The Compeat Waffle

Meet Sam Wykes, a former professional Rugby player for NSW Waratahs.

After first connecting with Sam when working with the Waratahs during his final year of playing professional rugby it was clear that he had such a gift. He was always able to make others around him feel welcome, connected, and feel as though they belong.

From rugby to retirement, Sam explores what this transition out of professional sport has looked like and what challenges it presents to both his everyday life and sense of identity. We absolutely adore how Sam was able to let us in on both the vulnerable side of this transition as well as a few funny unexpected struggles of life after sport. So be sure to tune in for those because they will be a hoot.

Meet Tanya Poppett, a pre and post natal certified Personal Trainer and fitness influencer from Sydney.

Tanya is a bubbly personality and originally started her career as a primary school teacher when something different beckoned. Moving into the fitness industry Tanya found her footing in Instagram.

From hosting fitness retreats to online workouts Tanya has taken her bubbly persona to transform peoples lives around health, fitness and wellness. Her message is something that we have truly connected with and so getting her on the Compeat Waffle was a no brainer. She pairs exercise with purpose, hence why so many of her exercises are actually functional.

Tanya shares her vulnerable story around how her mentality and relationship with food, body and exercise shifted after having her two young children Laurie and Maple. We can't wait for you to hear this one.

Meet Erchana Murray-Bartlett the nutritionist, elite runner and now world record holder for the most consecutive marathons run by a female.

With our eyes glued to the screen for Le Tour de France, we couldn't help ourselves but lean into our cycling fanfare. Our guest on today's episode is the incredible Pro Cyclist Nick White, perhaps better known as 'Whitey'. Unfortunately while Whitey was overseas for a competition in the US he sustained an injury to his leg and had to be shipped back home to Aus to commence rehab. We are incredibly thankful he was able to come on and share his story with such vulnerability and authenticity. 

He discusses his life, growing up, taking on this pro cycling career alongside his brother Liam, with a little bit of friendly sibling rivalry thrown in every now and then. He goes on to discuss the pressure that comes with sport at this level and how this pressure can compound and not only impact his relationship with food but his relationship with his body as well.

We're back baby and we missed you!

Our guest on today's waffle episode is the extraordinary and empathetic dietitian Luke Hassan.

In this ep Luke shares some incredibly valuable insight and advice around long-covid and chronic fatigue syndrome and how these illnesses can compound and worsen over time. This leads many people to suffer in silence due to the 'invisible' nature of the illness, often resulting in their symptoms being dismissed or overlooked as 'normal'. 

Luke is the lead dietitian at the award-winning Active Health Clinic, located in Melbourne, Australia. His mission is to 'make invisible illnesses visible' by advocating for those with Invisible Illnesses such as; Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic Pain conditions, Dysautonomia and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders and supporting them in their nutritional health no matter their functional capacity.

After our recent partnership with the Australian Women's Lacrosse Team and getting to know this incredible group of athletes, we couldn't wait to share their stories with you. Our guest on today's episode is the amazing Stacey Morlang Sullivan. Trust me, you are about to be wowed by her story and her ability to tell it with such raw authenticity.

Stacey has had sustained a long career on the pitch both domestically, collegiately, and internationally. Having played in three World Cups, retiring, starting a family and coaching her love, passion and drive for the sport of lacrosse was reignited. Powered with a new mindset she is back as a member of the current Australian Women's Lacrosse Squad, training for the 2022 Lacrosse Women's World Championships being hosted by the USA in July 2022.

Is eating during a training session allowed, or am I 'cheating' on my nutrition and performance goals. Well we get asked this question a lot and we're here to tell you whether you call it bonking, hitting a wall or having an energy flat listening to your body and having a snack mid-session is perfectly okay. More often than not it's needed to maintain pace and performance. 

During this episode we explore all things during training nutrition. When to consider adding food in? What types of food or fluid to add in and how much? Is adding BCAA's worthwhile? Do you need to plan these snacks in advance? Should you take electrolytes during a session or does water cover the cost of this? Are there times where we should deliberately avoid mid-session fuelling?

Our guest on today's waffle episode is the incredible Dr Georgie Buckley (@georgiebuckley_dietitian). 

Georgie is an Accredited Practising Dietitian, and Sports Dietitian with a PHD in all things eating disorders and body image issues specifically in athletes. When we tell you she is one of the most well-rounded and passionate Dietitian's in this space we truly mean it. 

