If you’re honest, you’ve probably asked yourself this at least once: We’re doing all the things… so why isn’t it working? You can work hard and still not get results. In this episode, we’re asking the hard question: are you and your gymnast really putting in the work for results you want? What does this actually looks like and why so many families are stuck despite “doing everything right”?

If your gymnast can’t stay healthy even though you’re “working on nutrition,” it’s time to look closer.

❗Are they actually eating enough to support their training?
❗Is their growth and development truly caught up?
❗Have you followed through with labs and supplements, especially if they’re a picky eater?
❗Are they fueling in and around workouts so they can stay focused and avoid careless mistakes that lead to injuries?
❗And are you putting real boundaries and safeguards in place, or just hoping things improve?

Here’s the hard truth: adequate fueling is a safety issue. I like to say, "if you can fuel it, you can do it". But the uncomfortable truth is that many gymnasts are working incredibly hard in the gym… while their bodies are quietly falling behind.

Today I'm breaking down the most common disconnects I see with families who think they’re supporting their gymnast’s health, but are missing key pieces that make all the difference. Plus what our most successful families are doing so their gymnast's hard work produces the results they want.

If you’re stuck in the cycle of “we’re working so hard but nothing is improving,” this episode is your wake-up call. 🎧 Listen now and learn more about how to make sure everything you and your gymnast are doing gives you the outcome you actually want.

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Episode 182: Would your gymnast’s nutrition score an 8.0 or 9.5+?
• Episode 176 – Fueled Gymnast Fall: Are so many gymnasts really underfueled?
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

As competition season approaches, many parents are suddenly seeing more fear, anxiety, and mental blocks in the gym. What’s surprising is how often these struggles show up right as families start asking about fueling. This episode explores the connection between gymnast mental blocks and nutrition, and why emotional challenges often intensify when the body is under stress.

First, this is common. The pressure of upcoming meets can absolutely trigger mental blocks, and many gymnasts benefit from working with a licensed therapist or sport psychologist. Mental support matters.

But nutrition is often a missing piece. When a gymnast isn’t eating enough to support training, growth, and stress, the body shifts into survival mode. This activates the fight-or-flight response, making the brain more reactive and less flexible.

Underfueling often shows up as increased anxiety, panic before skills, emotional outbursts, or sudden fear that feels “out of nowhere.” When food restriction or disordered eating patterns are involved, nervous system stress increases even more, often intensifying mental blocks and emotional volatility.

When gymnasts are supported with consistent fueling, adequate electrolytes, balanced minerals, and stress-aware nutrition, improvements in mood, focus, sleep, and emotional regulation often follow.

Mental health in kids and teens isn’t just psychological. It’s also physiological. Minerals play a key role in nervous system regulation, stress response, and brain chemistry. Mental health symptoms are rarely caused by one deficiency. They’re usually the result of imbalance.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about:

• The connection between gymnast mental blocks and nutrition
• Underfueling and the fight-or-flight response
• The minerals that affect brain chemistry

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Episode 22: Fueling the Gymnast to Beat Competition Nerves
• What foods should gymnasts eat on competition day?
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

If you’re listening to this episode, there’s a good chance you’ve been there... standing in a hotel room, a gym lobby, or in the car on competition morning while your gymnast says, “I’m not hungry,” or flat-out refuses to eat anything. And you’re left wondering, what do I do with this gymnast who refuses to eat before a competition?

Is this normal?
Am I overreacting?
And… is it actually safe for them to compete?

So today we’re going to talk through exactly what to do when your gymnast refuses to eat before a competition. Calmly, practically, and with safety in mind.

It's actually incredibly common in gymnastics. This happens at all levels, even with gymnasts who fuel well the rest of the time. Most of the time, this is driven by nerves; when the nervous system is in a heightened stress state, digestion slows and appetite drops. That is a normal physiological response. HOWEVER “I’m not hungry” does not mean “I don’t need fuel.

Gymnasts don’t need a full stomach to compete safely. But they do need available energy. Fuel supports focus, coordination, confidence, and injury prevention.

And if your gut tells you something isn’t right, listen to it.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about:

• Reasons why a gymnast refuses to eat before a competition
• What are the safety concerns around competing when not properly fueled
• Proactive strategies to help your gymnast

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Episode 22: Fueling the Gymnast to Beat Competition Nerves
• What foods should gymnasts eat on competition day?
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

“My gymnast just wants to feel light when competing.”

If you’ve heard this phrase, or your gymnast has said it herself, this episode is for you.

When a gymnast says she wants to feel light when competing, she might THINK she's talking about a number on the scale. But she’s really trying to describe something deeper. She wants to move faster. She wants to feel powerful and explosive. She wants skills to feel effortless instead of heavy and stuck. She wants to look dynamic, confident, and sharp under pressure.

But here’s the problem.
Most gymnasts are chasing the feeling of being “light” in ways that actually make them feel slower, weaker, flatter, and more anxious when it matters most.

In today’s episode, we break down what it really takes to achieve a faster, more powerful and dynamic way of competing. And why so many gymnasts are unintentionally sabotaging that goal.

You’ll learn the three biggest mistakes gymnasts make when trying to feel light in the gym, and what actually matters from a physiological, nervous system, and fueling standpoint.

If your gymnast has been chasing that “light” feeling by eating less, skipping meals, or fearing fuel, this conversation will shift how you think about performance forever.

Because the gymnasts who look light aren’t empty.
They’re prepared.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about why Gymnasts Say They Want to Feel Light When Competing (And What Actually Works)

Links & Resources

• Episode 77: Gymnast Nervous Stomach and Competition Nutrition
• The Ultimate Guide to Gymnastics Competition Season Nutrition
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Is it “too late” to start working on your gymnast’s nutrition this competition season?

