January 3, 2024 • 14 mins
Ever wondered how elite athletes manage to balance grueling workouts with precise nutritional needs? Mackenzie, a dietitian and former CrossFit Games competitor, joins us to unravel this complex dance of diet and exercise. She walks us through her own evolution, from high-octane CrossFit games athlete to performing fitness to sustain longevity. It's a candid look at Mackenzie's shift from the extreme calorie counts of competition to her current practice of intuitive eating, aiming for long-term health and vitality. The conversation takes a deep dive into the mindset and practical adjustments needed when moving away from the spotlight of competitive sports to a lifestyle focused on overall wellness.
We dissect how the unique blend of accountability and mentorship can dramatically shape someone's journey to a balanced life especially in nurtition. With Mackenzie's dual expertise lighting the way, we delve into how the right nutritional strategy isn't just about food; it's about crafting a sustainable, healthy lifestyle that sticks. We also touch on the importance of nutrition not only for those looking to perform better, lose weight, and gain muscle, but also how nutrition can impact recovery and rehab after surgeries and injuries.
To work with McKenzie Flinchum, RD, CPT for all your nutrition needs, check out the following link or email at mckenzie.myobrain@gmail.com
myobrain.com/mckenzie
Book a discovery call today with Hercules Performance and Physical Therapy in Vero Beach, FL
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSC (00:01):
All right, good morning everyone.
This is Hercules Performanceand Physical Therapy.
I'm Dr Alec Spano.
Today we have Mackenzie on.
She's going to talk abouteverything, nutriiton.
Give me a little bit aboutyourself and your history here.
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (00:14):
So I grew up doing sports.
I was a gymnast for 15 years.
I did karate growing up andthen I started just getting
interested in nutrition as I gota little bit older, kind of
fueling my body properly fortraining, went to school for
dietetics and nutrition, becamean RD in about 2015.
And then I just started takingon clients one-on-one on my own.
(00:36):
I really love working in thehealth and fitness space, so I
do work with a lot of athletesor just general healthy
population people trying to lookbetter, feel better.
They're already doing some kindof training usually, and then
myself I also still train and Ido kind of my own fitness
(00:57):
workouts.
But I also competed in CrossFitfor like five, six years.
So I've just kind of alwaysbeen in the health and fitness
space and adding the nutritioncomponent for my work has been
amazing because it just fitsright in Sure.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (01:10):
Tell us a little bit about your
CrossFit career because it waskind of a big part of your life
as of recent, high-level athlete.
How did you find blending theworld of dietitian, where it's a
little bit more medical base,and then taking this cool
CrossFit fitness background?
How has that influenced eachother?
Where have you kind of gonewith nutrition?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (01:29):
So, yeah, with nutrition, with CrossFit,
there's such a demand for highcalories and adequate energy and
all that.
So it's very different fromwhere I was in my clinical field
, like doing my nutritioninternship.
I did a lot of clinical basalsin the hospital, so it was more
of like nutrition needs forpeople who are sick, you know
(01:52):
stuff like that versus nutritionneeds for athletes.
So as an athlete, I started tolearn how much fuel I actually
needed and, you know, really Iwould track my food and try to
get X amount of calories andjust make sure I was getting
proper nutrition, propercalories, proper protein, all
that.
My CrossFit career started in2016, I believe, and I just
(02:17):
dropped into the gym one day andI was like I think I want to
give this a try.
I absolutely loved it.
I loved training that way, Iloved the high intensity and I
just kind of got sucked rightinto it.
I ended up competing the nextyear at Regionals.
The next year I was one spotshy of qualifying for the
CrossFit Games and then the yearafter that, in 2019, I
(02:39):
qualified for the CrossFit Gamesand so I spent probably three,
four years being supercompetitive.
My last competition year was2021.
I did virtual competition and Imissed the games.
That year I competed insemifinals and then the last
couple of years I just have beentraining for fun.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (02:58):
Yeah , what does training look like
for you now, like for fun?
