Life-Long Athlete, Registered Dietitian, Food Enthusiast, Aspiring Yogini, Prolific Writer, and a Few More Things

 

Personal Philosophy: 

Food is meant to be enjoyed.  It’s that simple.  As an athlete, I also know that diet can make the difference between being really good at what you do or being completely phenomenal.  As a registered dietitian, I know all about nutrients and biochemistry but my real goal is to help people learn about food and how it can work for them in training as well as racing.  There’s a lot of information out there about nutrition and health, and unfortunately a lot of it is pure garbage.  I follow the science, study what works, listen to the anecdotal reports, and make personalized recommendations based on what I think will work best for your body and your life. 

 

Athletic Bio:

As an athlete, I’ve spent a good bit of my life in and around water.  I began swimming competitively at 13, qualifying twice for YMCA Nationals in the early '80's, and was a 4-year varsity swimmer and team captain for Tufts University Swimming & Diving Team in Medford, MA.  In the mid-80's, I was head coach of a YMCA age group team in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where six of my athletes competed at YMCA Nationals.  I continued training and racing as a master’s swimmer throughout my 20’s and 30’s, got married, earned a masters degree, had 2 children, started a consulting business, and then became a triathlete in my mid-40’s.  Over the past 6 years, I’ve competed at USAT Nationals (Sprint and Olympic distance) twice, qualified and competed in the 2013 World ITU Triathlon Championships in London (bronze medal the sprint distance, 8th in the Olympic distance).  I’ve been a USAT All-American triathlete since 2012.  For the past five years, I’ve been coaching other aspiring triathletes on the technical aspects of competing and excelling at open water swimming, and have coached athletes doing their first sprint triathlon as well as experienced Ironman distance triathletes. My strongest assets are that I bring a love of the water and the sport of triathlon to my coaching, and emphasize a mindful approach to all aspect of training and racing.  My primary goal is to help you thrive in your athletic pursuits. It’s all about remembering what’s important:  smile, relax and laugh.  It's supposed to be fun :-)

 

Professional Bio:

I’ve been a registered dietitian since 1990.  I hold a BS in Biology from Tufts University and a Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.  I’ve worked in a variety of settings over the past 25 years including an obesity treatment center at Duke University, a diabetes clinic at the University of North Carolina, and the health education department of Kaiser Permanente.  I’ve also worked developing consumer education programs for the retail grocery industry. For the past 18 years, I’ve primarily consulted for corporate clients focusing primarily on nutrition communications.  At the moment, I continue to work with corporate clients but I also work with individuals, and  I offer community seminars on nutrition.