The Eat for Endurance Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Deep Dive into Cortisol with Sports Dietitian, Dana Eshelman Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 86 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring fellow Sports Dietitian and endurance athlete Dana Eshelman (MS RD CSSD), founder of A Dash of Dana Performance Nutrition.

Today, Dana and I are chatting about the hormone cortisol (aka "the stress hormone") and how it relates to health and performance in endurance athletes. We were brainstorming topics and landed on this one, as we both frequently see our active clients burning the candle at both ends with training, work, family, and other aspects of their busy lives. They’re often under fueling, whether intentionally or unintentionally, dealing with mental and physical stress, and not sleeping enough, and this obviously does not produce good outcomes.

If you’ve ever been curious about cortisol and how it ties into all of the above, tune into this episode. I provide tons of background on how cortisol functions in the body, and then Dana and I dive into how and why things go off track and what you can do about it. I hope you find it useful!
Links & Resources:

Dana’s Website: https://www.adashofdana.us/
Follow Dana on Instagram

Announcements:

Watch this episode on my YouTube page
Purchase my NEW Peak Performance course
Check out my other free and for-purchase offerings
Sign up for my email list to download my FREE winter fueling guide and receive my monthly newsletter filled with nutrition tips, recipes and special discounts
Fill out a new client inquiry form if you’re interested in 1:1 nutrition coaching
Join my Patreon community to support the pod while getting free merch, special discounts, and other perks
Please subscribe or follow the show and rate/review it wherever you listen
Get in touch at 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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Real Talk with Janet Cunningham: The Journey of a Back-of-the-Pack Ultrarunner Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 85 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, where I sit down with trail and ultra runner Janet Cunningham - a back-of-the-pack athlete with a powerful story to share.

Janet is not only a passionate runner, but also a mental health professional and a dedicated fan of the podcast. She reached out to share her unique journey with nutrition, and I’m so glad she did!

While many of you love hearing from professional athletes, a number of you have expressed interest in hearing more from recreational athletes. This episode is for you!

Janet’s athletic background began with swimming and rowing during her younger years, but it wasn’t until about five years ago that she discovered running, and eventually ultra running. Along the way, she’s faced and overcome struggles with body image, REDS (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport), and injuries. Through it all, the importance of community support, mental health, and individual recovery strategies has been central to her growth and success as an athlete.

In this episode, we dive into:

Janet’s journey from swimming and rowing to ultra running
Struggling with and overcoming body image issues
Dealing with RED-S and the role of nutrition in her recovery
The impact of injuries and how to stay mentally strong
The power of community and support in her athletic and personal life

Janet’s story is a testament to perseverance, recovery, and the importance of self-compassion. I hope you find inspiration in her journey - and if you’re interested in sharing your own, feel free to get in touch!

Links:

Watch this episode on my YouTube page
Join my monthly membership service, Fuel for Life Crew, for just $30/month (cancel anytime)
Check out my free nutrition downloads
Fill out a new client inquiry form if you’re interested in 1:1 nutrition coaching
Support the podcast with my Skratch affiliate code EATFORENDURANCE20
Join my Patreon community
Get in touch at 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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Joy is a Nutrient with Sports Dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to episode 84 of the Eat for Endurance podcast, featuring fellow sports dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner (RDN, CSSD).