What does that mean for you?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (03:02):
I'm still in this kind of transition phase
right now where I'm trying tofigure out Like how to train
just for fun and for balance andeverything I'm I'm working on
just feeling good and enjoyingmy workouts and having my body
feel good, but at the same timeit's really hard to not have a
very specific goal to train for.
(03:24):
So not having like thisCompetition like in the future
where I'm pushing for that,that's difficult for me because
my whole life I've competed,even though I don't really love
competing.
I get nervous and there's justa lot of pressure I put on
myself.
It's still hard to not havethat like competition like in
(03:45):
the future to train for.
So I'm just working on findinggood balance with everything.
I'm still like to do CrossFitworkouts, I throw in my own like
bodybuilding style workouts.
So I'm just training foraesthetics and for strength and
then, you know, I'm justthrowing down for fun every once
in a while.
Some friends Sure.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSCS (04:02):
So that's a nice segue into you.
You have these different partsof your life and kind of
nutrition needs.
How has your nutrition Beendifferent since?
Again, you're doing this forperformance and now it's kind of
this long-haul longevity healthapproach how, how do those two
look different and might be ableto apply it to other people?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (04:21):
Yeah, so when I was training for CrossFit, as
I mentioned I, the calorieneeds were so high and I was
just trying to get calories in.
However I could my meals werehuge.
I had to force calories in.
I had to make sure that I was,you know, getting taking some
sort of like protein and carbssupplement with me to the gym.
I was very consistent withtaking my creatine, I was
(04:43):
consistent with supplements.
And now Sometimes I canhonestly get a little bit lazy
with it.
Like if I wake up and I'm likenot super hungry, I'm like I'll
just Skip breakfast like no bigdeal, even though it is helpful
to get protein and caloriesearlier in the day if I want to
fuel properly and not end upbeing like low blood sugar,
super hungry by the time.
Like lunch rolls around but I'mnot as strict with it and
(05:07):
calorie needs have definitelydiminished.
There was a transition timeright after competing and then
not training as much, where mybody had to adapt to that like
maybe I was Still really hungrybut I didn't need as much fuel.
And now my body's, you know,definitely adapted.
I'm not as hungry, I don't.
I can tell that I don't need3000 plus calories a day, like
(05:29):
I'm good at 2000 to 2500 andthat's fine.
So a little bit more intuitiveeating, you know, comes into
play and Definitely a little bitmore Lieny it now that I was
when I was, you know, trainingand I had to get the fuel in.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSCS (05:43):
Do you find that's where a lot of
people need to be when they'remore in the health and wellness
because you know we both haveworked with people who are more
of that type a want everythingvery strict.
Have you found that actually,if they kind of let go the reins
a little bit with the nutrition, it helps?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (05:58):
I have.
It definitely depends on theperson, but my approach is more
of balance and like a healthylifestyle and longevity.
So I do have some clients thatcome to me and they're they're
so strict and they're they theyfeel like they need to track in
order to stay on track and itactually it can actually kind of
(06:20):
be a negative for them becausethey feel like there is no
balance, like it's an all ornothing thing, when in reality,
if you have a little bit moreflexibility with it, you feel
like you can stick to that longterm.
So an example is during theholidays, all my clients I'm
like do not track on Christmas,take the whole weekend off
(06:41):
logging your food.
Like just eat whatever you want, you're not gonna blow your
diet.
You're tracking itself as anestimation, like even the four
calories per gram of protein.
Like that's not an exact numberand the numbers on the food
label are not exact, so thewhole thing is an estimation
anyway.
So having a little bit morebalance and flexibility with
yourself, learning to beintuitive too, is super
(07:03):
important.
If you're not listening to yourbody and you're eating calories
because the number and on yourportal that we put the targets
and that says a certain calories.
