The Eat for Endurance Podcast Intuitive Eating for Athletes: A Discussion with Sports Dietitian Jill Merkel
Welcome to episode 59 of the Eat for Endurance podcast! Today, I am welcoming fellow sports dietitian Jill Merkel, MS RD CSSD onto the show. Jill is an anti-diet, weight-inclusive Registered Dietitian, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, and a runner. Jill has worked in a variety of collegiate sport settings, and was the Team Sports Dietitian for the NFL Tennessee Titans for five seasons (2017-2021). She now has a private practice specializing in body image, chronic dieting, disordered eating, and sports nutrition.
Jill is passionate about Intuitive Eating and anti-diet nutrition for athletes, which is the main topic of our discussion today. Within this framework, we cover a large number of key sports nutrition topics, including:
- What is intuitive eating and anti-diet nutrition, and how do these definitions differ when applied specifically to the athlete population?
- How do we handle the topics of weight and body composition in athletes and esp in sports like running, cycling, etc, from an intuitive eating standpoint?
- How do we guide athletes to eat adequately, and as a result, avoid chronic underfueling and eventually RED-S, using intuitive eating principles?
- Jill’s experience as an intuitive eating dietitian while also the Team Sports Dietitian for the NFL Tennessee Titans
- Assessing a hypothetical client and how we would address her nutrition, training and health challenges
- Maintaining a healthy iron status / Ferritin
- GI issues especially as they relate to underfueling
Thank you Jill for a great discussion on so many important topics! I hope you all enjoy our episode together.
Links :
- Jill’s Website: https://jillmerkelrd.com/
- Follow Jill on Instagram
Other Announcements:
- Please show your support by leaving a rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts
- Music Credit: Joseph McDade
- Have nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - eatforendurance@gmail.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
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