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The more I learn, the more I realise how much there is still to learn.

One of the greatest privileges of being a sports nutritionist and running coach is supporting athletes through different stages of their lives. With that privilege comes a responsibility I take seriously: to keep learning.

I recently completed The Pregnant Athlete: Nutrition Course for Every Trimester through @holleyfuelednutrition, deepening my understanding of nutrition during pregnancy, postpartum recovery and breastfeeding, alongside considerations for exercise.

Working with female athletes continues to remind me how important it is to look beyond performance alone. As life changes, so do an athlete’s needs, priorities and goals. Supporting them well means listening, adapting and recognising the person behind the performance.

For me, continuing education is about asking better questions, challenging my assumptions and building on what I know so I can offer thoughtful, informed guidance to the athletes who place their trust in me.

My commitment is to stay curious, keep learning and strive to become a better practitioner than I was yesterday.

Because the athletes I work with deserve nothing less.

#FemaleAthletes #PregnancyNutrition #PostpartumNutrition #SportsNutrition #RunningCoaching

The more I learn, the more I realise how much there is still to learn.

One of the greatest privileges of being a sports nutritionist and running coach is supporting athletes through different stages of their lives. With that privilege comes a responsibility I take seriously: to keep learning.

I recently completed The Pregnant Athlete: Nutrition Course for Every Trimester through @holleyfuelednutrition, deepening my understanding of nutrition during pregnancy, postpartum recovery and breastfeeding, alongside considerations for exercise.

Working with female athletes continues to remind me how important it is to look beyond performance alone. As life changes, so do an athlete’s needs, priorities and goals. Supporting them well means listening, adapting and recognising the person behind the performance.

For me, continuing education is about asking better questions, challenging my assumptions and building on what I know so I can offer thoughtful, informed guidance to the athletes who place their trust in me.

My commitment is to stay curious, keep learning and strive to become a better practitioner than I was yesterday.

Because the athletes I work with deserve nothing less.

#FemaleAthletes #PregnancyNutrition #PostpartumNutrition #SportsNutrition #RunningCoaching

I’m proud to share that I am now a certified REDs-Informed Provider, having completed the Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport: Are You RED-Y? Masterclass for Clinicians, presented by sports nutrition specialist Rebecca McConville 🎓

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport—REDs—is far more complex than simply “not eating enough.”

REDs can occur when an athlete’s energy intake is insufficient to support both training and the body’s essential physiological functions. It may be intentional or unintentional and can affect athletes of any gender, age, body size, ability or sporting level.

Its effects can extend far beyond performance, influencing:

🦴 Bone health
🩸 Hormonal and menstrual function
🛡️ Immune function
🫀 Cardiovascular and metabolic health
🧠 Psychological well-being
🏃 Recovery, adaptation and injury risk

REDs does not always look obvious from the outside. An athlete may appear healthy, still train and even perform well while experiencing impaired health beneath the surface that will impact them negatively in the long-term.

This is why REDs requires careful assessment and an understanding of the whole athlete—not assumptions based on appearance, body weight or a single symptom.

Becoming a REDs-Informed Provider strengthens my work as a sports nutritionist and running coach. It allows me to consider an athlete’s nutrition, training load, recovery, health history, symptoms, relationship with food and long-term goals together—not in isolation.

Effective care often requires a multidisciplinary approach, often in collaboration with doctors, psychologists, physiotherapists, and other qualified health-care professionals. Knowing when to refer and work together to ensure athlete health is an essential part of recovery.

At Annie’s Athletes, the goal has never been performance at any cost.

It is to help athletes fuel sufficiently, train intelligently, protect their health and build bodies that can adapt, recover and perform—for the next race and for the years ahead.

Health and performance are not competing goals.

Sustainable performance is built on health. ❤️

#REDsInformed #SportsNutrition #AthleteHealth #SustainablePerformance #FuelYourFire

I’m proud to share that I am now a certified REDs-Informed Provider, having completed the Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport: Are You RED-Y? Masterclass for Clinicians, presented by sports nutrition specialist Rebecca McConville 🎓

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport—REDs—is far more complex than simply “not eating enough.”

REDs can occur when an athlete’s energy intake is insufficient to support both training and the body’s essential physiological functions. It may be intentional or unintentional and can affect athletes of any gender, age, body size, ability or sporting level.

Its effects can extend far beyond performance, influencing:

🦴 Bone health
🩸 Hormonal and menstrual function
🛡️ Immune function
🫀 Cardiovascular and metabolic health
🧠 Psychological well-being
🏃 Recovery, adaptation and injury risk

REDs does not always look obvious from the outside. An athlete may appear healthy, still train and even perform well while experiencing impaired health beneath the surface that will impact them negatively in the long-term.

