That’s where I come in!

I’m Suzanne, Sports Dietitian for active women like you, ready to stop dieting and make peace with food. You know there has to be more to life than just thinking about the next meal but aren’t sure how to get there. I help you drop the obsessive thinking about food so you can feel confident in your body and how you’re fueling it for the next race.

Why Me:

As an athlete myself, I know what it’s like to want to do what it takes to beat a PR, qualify for Boston, or be first in your age group. 

Years ago I wanted to qualify for Boston, at the time that meant running a 3:40 marathon. I had my training plan dialed so I put my focus on my fueling in an effort to run faster. I tracked all my meals to get to my “race weight” and tried following diets that claimed would improve performance or help me get lean.

Instead of getting faster and enjoying the process of training for a race, I was tired, moody, and dreading workout sessions I once loved. I stopped going out with friends on the weekends because I didn’t want to eat anything off my plan. I was so focused on my diet, I had little mental energy left to think about anything else and missed out on making connections in my running group.

Despite restricting my calories during the day, I was finding it hard to control my snacking once I was home or after long runs on the weekend. I now know that was my bodies way of trying to get the nutrients it desperately needed. I felt embarrassed and ashamed that I wasn’t the perfect eater everyone thought I was, and even worse (in my mind) my weight was creeping up.

Race day came and I ran it in 3:48 not because I had gained a little weight or ate the wrong things, but I went out too fast. Had I paced myself better from the start I would have finished in the time I wanted. I could of enjoyed my training, spent more time with friends, and nourished my body with foods I enjoyed and still PR’d!

With over 10 years experience as a dietitian, a masters in sports nutrition, and being a board certified specialist in sports dietetics (CSSD) I understand the science behind fueling athletes. However over the years, through my own experience and working with 100’s of people, what I’ve seen time and again, is that diets don’t work. 

There are many reasons why tracking macros and obsessing about food are ineffective, but what causes us to continue trying to control what goes in our body is the deeper message that we aren’t enough.

I believed I would finally be happy once I got down to a certain weight and ran a faster pace. When I actually achieved these two things what I quickly learned was the excitement of being smaller and running faster was short lived. 

I was more unhappy than when I started and more obsessed and controlled by food than ever before. I knew this wasn’t sustainable and was forced to realize that nothing external was going to give me true happiness. The more I tried to restrict my eating the worse I felt so I started allowing myself to buy forbidden foods like chips, peanut butter, and ice cream. That was a good start but something was missing because I was still feeling guilty for eating these things especially at night when I was bored or lonely.

The peace and freedom from food everyone was talking about with intuitive eating was not what I was experiencing. I still felt controlled by food but everything in me screamed no when I would consider trying another diet.

I dug deeper and looked inward to find that what really needed work was my relationship with myself and the belief that outside successes determined my worth.

I learned the game changing skill of understanding my thoughts and how I can control and create the feelings of confidence, worth, and freedom.  I finally believed my value as a person was complete, I didn’t have to eat a certain way or perform at a certain level to prove it. 

Now I live a much more interesting life that doesn’t revolve around what the next meal will be. I can have chocolate, peanut butter, and ice cream in my house without anxiety. I can eat bagels for breakfast without fear I’ll gain weight just by looking at them. But most importantly I’m finally at home in my skin and love my own company. I want this same sense of freedom for you.

If this sounds like you and you’re ready to learn how to change your mindset and create freedom with food, click here, I’d love to work together!