Team MightyFIT Spotlight: Stephanie Mull
By: Christine Bean
Meet Stephanie Mull, RD, owner of Metabolism Based Eating and Team MightyFIT’s newest Nutrition Expert. Learn about her mission to change the way weight management is approached, and why she loves the convenience and customization of MightyMeals for her macro-counting clients.
How did you get your start in the health and nutrition field?
Stephanie: I have been in this industry for the past 21 years. I started in the hospital setting and went back to school to receive a graduate degree in Exercise Science. Before shifting and moving into the exercise science space, I had a mixed bag of opportunities. I gave birth to my first child, quit my job, and started a private practice on the side. In 2013, I got connected to the GWU Weight Management Lab director, Todd Miller, who is a PHD Exercise Physiologist. Combined with me being an RD, the two of us realized there were gaps in the standard of practice of both fields, specifically weight management and sports nutrition. Todd and I joined forces and came up with Metabolism Based Eating, which is the assessment and application of one’s measured metabolism and body composition to tailor a nutrition and/or exercise plan to that specific person. This can be applied to anyone regardless of their goal, primarily in the weight management space. If someone is trying to lose weight, our goal is to ensure they are losing fat not muscle, and we center everything around the metabolism to protect the metabolism long term. If someone gets lighter, their metabolism is going to fall. If people cut calories and under-eat, they’ll lose muscle and their metabolism will adapt to them eating too little and burning too much so they’ll reach a plateau. When that happens repeatedly, the metabolism slows down and eventually won’t recover. The goal is to get people to eat more as they get lighter, which means we have optimized the metabolism and fired it up.
GWU closed their lab at the start of the COVID pandemic, so I lost my job. I shifted and focused on the Metabolism Based Eating company, which, fortunately for me, is virtually-based since everything is done online. Clients can get their testing done at a location near them, they send me their results, and we go from there. I work with people all over the country. We have metabolism-based eating providers, exercise-based trainers, and we teach them the science. Our goal is to change the way weight management is approached, and we want the appropriate application of those results to be the standard of practice.
What’s your best nutrition advice?
Stephanie: Track your food; not to know numbers, but to learn what’s in your food and what nutrients you’re putting into your body. In my experience with my clients, people often eat things based on what they think is healthy. It’s an idea, an emotional response, or an uneducated opinion. I once had a client who ate 3 avocados per day because she thought they were healthy. No food is healthy if it’s creating a calorie surplus and creating body fat. When you start tracking your food and you learn what is in your food, (calories, fat, protein, carbs, and fiber) it suddenly becomes objective and we lose that emotional attachment. Food is food; so many people have an emotional attachment to food, but really we eat food for fuel and nourishment. My goal is to always stay objective and help my clients separate their emotions from their food.
Why do you recommend MightyMeals for your clients?
Stephanie: I love that you can customize your meals based on your macro target. Customized nutrition planning is key, and I really appreciate the variety that MightyMeals offers because each of my clients have a different macronutrient prescription. The ability to filter meals based on preferences or allergens is a game-changer, too.
What’s your favorite MightyMeal dish?
Stephanie: I absolutely love the Shrimp Fajita Bowl!
About Stephanie
Stephanie Mull, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS, earned her undergraduate degree from James Madison University and completed her dietetic internship at East Carolina University. She started her career in clinical nutrition before obtaining her Master’s degree in exercise science at George Mason University.
Stephanie has worked with individuals and families in various settings including hospitals and outpatient centers where she helped people discover how they can use food and exercise to prevent and manage health conditions.
Over her years of experience, Stephanie developed a passion for working with athletes of all ages and with children, adolescents and adults who struggle to manage their weight and adopt healthy eating behaviors.
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