If you're focusing so much onthat and not listening to your
body, then you can kind of havea little bit of a disconnect
there, absolutely.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (07:19):
Yeah , it is kind of interesting to
hear about how it really doesand it's almost like a cyclical
thing where, depending where youare in life and sport and how
long you've done stuff, it kindof is a moving target right.
And that's where having someonelike you who's had experience
throughout the range is reallynice, because you can give some
feedback on like, hey, maybethis is the time to pull back,
this is the time to be stricter,or whatnot?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (07:40):
Absolutely yeah, there's definitely a time
and place for it.
And when people come to me withspecific goals like weight loss
goal, aesthetic goal they wannalose body fat, gain muscle I
always encourage to be strict.
In the beginning I was superstrict with myself with tracking
for a few years and I learnedmore about food composition in
those few years of tracking myown food than I did my whole
life or from reading nutritionbooks et cetera.
(08:03):
So I think that's a super goodapproach for anybody just to
learn about nutrition.
But it's not a long-term thing.
Once you know about foodcomposition, you can kind of
estimate calories.
You kind of have anunderstanding of is this a good
protein source for this meal?
How much should my portion sizelook like?
Then you can kind of giveyourself a little bit more slack
(08:24):
and flexibility with it and youdon't have to be weighing
everything to the exact gramanymore.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, D (08:29):
Absolutely .
I mean it's kind of likecollege.
You go and learn a bunch reallyquickly and then you can kind
of then wean off and naturallyspin it into your own thing.
Yeah, exactly, Mckenzie, Iwanna do kind of a rapid fire
question session here so we geta few common questions answered
from you.
As far as someone who'spost-surgical let's call it an
(08:49):
ACL or shoulder repair, whateverit might be do you have any
specific nutrition advice forthem?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (08:57):
So typically post-surgery, as your body's in
healing mode any type of healingmode you're gonna have an
increase in calories and proteinYou're gonna need more.
It might kind of balance out ifyou're less active, so you have
to like take into considerationthat as well.
But in general proteins aregonna be higher for tissue
(09:17):
repair and cell regrowth and allthat, and then calorie needs as
your body's healing as well.
So just trying to get adequatecalories, adequate protein super
important for post-surgery,yeah.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSCS (09:29):
I mean there's a lot of healing
going on in your body.
It's like you break down yourmuscles in the gym right and you
have to kind of refuel.
This is a big breakdown of alot of things.
It needs a lot of umph toimprove right so that's awesome.
Do you recommend anything likeobviously maybe starting
pre-surgery would be a good idea, just so you have kind of a
(09:49):
baseline there and you can seethe changes?
Do you have any advice forpre-surgery?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (09:55):
I definitely think learning about food
composition, doing some tracking.
Again, tracking is not along-term thing I recommend, but
it helps people learn aboutfood composition.
There's so many times I'veasked people do you even know
what a macronutrient is?
So a carb, fat, protein andthey don't even know that.
(10:15):
So if you don't have theeducation, the knowledge, it's
going to be hard to make sureyou're getting enough of the
correct kind of calories andfuel.
So just tracking before ormaking sure you're on a good
schedule as far as like, am Igetting good protein source
Dr Alec Spano, PT, D (10:36):
Absolutely Find your baseline and then
kind of know what food?
omposition is.
What is this in general?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (10:43):
Right.
Learn how to get the correctamount of protein grams and what
are some good protein sources.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (10:50):
Love it.
As far as recovery, let's callit I'm a fitness athlete, I'm a
baseball player or I'm justsomeone that likes to hit the
gym hard.
What would you say are kind ofthe benefits of working with a
nutrition coach, adding that inas far as recovery and being
able to perform or live better?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (11:08):
Definitely so .
If you're going to be anathlete and you need the
adequate fuel for recovery.
Tracking your food, making sureyou're accountable, is huge.
If you're under eating, that'sgoing to create a lot of extra
stress on the body.
So, for athletes, gettingenough calories is super, super
important, and I've oftentimesfound, even with myself
(11:29):
personally, that when I'mtraining a lot, appetite
diminishes and that can be thefirst sign to overtraining, in
fact.