Short answer: “NO”

SO MUCH can happen in just a few weeks of proper, adequate fueling to support your gymnast’s health, recovery, and performance.

Some things can improve really quickly

✅ Heavy legs/muscles (often from inadequate carb intake/poor recovery)

✅ Fatigue/lethargy

✅ Headaches/stomachaches

✅ Poor mood/emotion regulation

✅ Energy, power, endurance during long workouts

Other things take more time

❌ bone injury healing (stress reaction/fracture/break)

❌ poor growth/development

❌ GI issues (bloating, constipation)

❌ primary or secondary amenorrhea (no period)

❌ intense burnout/overtraining related fatigue (nervous system)

❌ body composition changes

Time is marching on whether you like it or not, and underfueling is sneaky and often not seen by the naked eye

Will this add to your “mental load” this spring?

Yes and no.

Links & Resources

• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Does your gymnast really need to eat less when she’s injured?
This is one of the most common and most damaging assumptions parents make during time off from the gym. In this episode, we break down gymnast nutrition needs during injury and why cutting food, especially carbohydrates, often does the opposite of what parents intend.

When a gymnast is injured, her body isn’t “doing less.” It’s working overtime. And 99% of high level gymnasts have no business eating less during recovery. Under-fueling during injury slows repair and can turn a short recovery window into a long, frustrating setback. Or lead to re-injury sooner than later.

We’ll talk about:

• Why injury is not the time to “clean up” or restrict food
• How under-fueling during injury increases time out of the gym
• The critical role carbs play in repair and recovery
• Why eating less raises the risk of re-injury when training resumes
• How to fuel strategically so your gymnast comes back stronger, not depleted

If your gymnast is injured or you want to prevent a slow, incomplete recovery in the future, this episode will help you rethink how nutrition supports healing and long-term performance.

🎧 Listen now and learn more about your gymnast's needs during injury; how to fuel recovery the smart way.

Links & Resources

• Episode 135: How to Support Your Gymnast’s Nutrition When it’s a Rebuilding Season
• Episode 20: 8 Truths About Injury Nutrition for the Gymnast
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Gymnast parents have been joining me for a FREE weekly webinar each week of December: the FUELED Comp Season Series. Each Tuesday this month at noon MT, I’m covering a key topic your gymnast needs to navigate competition season successfully. So today let's talk about Competition Nutrition Strategies from Level 5-10 and Elite gymnasts

With the 2026 competition season upon us, we're going to focus on the varying needs for competition nutrition strategies for gymnastics at the different levels.

Every new level brings with it new challenges and opportunities.

It's easy to get distracted with things your gymnast doesn't need yet...

Or spend years (and money!) on things that aren't what they really need in the long run. From marathon long meets, to weird session times, to nerves and pressure kicking in, there's a lot more than just gymnastics to navigate come competition time.

Things you need to think about at every level of this sport:

• Lower Optionals: Random session times = tricky fueling plans, young bodies can't hang onto fuel as well as older gymnasts.
• Level 8s: Skills are more demanding, talent is no longer enough to get through the skills, mental blocks, and where we really start seeing the underfueling injuries.
• Level 9s: BIG skills, lot more unpredictability, long sessions due to uneven group sizes plus late session times, and long meet seasons if trying to make it to Westerns/Easterns.
• Level 10: Talented gymnasts who can truly optimize every aspect of their fueling, repair and recovery, how much farther can they push performance?
• Elites: Schedules and logistics, different times zones, looong warmups and competitions, often away from their parents for most of the day.

Let's compare/contrast the challenges at each level with fueling, performance, staying healthy, etc.

What kind of competition nutrition strategies does your athlete need at their current level of gymnastics? Listen in to today's episode to dial in before season starts.

Links & Resources

• Episode 72: Fueled Gymnast Fall-How to keep your gymnast from imploding this competition season
• Episode 168: What can parents *actually* control to help their gymnast crush it this competition season?
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com

Gymnast parents have been joining me for a FREE weekly webinar each week of December: the FUELED Comp Season Series. Each Tuesday this month at noon MT, I’m covering a key topic your gymnast needs to navigate competition season successfully. So let's talk about how every tenth matters...would your gymnast’s nutrition score an 8.0 or a 9.5+?

Your gymnast SAYS she wants to do well this competition season...but does her nutrition really reflect her goals?

Most gymnasts' fueling would score in the 8.0 range... they're "giving tenths away" by missing out on the right foods, in the right amounts, at the right times to help them perform their BEST

Learn how your gymnast's nutrition score can go from that 8.0 to 9.5+ range when it comes to their fueling SO THAT they can reach their big goals + dreams this season (and for many after)

I'm talking about some of the most-over-looked aspects of fueling that gymnasts miss that are like literally "giving away tenths" in their routines.

And trust me, I'm a judge (actually, I really am. Going on 17+ years and a Nationally rated/NCAA USA Gymnastics judge so I do know a thing or two about how nutrition can level up your gymnast's performance.

If you want this to be the year your gymnast stops giving away tenths during her routines, this episode will show you what needs to change now. Before comp season chaos catches up.

Links & Resources

• Episode 72: Fueled Gymnast Fall-How to keep your gymnast from imploding this competition season
• Episode 168: What can parents *actually* control to help their gymnast crush it this competition season?
• The Balanced Gymnast® Program for level 5-10 female gymnasts
• Connect with Christina on Instagram @the.gymnast.nutritionist or christinaandersonrdn.com