This is why REDs requires careful assessment and an understanding of the whole athlete—not assumptions based on appearance, body weight or a single symptom.

Becoming a REDs-Informed Provider strengthens my work as a sports nutritionist and running coach. It allows me to consider an athlete’s nutrition, training load, recovery, health history, symptoms, relationship with food and long-term goals together—not in isolation.

Effective care often requires a multidisciplinary approach, often in collaboration with doctors, psychologists, physiotherapists, and other qualified health-care professionals. Knowing when to refer and work together to ensure athlete health is an essential part of recovery.

At Annie’s Athletes, the goal has never been performance at any cost.

It is to help athletes fuel sufficiently, train intelligently, protect their health and build bodies that can adapt, recover and perform—for the next race and for the years ahead.

Health and performance are not competing goals.

Sustainable performance is built on health. ❤️

#REDsInformed #SportsNutrition #AthleteHealth #SustainablePerformance #FuelYourFire

REDs is something I see far too often in my work with athletes as a sports nutritionist (MSc).

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or REDs, occurs when there is a mismatch between the energy an athlete takes in and the energy required to support training, recovery, and normal physiological function.

This can happen intentionally or unintentionally.

Sometimes it is linked to disordered eating or an eating disorder. Other times, it happens because an athlete is training hard, living a busy life, underestimating their needs, or simply not realizing how much energy the body actually requires.

But regardless of how it starts, the consequences can be serious.

REDs can affect almost every system in the body, including:
🩸 Hormonal health
🦴 Bone health
🛡️ Immune function
❤️ Cardiovascular function
🔥 Metabolic health
🧠 Mental health
🫃 Gastrointestinal function
📈 Growth and development
⚡ Recovery
🏋️ Training adaptation
🏃 Performance

It is not just about missing a period.
It is not just about eating more.
It is not just a “female athlete” issue.

And it is not something to ignore until performance starts to decline.

In an ever-evolving scientific space, we continue to learn more about how complex and detrimental REDs can be, and how important it is for athletes to have the right support around them.

This is one of the reasons I have decided to complete the REDs Informed Provider Certification with @rebeccaeddietitian

As a sports nutritionist and coach, I want to keep improving my knowledge, sharpen my clinical reasoning, and become the best practitioner I can be for the athletes I work with.

Because athletes deserve more than generic advice.

They deserve evidence-based support that protects both performance and long-term health.

#REDsAwareness #SportsNutrition #AthleteHealth #FuelForPerformance #PerformanceNutrition

REDs is something I see far too often in my work with athletes as a sports nutritionist (MSc).

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or REDs, occurs when there is a mismatch between the energy an athlete takes in and the energy required to support training, recovery, and normal physiological function.

This can happen intentionally or unintentionally.

Sometimes it is linked to disordered eating or an eating disorder. Other times, it happens because an athlete is training hard, living a busy life, underestimating their needs, or simply not realizing how much energy the body actually requires.

But regardless of how it starts, the consequences can be serious.

REDs can affect almost every system in the body, including:
🩸 Hormonal health
🦴 Bone health
🛡️ Immune function
❤️ Cardiovascular function
🔥 Metabolic health
🧠 Mental health
🫃 Gastrointestinal function
📈 Growth and development
⚡ Recovery
🏋️ Training adaptation
🏃 Performance

It is not just about missing a period.
It is not just about eating more.
It is not just a “female athlete” issue.

And it is not something to ignore until performance starts to decline.

In an ever-evolving scientific space, we continue to learn more about how complex and detrimental REDs can be, and how important it is for athletes to have the right support around them.

This is one of the reasons I have decided to complete the REDs Informed Provider Certification with @rebeccaeddietitian

As a sports nutritionist and coach, I want to keep improving my knowledge, sharpen my clinical reasoning, and become the best practitioner I can be for the athletes I work with.

Because athletes deserve more than generic advice.

They deserve evidence-based support that protects both performance and long-term health.

#REDsAwareness #SportsNutrition #AthleteHealth #FuelForPerformance #PerformanceNutrition

You can train your legs perfectly… and still have race day fall apart if your gut is not ready for the fueling plan. 🦵🔖

🤢 Nausea
💧 Sloshing
🚨 Urgency
😖 Loss of appetite

Then fueling drops. ⬇️
Carbohydrate intake falls.🪫
Pace fades.‼️
The wheels come off. 🆘

Gut training is performance training. Practice your race-day carbs and fluids in training, not for the first time on race day. 🔥

Train the gut so the body can use the fitness.🏆

📲 Need help building a race-day fueling plan that actually works? Send me a DM or get in touch below.