So, working with someone tomaintain that accountability
make sure that you're gettingthe fuel you need, making sure
you're getting enough protein,getting enough micronutrients,
are you getting enough fluidsand electrolytes too that's a
(11:49):
big one, I see as well, not justwater itself, but are you
getting enough sodium into yourdiet to make sure that you're
rehydrating properly?
So it's more about theaccountability and then, of
course, knowing also what a goodcalorie range is and it's not
going to be a one size fits alleither it's really important to
have someone who can guide youand adjust calories
(12:14):
appropriately.
So if you're not performingwell, then what can we look at
to make some adjustments?
Should we give you morecalories?
Or maybe we need to do theopposite and lower some things,
or maybe give more calories ontraining days.
So look at what your hungerlevels are, what your recovery
is, how your sleep is.
(12:35):
So a lot of factors there, alot of different ways we can
adjust, but there's nutritionwith athletes and with the
recovery piece is huge.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (12:43):
Yeah , absolutely.
I mean it should be a primaryfocus, not just the training you
create, the stimulus andtraining you got to recover from
it, and nutrition is number onein that category.
And something to tell my peopleall the time, like, if you're
not recovering, using nutritionas a primary weapon, that in
sleep you got your two biggesthitters right there, 100%.
Yep, M, if I have people thatwant to work with you, right,
(13:06):
they have nutritional questions,they have nutritional needs,
athletes, active adults who justwant that.
What are the best places tofind you or connect with you?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (13:14):
Yep, so they can search for me online.
The company I work with iscalled MyBrain and they can work
directly with me as a virtualcoach.
That way, it's as personal aswe can get being virtual,
because I do video check andreviews.
It's full-time support, butthat's where people can find me.
(13:36):
The company I work with iscalled MyOBrain and it's myself
and another dietitian whostarted that.
We take a very similar approachand, again, it's very, very
individualized.
It's not like here's a mealplan.
Good luck for the next sixweeks.
It's constant support, yep.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSC (13:55):
And that's where the magic happens
with the coaching right.
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (13:57):
Exactly, it's all about the accountability
and the relationship there.
It's not just followingsomething Because you could go
online and find something tofollow, but it's the having
somebody there to coach youAbsolutely, and that's the whole
reason that it's successful alot of times.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, (14:13):
Awesome , M.
Well, thanks for coming on andanswering some awesome questions
.
I'll tag you and have links toher websites and all that so you
can go find her in the shownotes below.
All right guys, have a greatrest of your day.
Thank you, all right, thanks.
All right, good morning everyone.
This is Hercules Performanceand Physical Therapy.
I'm Dr Alec Spano.
Today we have Mackenzie on.
She's going to talk abouteverything, nutriiton.
Give me a little bit aboutyourself and your history here.
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (00:14):
So I grew up doing sports.
I was a gymnast for 15 years.
I did karate growing up andthen I started just getting
interested in nutrition as I gota little bit older, kind of
fueling my body properly fortraining, went to school for
dietetics and nutrition, becamean RD in about 2015.
And then I just started takingon clients one-on-one on my own.
(00:36):
I really love working in thehealth and fitness space, so I
do work with a lot of athletesor just general healthy
population people trying to lookbetter, feel better.
They're already doing some kindof training usually, and then
myself I also still train and Ido kind of my own fitness
(00:57):
workouts.
But I also competed in CrossFitfor like five, six years.
So I've just kind of alwaysbeen in the health and fitness
space and adding the nutritioncomponent for my work has been
amazing because it just fitsright in Sure.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (01:10):
Tell us a little bit about your
CrossFit career because it waskind of a big part of your life
as of recent, high-level athlete.
How did you find blending theworld of dietitian, where it's a
little bit more medical base,and then taking this cool
CrossFit fitness background?
How has that influenced eachother?
