This is a raw and personal solo episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, as I share what’s really been going on the last 2 months. I open up about giving birth to my second son, Levi, and the heartbreak and anxiety that quickly followed. Baby Levi and I spent two and a half weeks in hospital before we were able to return home. From his birth, Levi fought for his life with a collapsed lung and undetectable blood sugar. I talk about some of the challenges we faced that first week and the r...
Jul 27, 2023•35 min•Ep. 141
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I chat with a fellow registered dietitian, Cynthia Donovan. Cynthia specializes in reversing hypothalamic amenorrhea, helping women get their periods back, restore their health, and regain fertility. This episode is a deep dive into all things hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA), starting with what it is and why it occurs. Cynthia shares her own personal struggle with missing periods and infertility, and the trouble she had getting an HA diagnosis. We ta...
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 140
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I speak to the 2020 Olympic Champion in the pole vault, Katie Moon (née Nageotte). She touches on her bumpy build up to the Olympics, overcoming food poisoning and underperformance before winning gold. Katie details her steady progression in the pole vault from high school beginnings to NCAA D2 success and into her professional career. College was a big transition, and Katie opens up about the fear and anxiety that she’s dealt with for years. She ...
Jul 13, 2023•59 min•Ep. 139
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I talk with runner, chef, and founder of Real Athlete Diets (RAD), Kelly Newlon. We both share our entries into the food industry, watching cooking shows on TV, and gaining experience in different food settings growing up. Kelly shares her training and education pathway through culinary school to become a chef, before we explore the wide variety of career options in the food industry: from working in fine dining restaurants and bakeries, feeding s...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 138
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I sit down with a leading expert in bone health and female athletes, Dr. Emily Kraus. Dr. Kraus is also the Director of the Stanford Female Athlete Science And Translational Research (FASTR) Program. Together we chat about the basics of bone health and its interplay with the Female Athlete Triad, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) and Low Energy Availability. Nutrition and bone health are closely linked, and Dr. Kraus and I discuss bone-r...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 137
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I talk with Elite Performance Coach Breanne Smedley, who helps female athletes cultivate true confidence in sports and life. Breanne shares how, as a top volleyball player, personal struggles with a lack of confidence deterred her from sports and ultimately motivated her to help other athletes feeling similarly. Breanne discusses how she overcame her own lack of confidence and developed the courage to return to sport. We hear about Breanne’s busin...
Jun 22, 2023•48 min•Ep. 136
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I talk with 2x World Mountain Running Champion and multifaceted professional athlete Grayson Murphy. Grayson’s journey with athletics has been full of ups and downs, as she’s made multiple transitions across sports and within running. From collegiate soccer to professional trail running to competing in the US Olympic Team Track and Field Trials, we hear how Grayson refuses to be defined by any one label and embraces her diverse athletic interests....
Jun 15, 2023•53 min•Ep. 135
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I talk with counseling and sport psychologist Dr Riley Nickols. Dr Nickols specializes in helping athletes with eating disorders, and in this conversation, we discuss this topic in depth. Dr Nickols and I cover the differences between eating disorders in athletes versus non-athletes, the fine line between healthy training and nutrition practices and disordered exercise and eating, and factors that make athletes more susceptible to eating disorders...
Jun 08, 2023•49 min•Ep. 134
In this solo episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I open up about the recent health scares I’ve been dealing with during my pregnancy, alongside the chronic heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) I’ve managed since childhood. Beginning with a cough and cold at the start of the year, these symptoms persisted despite rest and medication; I share how I eventually found a diagnosis, the importance of self-advocacy, and trusting your intuition when you know something is wron...
Jun 01, 2023•52 min•Ep. 133
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I talk with Nike-sponsored professional trail runner Bailey Kowalczyk. More than an incredible athlete, Bailey is a role model on and off the run. She bravely shares how an incredibly toxic college running environment was the catalyst for a severe battle with anorexia, ripping her away from the sport she loved. Bailey talks about her recovery journey, through relapse and inpatient treatment, unpacking disordered thoughts and behaviors. We discuss ...