Dawn is all about “positive nutrition” and the idea that “joy is a nutrient,” which really captured my attention, as I send similar messaging to my clients. I encourage them to fuel themselves fully so they can feel good, perform well, and just as importantly, have FUN. Because no one is having fun when they’re tired, underfed, injured, sick, burnt out, or not supporting and appreciating their body in other ways.
If you're rolling your eyes and wondering, what on earth does joy have to do with nutrition, health, and athletic performance?! Listen to this episode and learn. Dawn’s own struggles motivated her to develop skills to access more joy, and she realized through this process just how impactful joy can be as a success strategy when applied to all parts of her life, including nutrition and lifestyle behaviors. We also discuss how to cultivate body gratitude, combat poor body image, achieve one’s “best” weight, incorporate more play and simplicity into the everyday, what to do when joy feels out of reach, and SO much more.
To be clear, we're not saying that every moment is joyful and fun - of course not! I have little kids and live a real life with plenty of tough moments, and I’ve had my fair share of crappy workouts and races. We're also not telling you to put on a fake smile. But we can all slow down enough that we catch and appreciate geniune moments of joy, while also being kinder to our bodies and fueling ourselves in a way that supports health and feels good.
This is one of my favorite episodes, and I hope you love it as much as I do.

Links:

Dawn’s Website: https://www.dawnjacksonblatner.com/
Follow her on Instagram (@djblatner)
Check out my YouTube page to watch this episode
Check out my NEW digital downloads and upcoming course here
Sign up for my email list to receive my monthly newsletter filled with nutrition tips, recipes and special discounts
Join my Patreon community to support the pod while getting free merch, special discounts, and other perks
Please give the podcast a 5 star rating and review wherever you listen
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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Fueling for The Long Run: Jonathan Levitt on Nutrition and Running Adventures Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 83 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring Jonathan Levitt. Jonathan is based in Bolder, Colorado and wears many different hats as a runner, podcast host of For the Long Run, and senior sales executive over at Inside Tracker.

We had an awesome conversation on all things running and nutrition, and went off on more than a few tangents, which always makes for a fun episode. I particularly loved hearing about what Jonathan has learned from interviewing over 300 podcast guests, and talking about the many iterations of “Boulder average” that he’s encountered since moving out West. I’m also very curious to hear about his N of 1 40-day experiment with ketones, which we chat about towards the end.
Thanks for spending some time with me Jonathan and I hope you all enjoy this one!
P.S. Exciting news - I finally started to record these interviews as video and audio, so if you prefer to watch your podcasts, head on over to my YouTube page! My previous 82 episodes are also available over there, but with a static image.
Links & Resources:

For the Long Run website: https://forthelong.run/
Instagram: Follow @forthelrpod and @jwlevitt

Announcements:

Check out my YouTube page to watch this episode
Check out my NEW performance nutrition digital downloads here
Sign up for my email list to receive my monthly newsletter filled with nutrition tips, recipes and special discounts
Join my Patreon community to support the pod while getting free merch, special discounts, and other perks
Please give the podcast a 5 star rating and review wherever you listen
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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Fueling the Ride: Tessa Timmons on Surfing, Body Image, and Adventure Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 82 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring Tessa Timmons, a professional long-board surfer with O’Neill.
I know this show is mostly focused on endurance athletes, but I love talking to athletes in different sports and learning about their nutrition journeys. So today is one of those episodes!
As you guys know, I grew up in Santa Cruz, a major surfing town, but I never surfed here. The only time I attempted to surf was in Hawaii and let’s just say, it’s NOT my sport. But I love to watch it, and I’ve worked with many clients who are recreational surfers, so it was only a matter of time until I featured a surfer on my show!
Tessa technically lives in California, but it’s hard to pin her down. She frequently travels the globe chasing waves and at the time of our recording, she had just gotten back from a VERY long surfing adventure across Asia and Africa.
Tessa and I covered so much in this episode. We discussed surfing culture and the differences between short and long board surfing, growing up as 1 of 11 siblings, struggles with nutrition and body image as a model and surfer, her dreams of turning pro and how that came about, how she fuels (and sometimes doesn’t fuel) her surfing, how her nutrition changes when traveling around the world, and so much more.
I loved chatting with Tessa, and I hope you enjoy this break from the world of endurance.
Links:

Follow Tessa on Instagram
Watch her surf

Announcements:

Support the podcast by purchasing my new merch!
Please give the podcast a 5 star rating and review, and share it with your friends!
Sign up for my email list to download my FREE Winter Fueling Guide and also receive my monthly newsletter filled with nutrition tips, recipes and more
If you can afford to support the show financially, please visit my Patreon page to make a donation
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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Metabolic Efficiency Training with Sports Dietitian Bob Seebohar Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

Happy New Year and welcome to Episode 81 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast!
Today Sports Dietitian Bob Seebohar (MS RD CSSD CSCS) of eNRG Performance joins me on the show to chat all about Metabolic Efficiency Training (MET), a concept that he created in the early 2000s. MET can be defined as a systematic nutrition and exercise approach to improving the body's ability to use its internal stores of nutrients, specifically carbohydrates and fat. It’s also a way to optimize your blood sugar through proper periodization of food, using a non-diet approach.
We explore this concept in great detail, talk about what nutrition periodization for athletes looks like in everyday and performance nutrition, and discuss how you can test for metabolic efficiency.
This was a fantastic conversation and I hope you all enjoy it and find it useful!
Links:

Bob’s Website: https://www.enrgperformance.com/
Follow Bob on Instagram and eNRG performance on Instagram
Check out Bob’s podcast, Inside Sports Nutrition

Announcements:

Support the podcast by purchasing my new merch!
Please give the podcast a 5 star rating and review, and share it with your friends!
If you can afford to support the show financially, please visit my Patreon page to make a donation
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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Peak Performance for Endurance Athletes (Sneak Peek!) Dec 21, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 80 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, and my last episode of 2023!
As you may have heard in my previous episodes, I’ve been working on a new self-paced course called Peak Performance for Endurance Athletes: Your Ultimate Guide to Strategic Fueling. I thought it would be fun to give you all a FREE sneak peek, so I've recorded the first module for you all to enjoy. The course itself will include detailed slides with lots of visuals and a video of me speaking, plus downloads at the end, so keep that in mind when you listen to the audio only.
I have a few more modules to finish, and then I will record the whole course (today is just me presenting to you and isn’t the actual course recording). And even since I recorded this episode, I've already added a couple more slides to Module 1, so you'll get some additional great info. My goal is to release the full course by early February, so stay tuned for that if you’re interested.
Since this is my last episode of the year, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Holidays. I hope you are all able to take some time for yourself to celebrate, whether that’s with loved ones, out in nature, or doing whatever else makes you happy, and of course with plenty of good food. Thank you for being a part of my community and for supporting the show! It means a lot.
Alright, Module 1 of Peak Performance for Endurance Athletes - let’s do this!
Links & Announcements:

Join my email list to download my FREE winter fueling guide, get my monthly newsletter, and find out when my course Peak Performance goes live!
Support the show by purchasing one of my awesome Trucker hats (BOCO Gear) or stickers
Don’t want merch? Support the show over on my Patreon page to make a donation
You can also support the show without spending money by following or subscribing to the show wherever you listen, giving it a 5 star rating, and writing a review
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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Athlete Nutrition Profile - Endurance athlete, scientist, and entrepreneur, Simon Donato Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 79 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring Simon Donato, an endurance athlete, scientist, entrepreneur, and life-long adventure seeker.
If you’re not familiar with Simon, he has a really interesting background. He grew up exploring and playing multiple sports, eventually getting into adventure racing while at University. After getting his PhD in Geology, he founded a company called Adventure Science, where he leads teams of Athlete-Explorers on various scientific expeditions in remote parts of the world. He also hosted the TV show Boundless for three seasons, documenting his endurance adventures around the world, and owns Stoked Oats, an oatmeal and granola company.
Simon lives with his family in Canada, and adventures look slightly different now that he has two young kids, but he is still living the adventurer life. I loved hearing all the details of his athletic and nutrition journey, and I hope you do as well.
Links & Resources:

https://www.stokedoats.com/ - use the code STOKEDEFE on their website for 15% off your purchase. FYI this is an affiliate link, but they did not sponsor this episode - sharing because I enjoy their stuff.
https://www.adventurescience.com/
Follow Simon on Instagram