Where have you kind of gonewith nutrition?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (01:29):
So, yeah, with nutrition, with CrossFit,
there's such a demand for highcalories and adequate energy and
all that.
So it's very different fromwhere I was in my clinical field
, like doing my nutritioninternship.
I did a lot of clinical basalsin the hospital, so it was more
of like nutrition needs forpeople who are sick, you know
(01:52):
stuff like that versus nutritionneeds for athletes.
So as an athlete, I started tolearn how much fuel I actually
needed and, you know, really Iwould track my food and try to
get X amount of calories andjust make sure I was getting
proper nutrition, propercalories, proper protein, all
that.
My CrossFit career started in2016, I believe, and I just
(02:17):
dropped into the gym one day andI was like I think I want to
give this a try.
I absolutely loved it.
I loved training that way, Iloved the high intensity and I
just kind of got sucked rightinto it.
I ended up competing the nextyear at Regionals.
The next year I was one spotshy of qualifying for the
CrossFit Games and then the yearafter that, in 2019, I
(02:39):
qualified for the CrossFit Gamesand so I spent probably three,
four years being supercompetitive.
My last competition year was2021.
I did virtual competition and Imissed the games.
That year I competed insemifinals and then the last
couple of years I just have beentraining for fun.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (02:58):
Yeah , what does training look like
for you now, like for fun?
What does that mean for you?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (03:02):
I'm still in this kind of transition phase
right now where I'm trying tofigure out Like how to train
just for fun and for balance andeverything I'm I'm working on
just feeling good and enjoyingmy workouts and having my body
feel good, but at the same timeit's really hard to not have a
very specific goal to train for.
(03:24):
So not having like thisCompetition like in the future
where I'm pushing for that,that's difficult for me because
my whole life I've competed,even though I don't really love
competing.
I get nervous and there's justa lot of pressure I put on
myself.
It's still hard to not havethat like competition like in
(03:45):
the future to train for.
So I'm just working on findinggood balance with everything.
I'm still like to do CrossFitworkouts, I throw in my own like
bodybuilding style workouts.
So I'm just training foraesthetics and for strength and
then, you know, I'm justthrowing down for fun every once
in a while.
Some friends Sure.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSCS (04:02):
So that's a nice segue into you.
You have these different partsof your life and kind of
nutrition needs.
How has your nutrition Beendifferent since?
Again, you're doing this forperformance and now it's kind of
this long-haul longevity healthapproach how, how do those two
look different and might be ableto apply it to other people?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (04:21):
Yeah, so when I was training for CrossFit, as
I mentioned I, the calorieneeds were so high and I was
just trying to get calories in.
However I could my meals werehuge.
I had to force calories in.
I had to make sure that I was,you know, getting taking some
sort of like protein and carbssupplement with me to the gym.
I was very consistent withtaking my creatine, I was
(04:43):
consistent with supplements.
And now Sometimes I canhonestly get a little bit lazy
with it.
Like if I wake up and I'm likenot super hungry, I'm like I'll
just Skip breakfast like no bigdeal, even though it is helpful
to get protein and caloriesearlier in the day if I want to
fuel properly and not end upbeing like low blood sugar,
super hungry by the time.
Like lunch rolls around but I'mnot as strict with it and
(05:07):
calorie needs have definitelydiminished.
There was a transition timeright after competing and then
not training as much, where mybody had to adapt to that like
maybe I was Still really hungrybut I didn't need as much fuel.
And now my body's, you know,definitely adapted.
I'm not as hungry, I don't.
I can tell that I don't need3000 plus calories a day, like
(05:29):
I'm good at 2000 to 2500 andthat's fine.
So a little bit more intuitiveeating, you know, comes into
play and Definitely a little bitmore Lieny it now that I was
when I was, you know, trainingand I had to get the fuel in.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSCS (05:43):
Do you find that's where a lot of
people need to be when they'remore in the health and wellness
because you know we both haveworked with people who are more
of that type a want everythingvery strict.