💻 www.anniesathletes.org
🤍 @annie_athletes
📩 anniesathletes@gmail.com

#anniesathletes #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #runningnutrition #guttraining

You can train your legs perfectly… and still have race day fall apart if your gut is not ready for the fueling plan. 🦵🔖

🤢 Nausea
💧 Sloshing
🚨 Urgency
😖 Loss of appetite

Then fueling drops. ⬇️
Carbohydrate intake falls.🪫
Pace fades.‼️
The wheels come off. 🆘

Gut training is performance training. Practice your race-day carbs and fluids in training, not for the first time on race day. 🔥

Train the gut so the body can use the fitness.🏆

📲 Need help building a race-day fueling plan that actually works? Send me a DM or get in touch below.

💻 www.anniesathletes.org
🤍 @annie_athletes
📩 anniesathletes@gmail.com

#anniesathletes #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #runningnutrition #guttraining

@totalsportstwooceansmarathon week is when athletes start obsessing over pace, weather, and gear. Yet one of the biggest performance limiters on race day is still poor fueling. ⛽️

An ultra is not something to just get through on vibes, water tables, and hope. It requires a plan.📝

Too many runners still treat nutrition like something they will figure out along the way. But in an ultra, poor fueling can cost far more than just energy. It can affect pacing, concentration, gut comfort, decision-making, and how well the body keeps moving late in the race.🏁

A good race plan should not only cover pace targets and splits. It should also answer:
How much carbohydrate is the goal per hour?
What is the fluid plan?
What is the sodium strategy?
What will be carried?
What will come from aid stations?
What has actually been practiced in training?

The athletes who tend to perform best are usually not guessing on race day. They have trained the gut, tested the products, and built a fueling strategy they can repeat when it matters most.👌

Fueling is not separate from pacing.
It is part of the race plan.🏆

#anniesathletes #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #ultramarathon #twooceansmarathon

@totalsportstwooceansmarathon week is when athletes start obsessing over pace, weather, and gear. Yet one of the biggest performance limiters on race day is still poor fueling. ⛽️

An ultra is not something to just get through on vibes, water tables, and hope. It requires a plan.📝

Too many runners still treat nutrition like something they will figure out along the way. But in an ultra, poor fueling can cost far more than just energy. It can affect pacing, concentration, gut comfort, decision-making, and how well the body keeps moving late in the race.🏁

A good race plan should not only cover pace targets and splits. It should also answer:
How much carbohydrate is the goal per hour?
What is the fluid plan?
What is the sodium strategy?
What will be carried?
What will come from aid stations?
What has actually been practiced in training?

The athletes who tend to perform best are usually not guessing on race day. They have trained the gut, tested the products, and built a fueling strategy they can repeat when it matters most.👌

Fueling is not separate from pacing.
It is part of the race plan.🏆

#anniesathletes #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #ultramarathon #twooceansmarathon

Recovery is more than a protein shake.🥤

The anabolic window made post-workout protein seem like the whole story. But for endurance athletes, recovery is also about replacing fuel, not just repairing muscle.💪

That is why carbs are often the more immediate priority after training, with protein best added alongside them. 🥯🍳

Refuel and repair. 🍌+ 🥛

#recovery #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #runningcoach #enduranceathletes

Recovery is more than a protein shake.🥤

The anabolic window made post-workout protein seem like the whole story. But for endurance athletes, recovery is also about replacing fuel, not just repairing muscle.💪

That is why carbs are often the more immediate priority after training, with protein best added alongside them. 🥯🍳

Refuel and repair. 🍌+ 🥛

#recovery #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #runningcoach #enduranceathletes

I love this quote by Dr. Jamie Whitfield, and I think it speaks to something so powerful that athletes need to realize:

There is often a mismatch between how much work athletes are doing and how much fuel they are actually taking in.

So many athletes think they are eating enough, but when pre-training, pre-race, and during-training intake are looked at more closely, there is often a gap. And over time, that gap adds up.

A single under-fueled run or ride may not seem like a big deal. But repeated sessions done without enough fuel before or during can mean missed opportunities for quality, recovery, adaptation, and long-term performance development.

Nutrition is like training. It compounds over time.

Just as fitness is built through consistent work across days, weeks, and months, fueling works the same way. The small choices made before sessions, during sessions, and across the day matter.

Consistency is the key.

Athletes do not need to fear fueling. Fuel can either enhance training or take away from it when under-fueling is part of the picture.

Nutrition can often be the very thing that supports the training, the recovery, and the adaptations being chased. This is not about being obsessive. It is about being aware and acting accordingly.

Prep and plan nutrition around training. Like I always say: Tomorrow Starts Today.

Sometimes the biggest limiter is not the session itself. It is the failure to properly support the work required.

#fuelyourfire #sportsnutritionist #runningcoach #endurancenutrition #runningperformance

I love this quote by Dr. Jamie Whitfield, and I think it speaks to something so powerful that athletes need to realize:

There is often a mismatch between how much work athletes are doing and how much fuel they are actually taking in.

