In this episode, I am joined by Nicole Farnsworth, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, CPT. Nicole works as a dietitian for the Sports Medicine Team and the Female Athlete Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is additionally a clinical dietitian at Laura Moretti Nutrition and the consulting sports dietitian for Wheaton College. Nicole is a member of the Female Athlete Conference Planning Committee and served as co-chair for the 2021 Female Athlete Conference. Nicole’s interest in working with athletes stems from her experience as a track and field pentathlete and heptathlete as an undergraduate student at Harvard. She is passionate about working with athletes with low energy availability, disordered eating, and eating disorders. Nicole is dedicated to educating athletes on the importance of adequate fueling for health and performance and regularly lectures for local and regional athletic teams and organizations.

SOME OF THE TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• The ways in which the mental and physical energy required for collegiate athletes can put one at greater risk for disordered thought processes

• How cultural and ritualistic competition preparation increases one’s risk for developing an eating disorder

• “Race weight” defined vs reality

• The intersection and interplay between low energy availability, bone density, and menstrual functioning known as the Female Athlete Triad

• Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (REDS) as it relates to the Female Athlete Triad and additional physical interplay

• How sports with an emphasis on body shape, thinness, and/or weight have the highest prevalence of eating disorders

• Athletic traits that allow athletes to excel are often the same traits that prevail in eating disorders

ABOUT NICOLE FARNSWORTH:

Nicole Farnsworth is a board-certified sports dietitian with the Female Athlete Program and Division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is additionally a clinical dietitian at Laura Moretti Nutrition and the consulting sports dietitian for Wheaton College. Nicole is a member of the Female Athlete Conference Planning Committee serving as co-chair for the 2021 Female Athlete Conference, which took place virtually in June.

Nicole received her Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, where she competed for the track and field team in the heptathlon and pentathlon. She received her Master of Science degree in Human Nutrition at Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition and completed a dietetic internship at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Upon completion of her internship, Nicole worked at Van Dusen Nutrition, a Needham-based group nutrition practice, where she assisted in developing a movement-based curriculum to help clients redefine their relationship with exercise.

Nicole is passionate about working with athletes with low energy availability, disordered eating, and eating disorders. She is also dedicated to educating athletes on the importance of adequate fueling for health and performance and regularly lectures for local and regional athletic teams and organizations.

CONNECT WITH NICOLE:

• Learn more about Nicole by visiting her bios on the Female Athlete Program, Boston Children's Hospital and Laura Moretti Nutrition

• Follow Nicole on Twitter and Instagram

• View details from this year’s Virtual Female Athlete Conference and register for their next conference

• Read Nicole’s article, “Specific dietary practices in female athletes and their association with positive screening for disordered eating” published on BioMed Central

• Learn more about the Female Athletic Program's research, services, specialties, and health guides

ABOUT KARIN LEWIS:

Karin Lewis, MA, LMFT, CEDS has been recovered from Anorexia Nervosa for over 20 years and has been specializing in the prevention and treatment of eating disorders since 2005. Karin is the founder of the Karin Lewis Eating Disorder Center located in Boston, MA. You can visit Karin Lewis Eating Disorder Center online to learn more about Karin and her center’s services. You can also connect with Karin on social media by following her on Facebook and Instagram.