As a strength professional and competitive olympic weightlifter, (no, I am not an Olympian — it’s a style of lifting), nutrition is a crucial part of my life. That being said, the aspect of my training that proves to be the most difficult, is my relationship with food.

As I was getting ready to post the second “blog takeover” of this series, I found myself wondering if people understand why I’m doing this. Sure it’s cool to hear everyone’s stories, but there is more to it than that.

I was 3 years old when I started playing soccer. I spent my childhood and adolescent years traveling the “lower 48s” as we called them (I’m from Alaska) playing in soccer tournaments and camps. Playing soccer was what I did. Being a soccer player was who I was. Oh, and I loved food.

This morning at my gym I saw a quote that read “Recovery is what makes athletes elite.” I thought to myself how true this statement was and furthermore, how overlooked the process of recovery (both physically and nutritionally) sometimes is.

I know I’m not alone when I say that this pandemic has wrecked havoc on various parts of my life, one of those being my sleeping habits.

My name is Brooke and I am a former Division I college basketball player. I played at the University of Kansas and the University of San Diego. I graduated in 2015 and after graduation, I eventually found myself back in the fitness world.

Hi, my name is Danny Carney and I am a former collegiate Cross Country and Track athlete. I grew up in Littleton, Colorado and started running competitively in high school, following in the footsteps of my two older siblings

My name is Michael, and I am from Morrison Colorado. I am 61, very active and plan on remaining so, well, forever.

Even though I may be classified as a “retired athlete,” my heart and passion for sports, fitness, and nutrition will always be a part of who I am. Some of my biggest triumphs and biggest struggles have been with sport and especially nutrition.

It’s easy to know how you should be eating, but the difficult part is putting that into practice, especially when you’re outside your own kitchen.

One of the busiest times of my life, thus far, was when I was coaching college basketball full time, studying for my dietetic exam, had just moved to a new apartment with a young puppy and fiancé, was planning a wedding, was training for my first ever Ironman, and was trying to navigate life as a young adult in general.

I have a major sweet tooth. I mean pass the bowl of cookie dough and follow it with a brownie type of sweet tooth.