Episode 5: Audrey Ross on Nutrition for Ultra Running Mamas
by Nikki Parnell — April 17, 2020
In today’s episode Stef and I chat with Audrey Ross, an ultra running mama and nutrition coach in Central Oregon. Audrey shares all kinds of practical tips for moms trying to enhance their nutrition in order to perform optimally for their daily training and surviving mom life.
There are so many great takeaways! Audrey describes how moms can slip into a “mom food” pattern. It’s when we focus on feeding our kids, making sure our family’s needs come first and then we end up eating the scraps, fueling with things like goldfish and forgetting about our own nutrition. When running, we get our run in, which we see as our one need for the day and we can easily throw the other critical pieces of training out the window – like proper recovery, nutrition, hydration, etc. We don’t feel like we can ask for more time for more needs from our families, but really if you want to do well on your runs then half-hearted nutrition probably isn’t going to meet the demands ultra running puts on our bodies. She says, “If you’re thinking about your nutrition for the long term and sustaining your body to be growing humans, nourishing humans, and running far distances, then you need a lot more nutrient dense food in your body.” It’s a simple yet powerful reminder of how we can better take care of ourselves when it’s easy for the “extra” parts of training to get lost in the mayhem of mom life.
We talk about common deficiencies in pregnant, breast-feeding, and running moms and how a couple supplements — maybe even just a multivitamin or prenatal — can really help us combat those issues. Audrey touches on a couple signs of deficiencies we can be aware of, as well as how deficiencies can lead to negative health effects later on in life. Most of us have a low levels in one area or another – it’s not like we’re going to “drop dead” but we may not be performing at our best. She describes what we can look for when buying vitamins and minerals to ensure we’re getting what we need. We look at cellular health, how we’re ruled by the bacteria in our bodies and how useful probiotics can be for everyone. She also … drumroll please… HAS A CURE FOR MOM BRAIN AND THE TERRIBLE TWOS! Hint: Omega 3s. **Disclaimer: we are not doctors and cannot guarantee this will make everything in your life better, but hey! It could help!
Audrey gives some easy tips for mamas to apply to daily life. Things like finding the right kind of nutrient dense recovery drink for after long runs that will immediately help our bodies to rebuild for the next day’s work out. Cooking once, eating twice and making lunch the easiest meal of the day by using left overs from the night before, so when we come home hungry from a run and the kids are tired and naptime is approaching, we don’t have to panic and think about what we’re going to make for everyone. She gives little tips for how to get your family on board the healthy food train, which can be tricky for the little picky eaters in our lives.
I appreciate her very manageable outlook around nutrition. For example, Audrey is mostly plant based but will have a burger when her body is craving it. They have mostly healthy snacks in the house for the kids, but she’s not going to freak out when her kids eat cake at a birthday party. She doesn’t plan out every meal because it can lead to frustration and “failure” if you don’t have the energy or the universe doesn’t come together for every single mealtime (#reallife). She keeps brownies in the fridge 24/7 because she needs that bite of happiness each day and being too restrictive is not beneficial for her. Audrey shares her story on healing and recovering from an eating disorder and how she regained a positive relationship and trust with food. She gives words of encouragement to anyone struggling with an eating disorder and how to help rebuild that broken relationship between a person and food.
So much good stuff in here. Have a listen below or search Run Hard Mom Hard wherever you get your podcasts!
Show Notes:
Note: these show notes contain affiliate links.
Stef’s fave this week: Garmin 230
Nikki’s fave: Huma Gels
ProVitality Multivitamin: covers your nutritional bases.
Salmon Oil Plus: the mom brain and terrible two’s cure.
Sport Performance Protein: all 22 amino acids, great mixed into anything.
Shakeology: Superfoods & Protein.
Shakeology (Vegan Blend): Dairy Free.
Audrey’s favorite meal: Rice bowls with her knockoff Yum Sauce from Café Yumm!
Audrey’s favorite Plant Based Cheese Sauce: It’s great on kid’s mac n cheese or on a baked potato. It’s so versatile and only takes a few minutes to make.
Audrey’s favorite race: Jupiter Peak 30k in Park City.
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