In this ep she shares her own lived experience as an athlete. She started competing in long distancing running from age 9 and shares how the culture, performance measures and pressures of sport shaped her experience with disordered eating. We are just in awe of her story and how this has lead her to be the practitioner she is today. Her work in the research space, also allows her to translating the science into meaningful, actionable and achievable advice. 

Alyssa Lock was made for the water. From just the age of 6 Alyssa started surfing and competing at one of the best Australian surf breaks, Snapper Rocks. We feel so incredibly to excited to share this episode of the Compeat Waffle with you today.

In today's ep she dives head first into her story, finding success in pro surfing from such a young age. By the age of 8 she was winning under 14's comps and making waves, and at just the age of 12 Alyssa became the youngest ever Roxy Pro Trialist! With success at such a young age she also explores how she found balance between school life, home life, and competition life.

To eat or not to eat before your training session... that is the question.

Well when it comes to eating before a training the good news is, you're spoilt for choice. There's a multitude of options and strategies to explore, it's just about finding the best option that works for you. In this episode we explore all things pre-training nutrition and hopefully we make that choice of which strategy to choose that little bit easier. 

We break it down into training low, training high, how much carbohydrate you need and how to get the most bang for your buck out of each session. 

As we barrel forward headfirst into the new year it's only natural to feel pressure to make change & progress. We often see New Years Resolutions made around weight loss, appearance or health. Perhaps you're wanting to change your weight, lift heavier in the gym, or complete a race.

In this episode Alicia rides solo to explore the difference between outcome goals and infinite goals. Offering a change in perspective to goals that are aligned to WHO you want to be rather than only WHAT you want to achieve. We also discuss the how in transforming challenges, mistakes & learnings in your daily habits and actions into opportunities towards food resilience.

Recently the Australian Institute of Sport released a revamped version of their world renowned Supplement Framework. Over the coming episodes, we put a spotlight on each group - Here comes Group C.

The C Group in supps is not a great place to be. It is where the supps that had previously shown potential go once evidence becomes less than impressive. The science is either not supportive of benefit to performance OR no research has yet been undertaken to guide it's use.

There are some big names in here that we are positive you will all want to hear more about - especially magnesium, HMB, the ever popular BCAA and prebiotics.

We have some words for you; Organic, Superfoods, Gluten Free (Anything free), Supports Gut Health, All Natural, No Artificial Colours, Low Fat (Low anything), No Nasties, Raw, Macro Friendly (What the F does that even mean?!)... What do these words have in common?

They're all marketing buzzwords that are frequent flyers on labels throughout our supermarkets, cafe's and even restaurants. Between all the organic, fat free, sugar free, macro friendly foods out there - which ones actually matter?

In this episode we explore all things food labels, health food claims and marketing, aka all the things that influence you the moment you set foot in a supermarket.

Do you feel out of control with food around the festive season? Let's chat through managing this - and the stress & guilt - at this time of year!

In this episode we are talking all things emotional eating. What is emotional eating? It does have different definitions and there's definitely a time at which this can escalate from normalcy to disordered eating. Emotional eating is simply put, where we find comfort in food. Which is normal. When we eat and enjoy a food there's a food memory and experience associated with that. 

So how do we manage emotional eating in periods where this turns to our crux or coping mechanism. Well settle down and listen to this ep with a cuppa and we'll explore together.

As we enter the festive season and beyond, you will see loved ones, friends, family members with bodies that may have changed or new marks that have appeared. Your body may have gone through some big changes too!

Even if the comments we say are well intentioned it's the line can get fuzzy. So remember they are more than their body, their outer exterior. They are humans with an identity so far beyond their physical appearance.

In this episode we are talking all things body comments. Can the thing I'm comment on be changed within a few seconds? How do we cope with body comments? What do you do when you receive a body comment? 

We are at a loss for words when it comes to our guest on this episode. Lucy Bartholomew is an Ultra Runner that began running at an incredibly young age to spend more time with her dad. In fact she powered through an ultramarathon at just 15 years old. 

Lucy explores how her passion for running was questioned and challenged over the years as social media became an increasing aspect of her life. She dives into how this helped her to explore the depths of who she wants to be as a person beyond that of an ultra runner.

When we think about being well, we often jump straight to ‘well I am not sick’, so I must be well!

However, when considering your well-being health & performance are not and should not be at odds with each other. Well-being and performance are NOT mutually exclusive.

