ONLINE SPORTS NUTRITIONIST
If you want to maximize your performance potential, I can help.
I’m Melissa Boufounos, a hockey player, obstacle course racer, and certified holistic nutritionist. I help young athletes optimize their diet and health so they can maximize their performance potential.
Despite training efforts, many athletes don’t see the results they want on competition day. Whether it’s nursing a chronic injury, not having the right levels of energy, or struggling with focus, performance is often impacted without understanding the root cause of why.
I know this because this used to be me. I was struggling to get in enough calories, comparing myself to other athletes out there, and the result was me not performing how I knew I could. It wasn’t until I started to focus on my nutrition that my performance completely changed.
So, if you want to perform your absolute best, then it’s time that nutrition became a part of your game-day strategy.
Why Should You Take My Advice?
I’m a certified holistic nutritionist who specializes in sports nutrition, and I have an extensive background competing as a hockey player and obstacle course racer.
I was the Official Nutritionist of OCRWC 2018 and NORAM 2019 and have been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Health Leaders by OptiMYz Magazine four years in a row (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021).
I have been an athlete my entire life. I played hockey for 17 years but hung up my skates from 2015 to 2022 due to Post Concussion Syndrome. In 2023, I started playing Senior A women’s hockey again. I also played tennis competitively growing up and I have been an OCR athlete since 2013.
My goal as a sports nutritionist is to support the next generation of hockey players who struggle with their nutrition in order to help them achieve optimal performance on and off the ice.
Nutrition is essential for young hockey players, yet many athletes (and their peers) are misinformed about nutrition, learning their habits from unreliable sources on the internet or other experts, such as coaches or strength and conditioning coaches, who are sharing outdated information.
Parents, coaches, and personal trainers can unknowingly cause harm to an athlete’s relationship with food and eating with their ideas of healthy eating and body composition. When athletes approach food as either “good” or “bad,” it often results in them eating fewer calories than they need to sustain their performance, health, growth and development.
If you want your players to perform at their best and stay healthy, their diets need to be optimized.
With a prioritization on performance over aesthetics, my sports nutrition coaching programs and team workshops are designed to help teen athletes achieve their personal best in the most sustainable and health-supporting way possible.
About Melissa
Education and Credentials:
CHN: Melissa has been a Certified Holistic Nutritionist since 2015. This designation from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition requires over 280 hours of in-class instruction, 250 clinical hours, and 50 practicum hours.
Precision Nutrition Level 2 Masterclass
Precision Nutrition Level 1 Nutrition Coaching Certification
Sports Journalism diploma from Centennial College
Broadcast Journalism diploma from Seneca College
Athletic Accomplishments:
Drafted to the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2011
Represented Greece at ISBHF World Ball Hockey Championships in 2013
Member of gold-medal-winning Canadian National Ball Hockey Championships team in 2014
2nd place age group podium finish at Spartan Race Super 2018
3rd place age group podium finish at Savage Race Pro 2018
6th place elite finish (1st in age group) at DeadEnd Race Sub Zero 2018
Keeping mandatory completion band at NORAMs 2019 (3K course)
Two Spartan Trifectas (2014, 2015)
What About When I’m Not Playing Hockey?
- I LOVE what I do, and I am honoured that my clients, family and friends consider me someone to look up to, BADASS, approachable, relatable and someone who doesn’t preach anything I wouldn’t be ready to do.
- I am always geeking out researching online, reading books, listening to podcasts or taking new certifications.
- I’m down to Earth and love camping, hiking and exploring new places.
- If you put my iPod on shuffle, you’ll find a hilarious mix of country, ‘screamo,’ post-hardcore, metal, ’emocore,’ classic rock and 90s pop music.
- I’m a true crime and trivia junkie. I watch Jeopardy every weeknight.
- I am a chocoholic and Carb Queen. Ain’t nobody got time for Keto.
- Last but not least, I am passionate about giving back and am most proud about participating in the Sears Great Canadian Relay Run to end Kids Cancer for three years. As part of The Canadian Mudd Queens, I helped raise over $70,000 for the Run to End Kids Cancer.