May 25, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 132
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I talk with Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in College Sports, the nation’s premier organization that develops, connects, and advances women working in collegiate athletics. Patti has been involved in athletics since her childhood, first as an athlete, then coach, and in various leadership positions since. This episode is a little different from our usual conversations about training and nutrition as we focus on empowering women to be fearles...
May 18, 2023•46 min•Ep. 131
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition, I talk with a returning guest, Dr Nicky Keay, world-renowned sports endocrinologist specializing in female athletes. Tune in to Episodes 38 and 98 for my previous conversations with Dr Nicky Keay. For the first time in 129 episodes, we dive deep into all things thyroid and the hormones it produces. Don’t worry, Dr Nicky does a great job at explaining the science in a way everyone can understand! We debunk myths around metabolism, metabolic rate an...
May 11, 2023•57 min•Ep. 130
In this client testimonial episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I am joined by a co-host! Fellow Rise Up Nutrition dietitian Jenna Stranzl and I speak with a client of ours, Taylor Osterling. Taylor recently graduated from our Female Athlete System of Transformation, aka the FAST Track program, and is now part of our Alumni Program. Taylor talks about her decade long struggles with disordered eating, first being diagnosed with anorexia nervosa aged 12, and how the FAST Track program ...
May 04, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 129
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with Olympian and one of America’s top distance runners ever Molly Huddle. Molly is also a new mom to daughter Jojo and passionate advocate of women's sports. Having competed consistently at the elite level for over 20 years, Molly’s career is one of longevity and sustained success: we begin this episode talking all about longevity in sports, debunking myths about aging and postpartum performance. Molly and I talk about nutrition an...
Apr 27, 2023•49 min•Ep. 128
In this solo episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I introduce Rise Up Nutrition’s latest offering: the Sports Nutrition Team Toolkit! I speak to the need for professional sports nutrition education for coaches and teams to help athletes perform at their best: Rise Up Nutrition is helping them do just that! I discuss the Sports Nutrition Team Toolkit, an online resource designed to give more athletes and teams reliable sports nutrition education. The toolkit provides you videos on fue...
Apr 20, 2023•40 min•Ep. 127
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with Rise Up Nutrition’s mindset coach, Jennifer Riggs. Jennifer is a certified hypnotherapist focusing on emotional integration to produce positive changes, and provides our clients at Rise Up Nutrition with additional mindset support. She also practices energy work and other alternative healing modalities, and this episode is a deep dive into this and much more. We define and debunk practices like hypnotherapy, Inner Child work, R...
Apr 13, 2023•54 min•Ep. 126
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with former elite athlete and Running For Real podcast host Tina Muir. Tina is the founder and CEO of Running For Real, mother of two, and passionate advocate for RED-S. Tina shares her personal story with disordered eating, amenorrhea, and RED-S as an elite runner. We discuss often overlooked signs and symptoms of RED-S: insomnia, constant coldness, and gut issues; you can have RED-S without a history of injury, eating disorders, a...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 125
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with thru-hiker and outdoor enthusiast, Tara Vavrik. In 2021, Tara thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT), covering over 2100 miles in almost 6 months. This epic adventure was not without challenges, having lasting impacts on Tara’s relationship with food and her body. Tara shares her nutrition journey on the trail, experiences with hiker hunger, weight loss, and severe malnutrition. We explore the impact of diet culture and nutritio...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 124
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with professional runner, YouTuber, and eating disorder advocate, Allie Ostrander. Allie is a middle distance runner specializing in the steeplechase, and she shares her journey in sport growing up in Alaska to becoming a 3x NCAA Division I champion in college. Allie opens up about her nutrition struggles, starting early in middle school and continuing through high school, college, and beyond into her professional running career. Sh...
Mar 23, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 123
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with registered sports dietitian Emily Barnhart. Emily specializes in nutrition for injured athletes, and she speaks about her work with athletes through different phases of injury recovery. We discuss specific nutrition and body image concerns for injured athletes and bust myths about body composition and metabolism changes during injury. We remind listeners why it is important to fuel adequately during injury recovery, even though...