In this episode we are talking all things well-being. How we can align both our health and performance goals alongside one another instead of in opposition. So, we ask what is your definition of performance? How do we measure success? Are we measuring our success on something that is a behaviour or an action? How can we measure success in ways other than numbers?

This was a Quickfire Q&A on anything related to nutrition, business, family, or anything you guys wanted to ask about! 

Questions covered...

• What to eat and what to avoid for insulin resistance?
• How to manage insulin resistance with shift work?
• What's the dosage for spirulina and buckthorn?
• Best go to snack when you can't kill the hunger?
• What are the benefits of Creatine supplementation for endurance athletes?
• How to flatten you coca-cola for race day?
• Why do you flatten coca-cola on race day?
• How much does post game nutrition impact recovery?
• Including protein in an ultrarun yay or nay?

This live Q&A explores all things RED-S or Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. RED-S comes because of being in a state of Low Energy Availability and is something that we see all the time with our athletes but also everyday active individuals. When we are constantly being bombarded by messaging to eat less or eat clean and there’s a really big pressure that leads to an over restriction or an accidental mismatch between energy needs and energy intake. 

This round we explore, whether men can experience RED-S, if you need to be an elite athlete to suffer from RED-S, what symptoms need to exist to determine whether you have energy deficiency and how can we reverse it.

Alcohol. 

It's Ocsober, everyone here in Australia and across most of the world has been impacted by COVID lockdowns. During these times we may have found that our alcohol intake has changed considerably. Alcohol is a common psychoactive drug that changes the way our bodies use things like carbohydrates, proteins and fats. But there is another side of alcohol, the side that changes the way we feel and make us more relaxed. So how do we reflect on our alcohol intake without judgement and make align our social selves with our performance goals.

In this Live Q&A format we explore all things alcohol and its impacts on our performance. What is alcohol? How is it metabolised? How does it interact with the brain? How can we navigate a hangover? What are some strategies to manage and prevent the hangover? How does alcohol impact our performance?

In this episode we cover all things Heart Health.

This is an extremely important topic, even for athletes. You may feel like you've ticked the box with exercise so you can eat whatever you feel like. But, even for athletes there are some important things to consider. You could be dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's and still be impacted by something like high cholesterol. 

In this Live Q&A format we are answering those hard hitting questions. What are blood lipids? How does LDL and HDL impact my heart health? What oils should I be using in cooking? Should I be taking supplements? What's the deal with coconut oil?  Is it good or bad?

We've got a cracker of an episode for you today on the Compeat Waffle!

We had the absolute privilege of sitting down with Dr Peter Fowler to discuss all things recovery and sleep. This legend completed his PhD on the effects of international and domestic air travel on team sport performance and recovery through Charles Sturt University and the Australian Institute of Sport. He then went on to found The Recovery Project - a modern solution to preventing injury, illness and fatigue on a wide scale.

Recovery is such an important discussion for any athlete (or human) when it comes to nutrition, but Pete adds another very powerful layer to this conversation. In this ep we dive into the foundations of recovery both short and long term, inflammation, stress, the sleep tracking phenomenon, tips and tricks to improve your recovery and sleep (plus so much more). Trust us when we say this episode is not one to be missed!

As women we are constantly in a state of change day to day and throughout our menstrual cycle. Cycle syncing is whereby you manipulate and change the food you depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle. This young in terms of where we are in research and evidence. It's a great start, but are we overcomplicating things?

In this Live Q&A format we explore all things nutrition around the menstrual cycle. Getting the basics right. What hormones are involved in different phases of the cycle? Should we change our training around our menstrual cycle? How does contraception impact this? Should we be changing our diet in the days leading up to an event? 

We need to please stop ‘eating back’ calories from exercise.

There is a trend that began with the ‘net energy’ equation within food tracking apps, that now partnered with data from wearables, is bringing a lot of conversations both with coaches and athletes. On its surface it appears logical - track the energy spent (food) and track the energy burnt (training).

However, scratch just slightly under its surface and there are cracks. Cracks that form when data is given a power that isn’t interpreted objectively - inconsiderate of context or accuracy or emotional impact.

In this Live Q&A format we explore all things calorie and exercise tracking. How does this impact our relationship with food? Can this trigger disordered eating practices? What is the latest evidence and what does the latest research say? Are wearable trackers accurate?

September is a big month when it comes to awareness. It's jam packed with polycystic ovary awareness month, women's health week and body image and eating disorder awareness week. And boy do we have some large topics in here!