Have you found that actually,if they kind of let go the reins
a little bit with the nutrition, it helps?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (05:58):
I have.
It definitely depends on theperson, but my approach is more
of balance and like a healthylifestyle and longevity.
So I do have some clients thatcome to me and they're they're
so strict and they're they theyfeel like they need to track in
order to stay on track and itactually it can actually kind of
(06:20):
be a negative for them becausethey feel like there is no
balance, like it's an all ornothing thing, when in reality,
if you have a little bit moreflexibility with it, you feel
like you can stick to that longterm.
So an example is during theholidays, all my clients I'm
like do not track on Christmas,take the whole weekend off
(06:41):
logging your food.
Like just eat whatever you want, you're not gonna blow your
diet.
You're tracking itself as anestimation, like even the four
calories per gram of protein.
Like that's not an exact numberand the numbers on the food
label are not exact, so thewhole thing is an estimation
anyway.
So having a little bit morebalance and flexibility with
yourself, learning to beintuitive too, is super
(07:03):
important.
If you're not listening to yourbody and you're eating calories
because the number and on yourportal that we put the targets
and that says a certain calories.
If you're focusing so much onthat and not listening to your
body, then you can kind of havea little bit of a disconnect
there, absolutely.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (07:19):
Yeah , it is kind of interesting to
hear about how it really doesand it's almost like a cyclical
thing where, depending where youare in life and sport and how
long you've done stuff, it kindof is a moving target right.
And that's where having someonelike you who's had experience
throughout the range is reallynice, because you can give some
feedback on like, hey, maybethis is the time to pull back,
this is the time to be stricter,or whatnot?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (07:40):
Absolutely yeah, there's definitely a time
and place for it.
And when people come to me withspecific goals like weight loss
goal, aesthetic goal they wannalose body fat, gain muscle I
always encourage to be strict.
In the beginning I was superstrict with myself with tracking
for a few years and I learnedmore about food composition in
those few years of tracking myown food than I did my whole
life or from reading nutritionbooks et cetera.
(08:03):
So I think that's a super goodapproach for anybody just to
learn about nutrition.
But it's not a long-term thing.
Once you know about foodcomposition, you can kind of
estimate calories.
You kind of have anunderstanding of is this a good
protein source for this meal?
How much should my portion sizelook like?
Then you can kind of giveyourself a little bit more slack
(08:24):
and flexibility with it and youdon't have to be weighing
everything to the exact gramanymore.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, D (08:29):
Absolutely .
I mean it's kind of likecollege.
You go and learn a bunch reallyquickly and then you can kind
of then wean off and naturallyspin it into your own thing.
Yeah, exactly, Mckenzie, Iwanna do kind of a rapid fire
question session here so we geta few common questions answered
from you.
As far as someone who'spost-surgical let's call it an
(08:49):
ACL or shoulder repair, whateverit might be do you have any
specific nutrition advice forthem?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (08:57):
So typically post-surgery, as your body's in
healing mode any type of healingmode you're gonna have an
increase in calories and proteinYou're gonna need more.
It might kind of balance out ifyou're less active, so you have
to like take into considerationthat as well.
But in general proteins aregonna be higher for tissue
(09:17):
repair and cell regrowth and allthat, and then calorie needs as
your body's healing as well.
So just trying to get adequatecalories, adequate protein super
important for post-surgery,yeah.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSCS (09:29):
I mean there's a lot of healing
going on in your body.
It's like you break down yourmuscles in the gym right and you
have to kind of refuel.
This is a big breakdown of alot of things.
It needs a lot of umph toimprove right so that's awesome.
Do you recommend anything likeobviously maybe starting
pre-surgery would be a good idea, just so you have kind of a
(09:49):
baseline there and you can seethe changes?
Do you have any advice forpre-surgery?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (09:55):
I definitely think learning about food
composition, doing some tracking.
Again, tracking is not along-term thing I recommend, but
it helps people learn aboutfood composition.