Mar 16, 2023•55 min•Ep. 122
Join our membership for the FULL episode and more like this each month: www.Patreon.com/FemaleAthleteNutrition This is a sneak peek into our patreon exclusive bonus episodes! It's just a short clip of a much longer bonus episode. As a member of the Female Athlete Nutrition patreon you get the chance to ask me, registered sports dietitian and founder of Rise Up Nutrition Lindsey Cortes, your questions! Each month we release a patreon Q & A as both a video and podcast to help you on a more per...
Mar 14, 2023•18 min•Ep. 121
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I sit down with recurring guest and lead nutrition success coach at Rise Up Nutrition Jenna Stranzl. Jenna is a marathon runner, doggie lover, registered dietitian and sports nutritionist. This conversation was sparked from our Alumni Group Coaching program, where each month we take a deep dive into an area of sports nutrition. Last month’s topic was all about menstrual cycles and today we highlight some of what we covered. We explore what...
Mar 09, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 120
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with former collegiate athlete, coach, and COO of The Hidden Opponent, Leeann Passaro. We explore what the Hidden Opponent is and its mission to raise awareness of student-athlete mental health. Leeann explains how a friend’s suicide introduced her to mental illness as a child, before then struggling herself with anxiety and self-confidence in high school and college. These experiences prompted her advocacy for student-athlete menta...
Mar 02, 2023•57 min•Ep. 119
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with former Team USA and NCAA Division I swimmer Eva Merrell. Eva was a high school standout, competing in the US Olympic Trials and named to the US Swimming National Team at 16 years old. After being recruited as the top high school swimmer and committing to The University of Georgia, Eva found herself battling anorexia nervosa. Today, she bravely shares her own eating disorder experience, discussing how her desire to be a “good at...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 118
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with the captain of the University of Michigan women's gymnastics team, Sierra Brooks. Sierra is an NCAA Champion, 13x All-American, and 2022 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year. Beginning at the age of 3, Sierra shares her gymnastics journey, including why she chose to pursue collegiate gymnastics over the Olympics. We hear about how she cultivates a healthy team culture as captain, as well as tips for navigating social media attention, ot...
Feb 16, 2023•54 min•Ep. 117
Just a heads up, in this episode, Sarah bravely discusses the loss of a child, which may be difficult for some listeners to hear. If you think this might be you, feel free to fast forward through minutes 34:00 to 39:00. In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with one of Rise Up Nutrition’s original clients and new mom Sarah Pastura. At first, Sarah was skeptical that our Female Athlete System of Transformation (FAST Track) program was right for her, as she didn't fit the...
Feb 09, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 116
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with mindset coach and avid ultra runner Danielle Snyder. Danielle opens up about her introduction to running to cope with her mom’s sickness, and how it led her down a negative path of an eating disorder and unhealthy relationship with movement. We discuss how recovery is a long-term process that requires doing the mental work to challenge disordered mindsets. Danielle is a phenomenal trail and ultra runner and she shares one of he...
Feb 02, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 115
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with college athlete and mental health advocate Arla Davis. Arla is a two sport NCAA student-athlete, competing for Ithaca College’s lacrosse and track and field teams. She holds multiple roles outside of her own athletics, including being a Campus Captain with The Hidden Opponent, and co-chair of Ithaca College's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), as well as being involved in research about women in sports. We introduce liste...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 114
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with a former client of mine and current NCAA Division I athlete, Elena. Elena worked through our signature Female Athlete System of Transformation (FAST Track) Program and now is a member of our Alumni Program. A lifelong athlete involved in the sport of track and field since age 4, Elena currently competes collegiately as a sprinter and hurdler. In this client testimonial episode, Elena opens up about her story of disordered minds...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 113
In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with Lauren Ammon, founder and Head Coach of Performance Reimagined, helping student athletes train their mind and tackle their inner opponent. We hear how Lauren uses her personal experiences as a competitive NCAA Division I swimmer, mentally struggling with “being in her own head” during puberty, to better relate with and provide resources for the unique challenges facing student athletes. We normalize the feelings of fear and dou...
Jan 12, 2023•55 min•Ep. 112