So many athletes think they are eating enough, but when pre-training, pre-race, and during-training intake are looked at more closely, there is often a gap. And over time, that gap adds up.

A single under-fueled run or ride may not seem like a big deal. But repeated sessions done without enough fuel before or during can mean missed opportunities for quality, recovery, adaptation, and long-term performance development.

Nutrition is like training. It compounds over time.

Just as fitness is built through consistent work across days, weeks, and months, fueling works the same way. The small choices made before sessions, during sessions, and across the day matter.

Consistency is the key.

Athletes do not need to fear fueling. Fuel can either enhance training or take away from it when under-fueling is part of the picture.

Nutrition can often be the very thing that supports the training, the recovery, and the adaptations being chased. This is not about being obsessive. It is about being aware and acting accordingly.

Prep and plan nutrition around training. Like I always say: Tomorrow Starts Today.

Sometimes the biggest limiter is not the session itself. It is the failure to properly support the work required.

#fuelyourfire #sportsnutritionist #runningcoach #endurancenutrition #runningperformance

To kick off a new year of @makingarunner host @nic_thebio is joined once again by Sports Nutritionist (MSc), running and strength coach, @anniebothma from @annies_athletes for a community-driven Q&A episode 🎙️✨

Questions were gathered directly from runners, and together we unpack six of the most common topics currently circulating in the endurance world 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

The result is a practical, science-based conversation packed with clear takeaways that runners at all levels can apply immediately ✅

In this episode, we cover:
🍞 Carbohydrates in endurance sport, and why “success leaves clues”
🚻 Frequent bathroom stops, hydration timing, and reducing the risk of exercise-induced hyponatremia
⏱️ What it really takes to break 3 hours, and what separates 2:59 from 2:40
🧠 Race-day nerves and pressure, and how to reframe the moment
🏋️‍♀️ How to integrate strength training without compromising key running sessions
⚡ How to spot low energy availability, and whether fueling is matching the work required

If training is a priority this year, this episode will help support smarter decisions around fueling, recovery, and performance 🏆

🎧 Listen now on all major podcast platforms. Link in Bio 🔗

#anniesathletes #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #runningcoaching #newpodcastalert

To kick off a new year of @makingarunner host @nic_thebio is joined once again by Sports Nutritionist (MSc), running and strength coach, @anniebothma from @annies_athletes for a community-driven Q&A episode 🎙️✨

Questions were gathered directly from runners, and together we unpack six of the most common topics currently circulating in the endurance world 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

The result is a practical, science-based conversation packed with clear takeaways that runners at all levels can apply immediately ✅

In this episode, we cover:
🍞 Carbohydrates in endurance sport, and why “success leaves clues”
🚻 Frequent bathroom stops, hydration timing, and reducing the risk of exercise-induced hyponatremia
⏱️ What it really takes to break 3 hours, and what separates 2:59 from 2:40
🧠 Race-day nerves and pressure, and how to reframe the moment
🏋️‍♀️ How to integrate strength training without compromising key running sessions
⚡ How to spot low energy availability, and whether fueling is matching the work required

If training is a priority this year, this episode will help support smarter decisions around fueling, recovery, and performance 🏆

🎧 Listen now on all major podcast platforms. Link in Bio 🔗

#anniesathletes #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #runningcoaching #newpodcastalert

People are often far too comfortable commenting on other people’s plates. 🍽️

“That’s a lot of food.”
“I could never eat that much.”
“Are you really going to eat all of that, aren’t you worried you’ll get fat?”

One of the most common things I see in practice is how normalised these comments have become. The problem is that they are not harmless. They can create guilt around food, reinforce restriction, and in some cases contribute to disordered eating, under-fueling, and low energy availability.

Different bodies. Different outputs. Different needs.

A plate that supports training, recovery, health, and performance may look like “too much” to somebody else, but that does not make it wrong. It often means the body is being fueled for the work required. ⛽️

Fuel Your Fire.🔥

🏃🏻‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏻

#anniesathletes #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #runningcoach #athletesplates

People are often far too comfortable commenting on other people’s plates. 🍽️

“That’s a lot of food.”
“I could never eat that much.”
“Are you really going to eat all of that, aren’t you worried you’ll get fat?”

One of the most common things I see in practice is how normalised these comments have become. The problem is that they are not harmless. They can create guilt around food, reinforce restriction, and in some cases contribute to disordered eating, under-fueling, and low energy availability.

Different bodies. Different outputs. Different needs.

A plate that supports training, recovery, health, and performance may look like “too much” to somebody else, but that does not make it wrong. It often means the body is being fueled for the work required. ⛽️

Fuel Your Fire.🔥

🏃🏻‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏻

#anniesathletes #fuelyourfire #sportsnutrition #runningcoach #athletesplates

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