more of your least favorite nutrition trends right now?

There's yeah, there's so many of them. I'm trying to like filter through what the what athletes are doing right now. I would say like, like collagen gummies. Have you seen those? Yeah, they're like, they're really good at marketing. I will say that because a lot of people want to take them. But there's new research that shows they don't do anything. They don't have anything and same with like creatine gummies. It's just like the process of making it into a gummy.

heard of them.

Speaker 2 (35:24.152)
somehow reduces the bioavailability. don't really know, but everyone's taking them. I say go back to the powders, the pills, those are the things that actually work. But yeah, the amount of people that send me links to these gummies, like, hey, should I take these? I'm like, please don't, don't buy that. Yeah, save your money.

Save your money.

The final question, final rapid fire. What is one message you wish every active person could hear when it comes to fueling his or her body?

Hmm. I would say, like, I keep saying this entire time, like 80-20 is the way to go. Like the, way to properly fuel your body, listen to your cravings, not fall into like disordered eating thoughts and, habits, allow yourself to have fun and like socialize and be able to get out and still get ice cream and, but still fuel your body and have proper nutrition most of the time.

I think a lot of people try to be so strict on themselves and, I'm doing CrossFit six days a week. I can't mess up. I only have one cheat day a month. It's like, no, you can actually like live your life, you know? So I would say stick to the 80 20 and you'll have way better like happiness in your life. promise.

Speaker 3 (36:38.69)
That's awesome. Straight from the expert. Well, Grace, we have loved having you on the episode today. Thank you so much for jumping on, sharing all of your wisdom, busting a whole lot of myths. I know that our listeners are going to love learning from you. Thank you so much.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (37:01.336)
Thanks for hanging with us on Almost Fans. We hope you learned a little something, shared a laugh, and maybe even felt better about eating that bagel. Whole wheat, of course. If you liked today's episode with Grace Payne, give us a follow and toss us a five-star rating. Carbs and compliments are always welcome. Catch you next time, Almost Fans.