In this Live Q&A format we explore all things women's health and body image. We cover all the hard hitting topics. Is reverse dieting really a thing What is it? Can you damage your metabolism? Is this damage reversible? Can you give yourself food intolerances by restricting certain foods? How do I maintain a deficit without calorie counting?

It's safe to say that from these questions, food restriction and diet culture has impacted so many of our lives as well as those around us. But just because it's common, does not mean it's normal!

In this episode we cover all things Caffeine. 

Chances are if you're human, you've probably had caffeine before. In fact 9 out of 10 athletes have use caffeine...

It's one of the most well researched supplements out there, but how well does it work when it comes to performance. Is it worth the side effects like interrupted sleep and anxiety.

In this Live Q&A format we are answering those hard hitting questions. Do you need to periodise your caffeine? Do you need to to take breaks from coffee to increase how well it works? How should I take it? What options should I be choosing? Could caffeine enhance my athletic performance?

This episode came about after a question from a follower... "If I was just to trust my appetite and fullness, can I overeat?"...

Eating intuitively can seem like a pretty daunting task especially when there's constant messaging around dieting, restriction, and to just eat less.

In this Live Q&A format we explore all things Intuitive Eating. What is it? What skews or impacts our ability to eat intuitively? What can we do to help regulate our appetite? What foods and lifestyle factors that can impact our hunger and fullness cues? What hormones are involved? When do we need to override our body's cues?

So we hope you enjoy this episode and it answers all of those burning questions!

We are so fortunate to finally have Shane Jeffrey on this weeks episode. 

Shane is an accredited dietitian and sports dietitian and an absolute leader in the field of disordered eating and eating disorders. Working for over 25 years in the industry he has amassed a wealth of knowledge and added so much to this field. He is someone that truly gets it - the importance of you, the person and you can hear it in the way he speaks. 

We have so much respect for Shane and all he has achieved, he has transformed this space into one that is truly person first. He speaks with with a refreshingly down-to-earth perspective and this one is a MUST listen (if we do say so ourselves!).

Liz Dawes is one of the most kind hearted and passionate people we've had the pleasure of chatting to here on the Compeat Waffle.

After her son passed away from brain cancer in 2013 Liz battled on and rallied for her community, founding both the Robert Connor Dawes foundation and Connor's Run. Which have grown to be both the biggest paediatric brain cancer foundation in Australia and the largest paediatric brain cancer event with over 4000 participants.

In today's ep she delves into her story, her son's battle with brain cancer and her grief with a warmth and honesty. She turned her greatest tragedy her greatest purpose and we cherish that she was able to gift us with 50 minutes of pure inspiration.

Nina Gelbke also known as Naturally Nina is an absolute cracker of a human, she is vibrant, energetic and oozing with charisma. She was originally born in Switzerland, but her father made the executive decision to ship the family off to a sunnier destination in Western Australia.

She developed her passion for nutrition after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 9 and participating in competitive sports like swimming. But this passion took a turn after the constant pressure to perfect her blood sugar levels, time her insulin correctly and count her carbs led to a long battle with an eating disorder.

In today’s ep she held nothing back. She was raw, vulnerable and honest about her journey through life from diagnosis to self-acceptance to becoming an Accredited Nutritionist to support and empower others.

Shifting from dancer to runner in her teenage years, Lydia is now an elite runner that is passionate about sharing her story and insights - to allow for more of us to see running with a different lens.

We are covering all things body composition

Are you using body composition as a performance measure?

Body composition is often sold to us incorrectly. We find that many of our athletes strive to achieve body composition goals with the aim of improving their performance. However, pushing for small incremental body composition changes can actually greatly undermine your performance if done incorrectly!

Tune in today to find out what this means to YOU!

Let us know what you think!

...and don't forget 

This waffle is all about sharing stories to help you become empowered, confident, and curious.

Professor Emily Balcetis is a social psychologist from New York University. She has been in her role for over 20 years while studying the factors behind really drives success. In this podcast, we talk through why we don't necessarily follow through with our goals after we commit to achieve them. We discuss how perception and the role of visual cues have a massive impact on behaviour change and formation. Most importantly we explore how to reduce friction and make behaviour change feel less difficult. Not only is this super valuable to the everyday active individual, but also to the practitioner wanting to instil change in their clients. Emily does an amazing job at explaining how you can pick up new habits, particularly in the world we’re living in at the moment Check out Emily’s book Clearer, Closer, Better for even more gems!