Meet Simona Hradil | Sports Dietitian

We had the good fortune of connecting with Simona Hradil and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Simona, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I was an elite athlete in Taekwondo for several decades, an 11x time USA National Team Member, and an Olympic alternate for the Sydney Games in 2000. I also competed for the Czech Republic and was a 5x National Team Member and an alternate for the 2012 London Games. As Taekwondo is a weight-class sport, we learned numerous bad habits for cutting weight and losing large amounts of weight in short periods. I saw so many athletes develop disordered eating and eventually an eating disorder. I also saw so many young teen athletes forever change their relationship with food and their body image. As an elite athlete myself, I realized the important role nutrition played in my athletic career. After pursuing higher education in nutrition and dietetics and becoming a performance dietitian, I was given the opportunity to follow my passion and pay it forward by creating a private practice specializing in combat sports. My coach and mentor, Scott Fujii, and I co-founded FXP Athlete which stands for Fueling Xtreme Progression. FXP Athlete was started with the mission to help give back to athletes, especially young athletes in weight class sports, to show them a healthier way to fuel for their weight descents and ultimately fuel for performance.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I had the privilege of training and competing on an elite level and getting to travel the world for longer than most. I had the privilege of living at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and being Team Co-Captain for three years. I also had the privilege of moving to Los Angeles and training with the best coach and best team. Training for 4-6 hours a day for years is all-consuming, as is chasing the Olympic Dream. Balance always meant being driven, determined, and disciplined. I went back to school to get a second degree and a Master’s at 33 as I was nearing the end of my athletic career, so that also meant balancing school, work and still traveling the world to compete. I had the privilege of being ranked high enough globally to be a part of Home Depot’s Olympic Job Opportunities Program (OJOP) where I could work part-time but still receive full-time compensation and job stability (there were only 250 athletes across the country). I retired at age 37 and started my journey as a registered dietitian and a sports dietitian and co-founded FXP Athlete while I was developing the California State University Northridge (CSUN) Sports Nutrition Program for their Division I Athletics, as well as the Matador Fueling Station.

Sports nutrition is the application of nutrition science and its impact on the body as it relates to training, performance, and overall health. I love educating athletes on how they can benefit from learning how to enhance energy levels, strength, endurance, and recovery, and how to prevent unnecessary injuries and illnesses. I take pride in watching an athlete make positive progress with their body image and learn how to be more mindful and intuitive with their fueling. It’s such a prominent piece of the puzzle for a healthier relationship with food during an athlete’s career and more importantly, post-competitive life. I love working with athletes of all levels and have had the pleasure of working with our young junior athletes through Olympians. Four current Olympians and one Paralympian are heading to Paris for the 2024 Games, and it has been amazing to see them improve upon their fueling for their training and their competitive performances! Specializing in weight class sports and changing the landscape of appropriate fueling for weight descents is thrilling and rewarding. Hearing an athlete share how much easier their weight descent was, how much more time and mental space they had to prepare for their competition, and how much better they felt performing is always rewarding.

Risk is everything! It’s frightening, it’s exciting and it’s necessary. My parents and I escaped Czechoslovakia in 1985 to the USA for a chance at the American Dream. They risked everything in the hope of larger opportunities, especially for me. Competing in a combat sport is also a true definition of risk as you get to practice strategy while kicking people for a living and trying to avoid getting scored upon at the same time. Starting FXP Athlete was a big risk because we developed a screening tool to ensure weight-class athletes are moving towards appropriate and healthy goals. We do not promote drastic weight changes or weight descents. Actively changing the way athletes view which weight class is best suited for them has been a rewarding risk, one athlete at a time.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First of all, these days I would probably know of all the cool kid’s spots are since I have 5 year old twins who are the light of my life, but I love to take friends to see some of the gorgeous views that LA has to offer! We would take time to visit the Getty for its beautiful architecture and gardens and we would also have to stop at the Griffith Observatory for commanding views of downtown and Hollywood. One of my favorite places in LA is the Huntington Library & Gardens-you can get lost there for a whole day! You also can’t beat the view from Paradise Cove hike in Malibu! Can’t miss stopping by either Malibu Seafood or Neptune’s Net for your choice of great fresh or fried seafood and dessert would be at Sidecar Donuts (I recommend the strawberry buttermilk and the huckleberry). Then, we’d have to make the trek to Koreatown to Hangari Kalguksu on W 6th for a variety of great soups and dishes!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
To my parents, Anna and Michal Hradil for their love and support and for their sacrifices in leaving their homeland and their families to come to the United States to provide me the opportunities they felt they could not receive back in Czechoslovakia, especially when it was still communist. To my Coach, Friend, and Mentor, Scott Fujii for literally instilling in me the concept of you can always do more! Plus, he always has the best ideas! To my amazing village who is always there to support me and love me through all of the twists and turns on this amazing journey, especially since I have always taken the road less traveled!

Website: https://lab.fxpathlete.com

Instagram: @fxpathlete

Image Credits
Lisa Van Hecke