Taylor Nutrition

ATHLETE BREAKFAST GUIDE under 5 minutes MEALS!

These breakfast meals include carbohydrate + at least 20g of protein. 

⚡️🍎Carb Fuel:
1. Remember: carbs are the body's primary source of energy. After a night of fasting, your glycogen stores (the stored form of glucose) in your liver are often depleted. Eating carbs in the morning helps replenish these stores, providing both your brain and muscles with the fuel they need to start the day.
2. Carbs are essential if you have an early morning practice or activity! Carbs at breakfast provides the necessary energy to help you perform better and prevent early fatigue.
3. Skipping carbs or breakfast altogether can lead to increased hunger later in the day, which may cause overeating or less intentional eating as the day progresses.
4. Carbs, such as fruit, whole grains and cereal, contain fiber which supports gut health!

💪🏾🥚 Protein Power:
1. Essential for recovery and building strength 
2. Stabilizes blood sugar for stable energy throughout the day 
3. Helps with focusing, concentration and stamina during your workouts

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition and don’t forget to connect with us at www.taylornutrition.ca

Start your day right with a breakfast rich in carbs and protein! What’s your go-to morning fuel? 🥗👇 

 

ATHLETE QUESTION: what should I eat in-between periods?
 
ANSWER: you need to eat foods high in carbs with no protein or fat. 

If you need fuel during your game, the key is to focus on foods that provide quick energy and won’t upset your stomach. However, not all athletes need fuel in-between periods or breaks during their games. Here are some reasons why you might need fuel:

‼️Didn’t eat enough prior to your game
‼️Starting to feel sluggish and experiencing lack of energy during the your game
‼️Feeling light-headed or dizzy

Here are some good options for in-between period snacks:
🍌Bananas: Rich in carbohydrates and potassium
🍐Fruit bars or granola bars: Choose ones with simple carbs for quick energy, and avoid those with too much fat or fiber.
🍎Dried fruit: Provides natural sugars for a quick energy boost.
💦Sports drinks or electrolyte drinks: Help replenish fluids and electrolytes lost through sweat.
🍏Applesauce pouches or fruit purées: Easy on the stomach and quickly absorbed.

WHY HIGH IN CARBS?
because carbohydrates provide quick energy by converting into glucose that fuels muscle activity.
 
WHY NOT PROTEIN AND FATS? because protein and fats take longer to digest than carbs and do not break down into sugar, which is your muscles preferential fuel source.
 
*Always try fuel during a practice to figure out what works best for you!

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition and don’t forget to connect with us at www.taylornutrition.ca

 

IRONMAN SUCCESS

At Taylor Nutrition, we LOVE celebrating the successes of our athletes. Here is Maren’s story:

I had the race of my life in my first ever full distance Ironman this past summer at Ironman Canada. One of the things that MOST intimidated me about this race (other than, you know, it’s IRONMAN - lol) was how on earth I was going to manage the nutrition. I had never raced for 10+ hours before! Over the past several years I had been doing half Ironmans and marathons but I knew that the nutrition/fuelling piece would need even more attention and expertise if I was to be successful at the full distance. I found Lalitha to be SO knowledgeable in my race planning session with her and I started practicing our race day strategies immediately (to good effect). During the race itself - I stuck to the plan (about 90% anyway) and that ‘wall’ that I was expecting to hit in the marathon just never happened. I literally had energy right until the very end. I ended up winning my age group and running within 20 mins of my personal best marathon time (so at least 10 mins faster than planned). A lot of this had to do with nutrition - of that I am certain!
I plan to continue to work with Lalitha in my off season and next season build because as a master’s female triathlete (I’m 45) - I have had trouble holding onto weight (muscle!) through my high volume training. I would like to continue to race strong and have a similarly personal best performance in Kona 2025 and I know that nutrition strategy is going play a HUGE role in that!

 

It was time to introduce our incredible Taylor Nutrition Sports Performance DietitianTeam. From left to right we have:
-Miranda
-Jessica
-Jess
-Madeline (Maddie)
-Lalitha (Lals)
We have been slowly growing our team over the past 6 months and we are thrilled to now have Miranda and Madeline as part of Sports Nutrition crew. We also have now expanded our offices to include CALGARY!! Soon we will have a space (opening soon) to see clients one-on-one and we are currently booking sports nutrition workshops in Calgary!

Thank you Alberta for choosing for your trusted sports nutrition needs!

It has been a blast working with our WHL athletes this off-season. We love educating our athletes on how nutrition can make a significant difference in sport performance! We also love FEEDING our athletes and showing them how energy/nutrient dispersion and nutrient timing works!!

Congrats Leanna and Timm!! Both Timm and completed their cycling across Canada in one month and averaged around 150 km per day (kind of like doing a Gran Fondo daily for 30 days in a row). They completed this as a trial cycle for their upcoming expedition in 2025. Both Leanna and Timm are completely plant-based powered athletes. It has been my pleasure assisting them with their nutrition throughout their phases of training/cycling to ensure they felt, performed and recovered well! After 30 days of cycling the results showed minimal muscle loss on a completely vegan nutrition plan. We are so pumped and can’t wait to plan and fine tune their nutrition for the expedition!

