Portland, OR · Strength & Performance Nutrition
Train for the outside, not just the mirror.
I was “quickly humbled when I lacked the nutritional knowledge to keep up with my activity level.” Now I coach women to build lean muscle, more energy and real endurance — with the training and the fuel built together.
No plans to buy yet — just tell me where you're starting.
The part nobody explains
You're working hard and still running on empty.
You want lean muscle, more energy, better endurance and changes that actually last. So you train. And for three weeks it feels like it's working — then the energy goes, the sessions get heavy, and you assume the problem is you.
Usually it isn't. It's that nobody taught you how to fuel the work you are doing. There is a lot of advice, most of it loud, most of it built for someone else's body and someone else's week. So the plan gets abandoned, and the next start looks exactly like the last one.
That is the gap I got caught in myself, and it is the only reason this coaching exists.
I refuse to hop on latest trends
How the work is built
01
Resistance training, programmed to your goal
I program resistance training plus conditioning around what you are actually training for — not a template, and not whatever is popular this month.
02
Meals and snacks built alongside the training
Alongside performance I create meal and snack suggestions, and explain why and how macros are essential to your performance. The fuel is part of the plan, not an add-on.
03
Science first, trends never
I implement science-backed approaches for your personal goal. I refuse to hop on latest trends, because what works for an audience can be disadvantageous for the individual.
Founding clients
Be my next success story.
NORISH TO PERFORM is new, and I'm taking on a small first group of clients I can give real attention to — close programming, direct access to me, and every macro decision explained rather than handed down.
Client results are coming soon. I would rather show you real ones than made-up ones.
What changes
The result you came for
Outcomes described as things you can do — a longer trail, a full day outside, a hill that used to end you.
Lean muscle you can see and use
Strength that shows up in how you look and in what you can carry up a hill without stopping.
Energy that lasts past week three
Most crashes are a fueling gap, not a willpower gap. We fix the fuel and the fourth week stops falling apart.
Endurance that goes somewhere
A longer trail, a first race, a full day outside with your kids — outcomes measured in what you can do, not just numbers.
Lifestyle changes that stay
You will be able to explain your own program and your own plate. That is what makes it survive a busy month.
Built for the Trail
How it works
01
Tell me where you're starting
Send a message with your training history, your schedule and how you eat now. Complete beginner is a normal answer.
02
We map the terrain
We talk through your goal, your real week, and what your body is being asked to do — then set the load it can actually recover from.
03
You get a program and a plate
Resistance training and conditioning, with meal and snack suggestions and the reasoning behind every macro target.
04
We adjust as you adapt
One lever at a time, checked against how you trained and recovered — so we always know what worked.
Who you'd be working with
Mairen Hughes, Portland
Scientific and empathetic in equal measure — I'll tell you exactly why we're doing something, and I won't make you feel behind for not knowing it already.
“The moment I decided to train & compete in triathlons and endurance running. Was quickly humbled when I lacked the nutritional knowledge to keep up with my activity level & knew there were many people like me who may have given up because due to lack of knowledge regarding nutrition & performance.”
Before you write to me
Honest answers
I don't know where to start.
That is the most common starting point and honestly the easiest one to work with. Nothing is assumed — we begin with the movements your body tolerates, a protein target you can hit, and a week you can repeat. You do not need to arrive fit, informed or confident.
I've tried programs before and they didn't stick.
Most programs are built for an audience and end after thirty days without teaching you anything, so the next start looks like the last one. I explain the reasoning behind every choice so you can adjust it yourself when a week goes sideways — that is the part that makes it stick.
I don't have time to be in the gym daily.
Good, because daily is not the plan. Programming is built around the days you genuinely have, and a smaller number of well-recovered sessions beats five rushed ones. Consistency at three days beats collapse at six.
Do I need to be an athlete for this?
No. I work with total beginners, busy parents and athletes, and the method is the same: science-backed training matched to your goal, with nutrition that keeps up with it.
Let's build the version of you that goes further.
Tell me your goal and your real week. I'll tell you honestly whether I can help.
Or read why i refuse to hop on the latest trend first.