Hi I'm
Kristy
My Story
HOW I WENT FROM AN UNDER FUELED, FOOD-OBSESSED RUNNER TO
BREAKING 3 HOURS IN THE MARATHON & LIVING A LIFE OF FOOD FREEDOM.
For the longest time, I thought I was fueling well as a runner - even after becoming a Registered Dietitian. It wasn't until 8 marathons later that I realized I was under fueling and holding myself back from reaching my full running potential and living a life of food freedom.
My food obsession all started when I would spend hours on Pinterest looking for the nutritious, low sugar recipes. Yet, I had a biggest sweet tooth and ate desserts daily. I was intentional about eating healthy during the day, only to find myself raiding the pantry at night. I pre-portioned my snacks and told myself "I need to wait until 2pm to eat," even though I was hungry earlier. That only lead lead to eating spoonfuls of peanut butter out of the jar.
With running, I found myself feeling nauseous after long runs and struggling to recover. During hard effort workouts, I fizzled out and failed to hit paces. On race day, I experienced muscle cramps and stomach problems that showed up unexpectedly. I thought running on an empty stomach was the best way to become a fat-adapted runner, avoid stomach problems, and manage your weight to run faster. I thought carbohydrate loading was eating a large pasta dinner the night before a race and that if you wanted to stay hydrated on a run, you just had to drink water.
Little did I know, my relationship with food and beliefs about fueling were the exact things that were holding me back as a runner and leading to hormone imbalances (aka loss of period), reoccurring injuries, poor recovery and an obsession with food.
I was missing one of the most powerful tools as a runner - a belief that food doesn't need to be feared and a proper fueling strategy takes your running to new levels. Since making changes, healing my relationship with food, and learning to fuel properly as a runner, it has transformed both my running and life. I broke 3-hours in the marathon and there is no more food guilt.
Now I help other runners feel confident with their fueling strategy and live a life a food freedom. There's no more "hitting the wall" or experiencing stomach problems on race day. When you learn these fueling strategies and have a healthy relationship with food, the best part is, is it frees ups brain space to focus on other things in life and pass that healthy relationship with food to your children and generations to come.
EDUCATION
CREDENTIALS
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Training
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Registered Dietitian (RD) - Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
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Licensed Dietitian (LD) - Minnesota
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Bachelors Degree in Food, Nutrition & Dietetics - Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota
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Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science - Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota
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Dietetic Internship with 1200 hours practical experience - Meredith College, Raleigh, North Carolina
My fastest marathon is 2:59 at the California International Marathon (CIM) in 2022. I was 16 months postpartum after my second child and nursed through the entire training cycle. The best part was I got run & experience this race with my sister.
FUN FACTS
About Me
The thing that inspires me the most is when clients tell me they want to pass on a healthy relationship with food to their kids.
My husband and I met through a local running group. The funny thing is, we both attended the same small college, were collegiate athletes (me running, him football), graduated the same year, but never knew each other.