Many of our athletes grab a quick protein supplements or shake after an intense workout…BUT…this is not enough…you also need carbs!

Combining protein and carbohydrates post-exercise can optimize recovery by addressing both muscle repair and energy replenishment. Here are 3 reasons why you need to add carbs:

1. ENHANCES PROTEIN ABSORPTION: Carbs can enhance protein absorption and utilization by triggering an insulin response, which helps transport amino acids into the muscles more efficiently.

2. SPEEDS UP RECOVERY:
Carbohydrates help to speed up recovery by reducing muscle fatigue and supporting the overall energy needs of the body.

3. PROVIDES ENERGY FOR YOUR NEXT WORKOUT:
Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in muscles and the liver. During exercise, glycogen stores are depleted. Consuming carbs post-exercise helps replenish these stores, ensuring you have energy for your next workout.

Drop a 🙌🏾 if you add carbs with your protein post-recovery!

Had an amazing time with the Seven Hockey athletes dialling into off-season training goals and optimizing their nutrient intake/hydration/electrolytes to get the biggest bang for their buck during their strength and conditioning sessions and skates this summer! Thanks for the awesome session athletes!

Congrats on a great hockey season Jaxon and Carter. We were pumped to celebrate their success by offering them a sports nutrition package that included a nutrition assessment, body composition analysis and creation of a meal plan! Look forward to seeing these athletes soon. Congrats again!

JUNE! This month we'll be sharing recipes designed to support injury recovery. We'll guide you through understanding which nutrients aid healing, how they work, and why they're beneficial.

Comment INJURY below to subscribe to our June Newsletter for FREE.

Our goal is to provide you with valuable nutrition knowledge that will help you excel in your endeavours and promote your overall wellbeing.

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition. 💪🏾🙌🏾

 

Hey athletes, did you know that proper nutrition can play a crucial role in injury management?

Protein repairs tissues, supports muscles, and builds new cells, while calcium, vitamin K2, and vitamin D strengthen bones. 🦴✨ Omega-3s and antioxidants reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, promoting faster healing. 🌿🔋

At Taylor Nutrition, our performance dietitians can help you fuel your recovery with the right nutrients specific to your individual needs!

Connect with us at www.taylornutrition.ca

 

Happy global running day! Miranda , one of our Performance Sport Dietitians, completing a half-marathon 🙌🏾

Some of the reasons us Performance Sport Dietitians run:
-because I can
-to be in nature
-to balance me mentally
-to release stress and anxiety
-to get out of my head
-to build confidence
-to feel empowered

What are your reasons?


 

Sample Guide for Gaining Weight

Many of our athletes are in their off-season and are looking to gain weight! Check out these awesome tips to help your UP your sports nutrition and sports performance.

Connect with us at taylornutrition.ca to come up with a plan for you! 🙌🏾💪🏾

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition.

 

These soccer athletes brought it last night. Asking questions, taking notes and learning more about how to up their game to the next level with NUTRITION.

We spent time reviewing macros, performance plates, nutrient timing, hydration and GAME DAY/TOURNAMENT nutrition. We also talked about female specific nutrients of concern—iron and calcium.

Thank you for an awesome session. We wish you the best of luck and FUELING this season!!!!


 

Hey Athletes! After your practice or games/competitions, it's so important to focus on the 3 R's of recovery: Rehydrate, Repair, and Refuel.

Prioritizing recovery ensures that you can train effectively, stay healthy, and achieve your performance goals.

REHYDRATE:
💦Sweating during exercise leads to significant fluid loss, which needs to be replenished to maintain hydration and prevent dehydration. Electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium, lost through sweat, are crucial for muscle function and preventing cramps. Rehydration with sports drinks or nutrient rich foods helps restore this balance.

REFUEL
🍝Exercise depletes glycogen stores in muscles. Consuming carbohydrates post-workout replenishes these stores, ensuring you have the energy needed for future training sessions.Take approximately 1g carbs / kg of body weight each hour for 3-4 hrs to maximise glycogen synthesis. Your performance dietitian can help you figure out what this looks like for you!

REPAIR
💪🏾Intense exercise causes micro-tears in muscle fibers. Consuming protein after a workout helps facilitate muscle repair and growth by providing the necessary building blocks (amino acids). Most athletes need at least 20 grams of protein in their post-recovery snack or meal. Your performance dietitian can help you determine how much protein you need for post-recovery and what you need to consume throughout the day.

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition💪🏾🙌🏾.

 

Nutrient timing, why does it matter?

Carbohydrates provide our bodies energy, while nutrients like protein, fibre and fat take longer to digest and can slow down food emptying from the stomach. The closer we get to activity, the easier we want our snacks to be to digest. This will ensure those energy providing carbohydrates (glucose) can get into our body and help fuel muscles quicker.
Having a meal or snack high in protein, fat or fibre too close to activity can result in discomfort, bloating or an upset stomach.. and will slow down digestion of carbs.

