Smart Nutrition with Sam

18/07/2025

**🎓 8 YEARS AGO TODAY, I BECAME A DIETITIAN!**

This was me on graduation day in 2017 —excited, clueless, and ready to change the world 🌍 (or at least your snack habits 😉).

**What I know now**:
✅ Nutrition isn’t one-size-fits-all (especially for my ADHD/autism, athlete, and teen clients!).
✅ Food is SO much more than nutrients—it’s joy, culture, and connection.
✅ The best part of this job? YOU. The people who trust me with their stories. 💛

**To celebrate, I’d love to hear**:
🔹 What’s your biggest nutrition struggle?
🔹 What topics do you want me to cover? (Recipes? Myth-busting? Meal plans?)

P.S. New posts coming soon—thanks for sticking around!

04/04/2024

Throwback Thursday Time! As I’ve worked with more and more neurospicy teens and adults, this message couldn’t resonate more. Fuelled brains are happy brains! 🧠

.nutrition.with.sam with .repost
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Wait what?⁠ 🤯
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Yeah you read that right! An organ that is ~2% of our weight uses a whopping 20% of our energy AT REST 😲  This can increase by 8% when its working / thinking hard. And this is in neurotypical brains.⁠
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But what if you’re not eating enough? Well like in any body, you don’t eat enough, and the brain isn’t happy. The brain can’t store energy like our muscles so if we don’t eat enough everyday, well that stands to reason your brain might not work as well.⁠
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For NTs, that might make them irritable and tired. But for NDs, this could be so much worse. ⁠
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You need food. Its ok to need more food. Food runs your brain. Go eat something 💪

30/03/2024

26/03/2024

This vs. That Tuesday! Let's talk about fluid.⁠
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Hydration is definitely a key part of performance for any athlete. Not only can it prevent nasty muscle cramps (at the worst time) but also it helps make sure your brain is fully switched on!⁠
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The good news with hydration is that ALL fluids count; water, milk, juice, sports drinks and even tea and coffee! ⁠
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For optimum hydration leading up into a competition, an athlete should be checking the colour of their morning p*e - aiming for a light straw yellow. If its resembling something close to apple juice, we have some work to do!⁠
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Hydration can take 24 hours to take effect, so knowing how hydrated you are in the days leading up to competition is vital so you know if you need to start drinking more fluid. If you do need to hydrate more, I suggest using some hydralyte or even sports drinks on the days leading up to your competition.⁠
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What are your favourite drinks to improve hydration?

19/03/2024

15/03/2024

We're back for Friday Facts and let's talk about calcium.

Teens need a massive 1300mg of calcium (compared to adults

12/03/2024

This vs. That Tuesday! Let's look at eating before training.⁠
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On the surface this seems pretty obvious, but you'd be amazed the number of athletes I see that tell me the last time they ate was HOURS before training. 😫⁠
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I hear things like;⁠
- There's not enough time!⁠
- If I eat I'll be sick!⁠
- I want to but I don't know what to eat.⁠
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The good news is, all of this is adaptable. If you have less than 1 hour before exercise, focus on high carb, low fibre foods like white bread sandwiches, hot cross buns or pikelets with jam. If that still feels like too much food, just start with a glass of fruit juice - I promise you your body will notice the difference.⁠
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What foods do you usually eat before training?

10/10/2023

🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️
Hey there! Yep I’m still around! It’s been a while but I’ve sorted out the time to be back on here more regularly and I’m starting off with w fresh new logo 😁 looking forward to interacting with you all again!