There's so many times I'veasked people do you even know
what a macronutrient is?
So a carb, fat, protein andthey don't even know that.
(10:15):
So if you don't have theeducation, the knowledge, it's
going to be hard to make sureyou're getting enough of the
correct kind of calories andfuel.
So just tracking before ormaking sure you're on a good
schedule as far as like, am Igetting good protein source
Dr Alec Spano, PT, D (10:36):
Absolutely Find your baseline and then
kind of know what food?
omposition is.
What is this in general?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (10:43):
Right.
Learn how to get the correctamount of protein grams and what
are some good protein sources.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (10:50):
Love it.
As far as recovery, let's callit I'm a fitness athlete, I'm a
baseball player or I'm justsomeone that likes to hit the
gym hard.
What would you say are kind ofthe benefits of working with a
nutrition coach, adding that inas far as recovery and being
able to perform or live better?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (11:08):
Definitely so .
If you're going to be anathlete and you need the
adequate fuel for recovery.
Tracking your food, making sureyou're accountable, is huge.
If you're under eating, that'sgoing to create a lot of extra
stress on the body.
So, for athletes, gettingenough calories is super, super
important, and I've oftentimesfound, even with myself
(11:29):
personally, that when I'mtraining a lot, appetite
diminishes and that can be thefirst sign to overtraining, in
fact.
So, working with someone tomaintain that accountability
make sure that you're gettingthe fuel you need, making sure
you're getting enough protein,getting enough micronutrients,
are you getting enough fluidsand electrolytes too that's a
(11:49):
big one, I see as well, not justwater itself, but are you
getting enough sodium into yourdiet to make sure that you're
rehydrating properly?
So it's more about theaccountability and then, of
course, knowing also what a goodcalorie range is and it's not
going to be a one size fits alleither it's really important to
have someone who can guide youand adjust calories
(12:14):
appropriately.
So if you're not performingwell, then what can we look at
to make some adjustments?
Should we give you morecalories?
Or maybe we need to do theopposite and lower some things,
or maybe give more calories ontraining days.
So look at what your hungerlevels are, what your recovery
is, how your sleep is.
(12:35):
So a lot of factors there, alot of different ways we can
adjust, but there's nutritionwith athletes and with the
recovery piece is huge.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CS (12:43):
Yeah , absolutely.
I mean it should be a primaryfocus, not just the training you
create, the stimulus andtraining you got to recover from
it, and nutrition is number onein that category.
And something to tell my peopleall the time, like, if you're
not recovering, using nutritionas a primary weapon, that in
sleep you got your two biggesthitters right there, 100%.
Yep, M, if I have people thatwant to work with you, right,
(13:06):
they have nutritional questions,they have nutritional needs,
athletes, active adults who justwant that.
What are the best places tofind you or connect with you?
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (13:14):
Yep, so they can search for me online.
The company I work with iscalled MyBrain and they can work
directly with me as a virtualcoach.
That way, it's as personal aswe can get being virtual,
because I do video check andreviews.
It's full-time support, butthat's where people can find me.
(13:36):
The company I work with iscalled MyOBrain and it's myself
and another dietitian whostarted that.
We take a very similar approachand, again, it's very, very
individualized.
It's not like here's a mealplan.
Good luck for the next sixweeks.
It's constant support, yep.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, CSC (13:55):
And that's where the magic happens
with the coaching right.
Mckenzie, RD, CPT (13:57):
Exactly, it's all about the accountability
and the relationship there.
It's not just followingsomething Because you could go
online and find something tofollow, but it's the having
somebody there to coach youAbsolutely, and that's the whole
reason that it's successful alot of times.
Dr Alec Spano, PT, DPT, (14:13):
Awesome , M.
Well, thanks for coming on andanswering some awesome questions
.
I'll tag you and have links toher websites and all that so you
can go find her in the shownotes below.
All right guys, have a greatrest of your day.
Thank you, all right, thanks.
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