Announcements:

Support the podcast by purchasing my new merch!
Please give the podcast a 5 star rating and review, and share it with your friends!
If you can afford to support the show financially, please visit my Patreon page to make a donation
You can also shop my Amazon storefront or use this affiliate homepage link to do your usual Amazon shopping
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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Plant-Based Nutrition for Endurance Athletes with Sports Dietitian Kelly Jones Nov 24, 2023

Show notes

Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to Episode 78 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast. Fellow Sports Dietitian Kelly Jones (MS RD CSSD) of Kelly Jones Nutrition returns to the show today to chat with me about plant-based nutrition for endurance athletes.
Kelly calls her diet plant-forward, while I am very much a plant-loving omnivore. As this show seeks to demonstrate, there are many different ways to eat to feel good, enjoy life, and perform well, as long as the eating pattern you are following meets your individual energy needs and macro and micro nutrient requirements.
Plant-based eating can absolutely work well for endurance athletes, just as omnivorous eating can also work well. It’s worth noting that there are MANY reasons why people choose to include more plants in their diet that have nothing to do with performance. But with the growing popularity of plant-based eating including among endurance athletes, it begs the question - does going vegan or vegetarian improve performance? We’ll of course get into this. You can also check out past interviews I’ve had with high-performing vegan athletes if you’re interested, such as Mike Wardian (Ep. 26, 53), Sage Canaday (Ep 71), and Yassine Diboun (Ep. 34).
So if you’re feeling a bit plant-curious and want to learn more, please enjoy my conversation all about plant-based eating and endurance performance with Kelly Jones.
Links & Resources:

Kelly’s Website: https://kellyjonesnutrition.com/
Follow Kelly on Instagram
The Truth About Soy and Cancer (video by RD Whitney English)

Announcements:

Support the pod by purchasing some of my awesome new merch! Shop here.
Join my email list to be notified when my new course, Peak Performance for Endurance Athletes, is released and to get a subscriber only discount!
If you can afford to support the show financially, please visit my Patreon page to make a donation
Have a guest or topic request? Email me - claire@eatforendurance.com.
If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to, rate and review the show!
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

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

Athlete Nutrition Profile - Pro Beach Volleyball Player Betsi Flint Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 77 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring Betsi Flint, a professional beach volleyball player on Team USA.
Betsi is a 6-time Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Champion and holds a number of other awards and accolades, including gold and silver medals at several International Volleyball Federation games. She is currently training for the 2024 Paris Olympics and is ranked 9th in the world, after her recent 9th place finish at World Champs! She also has a 2-year old daughter, who joined us a few times throughout the episode, because toddlers definitely don’t care about podcast recordings or locked doors, which is totally fine. I’ve been there myself many times!
Betsi and I chat about her nutrition experiences as an athlete training for the Olympics, and the steps she has taken to balance her career and professional dreams with motherhood. We also explore how her nutrition has evolved since she was a younger athlete, including overcoming a period of restrictive, rigid eating behaviors in favor of the more flexible and fully fueled approach she follows today.
I hope you enjoy this one and for my fellow busy parent athletes out there, I think you’ll find our discussion helpful and relatable.
Links & Resources:

Betsi’s Website: https://betsiflint.com/
Follow Betsi on Instagram

Announcements:

Please show your support by subscribing to the show, giving it a 5 star rating and review, and sharing it with your friends!
If you can afford to support the show financially, please visit my Patreon page
You can also buy my new merch, including a BOCO gear trucker hat + sticker
You can also shop my Amazon storefront or use this affiliate homepage link to do your usual Amazon shopping
Music Credit: Joseph McDade
Have nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - claire@eatforendurance.com
Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations

Want to get in touch? Send Claire a message!

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (@eatforendurance).

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