Episode 26: Performance Doesn't Have a Size with Carmen Young, MFN, RDN, CSSD
"...diet culture plays such a huge role in the general student population and also the athlete student population because there's such a pressure to be a certain weight, to look a certain way. I was told as an athlete I needed to lose weight. I lost the weight that I was told to lose, and I didn't perform any better. That was a light bulb moment for me. Like, okay, under-fueling does not equal performing any better. And that's what I try to get across to my athletes. Performance level doesn't have a body size. There is no evidence that you would perform better at a lower body weight". -Carmen Young
Show Details:
Today we are talking with Carmen Young, Carmen has an extensive sports background that includes her experience as a collegiate student-athlete. Carmen sheds light on the fueling for student-athletes and some of the misconceptions around nutrition. This is a fabulous conversation with an expert in the field and friend of the show!
Carmen was born in Sierra Vista, Arizona and shortly after, moved to Northern Virginia, where she spent most of her childhood. Carmen has been a lifelong athlete-starting swimming lessons when she was 7 years old to becoming a US Masters Swimming National Champion at 26 years old. This is where her love for nutrition and sports stemmed from. Carmen completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees in nutrition and dietetics, as well as her dietetic internship at Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH), where she was also a 4-year Division I swimmer and served as team captain.
Carmen has worked in the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness at the University of Arizona since 2018, serving as an Assistant Professor of Practice, specifically teaching Sports Nutrition minor course curriculum. Prior to teaching, Carmen worked as a Research Assistant in an Exercise Physiology lab at Bowling Green State University, performing various types of research based in nutrition and physical activity. After that, she worked for a short period of time in the clinical setting as a clinical dietitian. From there, she pursued her true passion for sports nutrition as a Performance Nutrition Dietitian at Rutgers University, working one-on-one with athletes and teams, providing individualized nutrition services and education. Her love for helping athletes fuel themselves to their greatest potential, while also creating great relationships with food and their body runs deep, stemming from her own experience as an elite athlete.
Links Mentioned in the Show:
- Sports Nutrition Minor
- Carmen Young- department bio
- Carmen Young on Social
- IG accounts recommended by Carmen:
- @fuleing.former.athletes (for those transitioning out of sport and creating positive relationship with food/body)
- @reilly.beatty.rd (for current athletes-proper fueling, unrestricted)
- @linktonutrition (current athletes-she does a lot of myth busting and "marketing madness")
- @female.athlete.nutrition (ED and sports account)
- @eatwell.runbetter (runner account/body image)
- @linda.steinhardt_rd (sports RD, intuitive eating and sports nutrition)
- @dietitiandeanna (not sports related, but I love her content on relationship with food/body)
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