To ensure we are fueling with energy but avoiding those unpleasant stomach issues, we want less protein, fat and fibre, and more easily digestible carbohydrates the closer we get to activity.

30mins - 45 mins before activity: fuel your workout with a snack that includes easily digestible carbohydrates, minimal protein and little to no fat or fibre.

During activity: if you are participating in moderate to high intensity activity for more than 1 hour you may need to refuel during your workout. Use simple, easy to digest carbs like those found in sports drinks, gels or gummies (play around with what works for you!)

30mins - 60mins after activity: aim to have a meal or snack that includes at least 20g protein and some carbohydrates to aid in recovery and muscle protein synthesis. This can be in liquid form if you don’t have an appetite after a workout.

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition🙌🏾💪🏾

 

HIGH PROTEIN WAFFLES
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive FREE recipes to make your meal plan for the week quick, easy, and nutritious!

This high-protein breakfast option is great for athletes who need a balanced meal to start their day or a solid post-recovery meal after their morning practice.

Subscribe using the link in BIO to receive credible, up-to-date nutrition information delivered right to your inbox.

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition💪🏾🙌🏾

 

High Protein Breakfast Recipes

May is all about high protein breakfast options for athletes who need a balanced meal to start their day or a solid post-recovery meal after their morning practice. This month, we'll be sharing a couple of easy high-protein breakfast options with you!

Subscribe to our May Newsletter for FREE (link in bio)

Our goal is to provide you with valuable nutrition knowledge that will help you excel in your athletic endeavours and promote your overall well-being.

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition.

 

“You don’t need to feel good to get going, you need to get going to give yourself a chance at feeling good.”
-Brad Stulberg

I will never underestimate the value of showing up even when I’m not feeling 100%. Acknowledging that my best will change from day to day allows me to embrace consistency.

You will never regret not showing up for you.

Cheers to for all the inspiring talks during our training sessions.

 

What a privilege to facilitate a nutrition workshop at the inaugural WCWC Junior Athlete Development Training camp this past weekend in Edmonton.

A big thank you to the Alberta Weightlifting Association and the Saskatchewan Weightlifting Association for valuing nutrition as a crucial part of athlete development.

 

Electrolytes play a crucial role in maintaining proper hydration and facilitating various physiological processes in the body, especially during physical exertion. Here's why they're important for athletes:

1. Hydration Balance: Electrolytes like sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium help regulate fluid balance in and out of cells, ensuring proper hydration levels during exercise.

2. Muscle Function: Sodium and potassium, in particular, play vital roles in nerve signaling and muscle function. Adequate electrolyte levels help prevent muscle cramps and maintain optimal muscle performance during exercise.

3. Nerve Function: Electrolytes are involved in transmitting nerve impulses throughout the body. They help maintain the electrical gradients across cell membranes, which is crucial for nerve function and communication between the brain and muscles.

4. Preventing Hyponatremia: Intense or prolonged exercise, especially in hot environments, can lead to excessive sweating and loss of electrolytes, particularly sodium. Hyponatremia, or low sodium levels in the blood, can occur if electrolyte losses are not adequately replaced. This condition can be dangerous and lead to symptoms like nausea, headaches, confusion, and even seizures.

5. Fluid Absorption: Electrolytes help facilitate the absorption of fluids from the digestive system into the bloodstream. This is important for maintaining hydration and preventing dehydration during exercise.

For athletes, especially those engaging in prolonged or intense workouts, maintaining proper electrolyte balance is essential for optimizing performance, preventing dehydration, and ensuring overall health and well-being.

Connect with a Performance Dietitian at www.taylornutrition.ca today to determine if electrolytes are needed for your sport performance!

 

Electrolytes are minerals like sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium and magnesium. These minerals have roles in hydration, muscle function and energy metabolism. Electrolytes are lost from the body in sweat.. especially sodium and chloride. Replacing what is lost is important to maintain hydration and avoid unpleasant side effects like fatigue, GI upset, cramping and headaches.
How? Electrolytes are found in sports drinks, in electrolyte specific tabs, gels, powders and in food!
The amount of electrolytes and fluid lost during exercise can vary significantly from person to person. Here are are some factors that impact these losses: altitude, hot weather, humidity, exercise duration, intensity, clothing that is worn, body composition, sweat rates and if you are a salty sweater! Talk to our performance dietitians to find out if you would benefit from added electrolytes.  

 

8 Easy Rotisserie Chicken Recipes

This week we want to share with you 8 easy ways to transform a store-bought rotisserie chicken into a well-balanced meal!!

Subscribe using the link in BIO to receive credible, up-to-date nutrition information delivered right to your inbox.

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition 💪🏾🙌🏾

 

8 Easy Rotisserie Chicken Recipes

This week, we're excited to offer you 8 easy ways to transform a store-bought rotisserie chicken into well-balanced meals.
Subscribe using the link in BIO to receive credible, up-to-date nutrition information delivered right to your inbox.

Share with a fellow athlete, coach or trainer who is interested in sports nutrition.