After 10 years of competing, Kara Saunders accepted the Fittest Team on Earth trophy along with her Raw Iron Mayhem Thunder teammates Khan Porter, Emily de Rooy, and James Newbury. During her victory speech, she shared a powerful sentiment with the crowd:
- “It turns out, in order to be a winner, I needed my people; I needed my community around me,” she said, fighting back tears as she reflected on her more than 10-year journey to the top of the podium. “I wasn’t supposed to do it on my own.”
After finally reaching the top of the mountain, she knew it was time to step aside. In an interview with the Morning Chalk Up, she spoke about her retirement plans.
- “I won’t be looking to qualify for the CrossFit Games anymore,” she said. “That’s as far as I know for now. My priority is my family and having control over my finances a little more, rather than being in the whirlwind of sponsors and prize money that could end at any moment. It’s time to create something that I love and can do for a long time.”
And the time to create something new has come with the launch of Heaps Good Nutrition.
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An Ending and a Beginning
The idea for a nutrition coaching program began towards the end of her pregnancy with her son in the middle of 2023. Saunders previously tried her hand at several businesses, but she says she was never on the same page as her business partners.
She needed something new and wanted to build it from scratch — so she spoke to her husband, Matt Saunders.
- “I told Matty that the next thing I did would be just him and me and our vision,” Saunders tells the Morning Chalk Up.
Before Saunders began competing in CrossFit, she was studying for a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences and Nutritional Medicine. She had just her practicum left to go before she qualified for her first Games, so she walked away from the program.
She doesn’t regret the pivot that her life took at the time but has always felt a strong pull in the direction of nutrition as medicine.
- “At the time, I wasn’t ready. I was too immature and had so much to figure out personally to be able to do this,” Saunders says. “Matty raised it again and kind of nudged me into picking it back up, and it was a full-body yes. Nutrition has always been my number one passion since I was about 18 years old.”
A huge motivation was finding something that would allow her to be a stay-at-home mother and have the freedom and flexibility she had over a decade as a competitive athlete.
Heaps Good Nutrition
Along with Matt, Saunders launched Heaps Good at the end of 2024. While nutrition planning and coaching is not a new market in our sport, their approach is.
She told us that despite being a professional athlete and understanding the role nutrition plays in sports, the foundation of her mindset around nutrition now is how it can support other life priorities.
- “I hate seeing people struggle unnecessarily, trying to do their best, and just feeling like they can’t live their best days because it’s all too much,” Saunders says. “Matty and I are our market. We kind of fit into lots of different categories. We want to enjoy life and not be too stressed or strict, but we also need to be able to show up for ourselves, each other, and our kids.”
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Saunders says that Heaps Good Nutrition is unique in that so many nutrition companies “fuel vulnerabilities and feeling ‘less than.’”
With her educational background, Saunders wants to look at the big picture with less emphasis on nutrition for aesthetics or consuming junk just to meet macros.
- “Matt and I want to help people so they never need us again,” Saunders says. “We look at coaching like we do parenting. Give them all the skills and confidence, let them know you’re always there to support, but set them free to thrive.”
She hopes that Heaps Good can help everyone from families to busy people working in the service industry and those in tactical roles whose day-to-day focuses on caring for others.
- “It would… be the nurse who is doing shift work but also wants to do a marathon in six months. We support the whole person,” Saunders says.
A Pivot Point
This new step is a refreshing one for Saunders and her family. Hanging her competitive CrossFit jersey up, she’s happy to be focusing on something she can build and control.
The fact that this is a joint venture alongside her husband makes it all the more significant. Saunders says that they are perfectly aligned in their mission and values. With Saunders’ background in Nutritional Medicine and Matt’s background in Sports Nutrition, they are able to bring different skills and methods to the table.
- “Ultimately, having just the two of us means there is a lot of trust and safety in the hard parts, which is everything in business,” Saunders says. “We can disagree and find a solution because, in the end, we are both in it for the same reason.”
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Their partnership is just another component that adds authenticity and a personal component to the new brand.
- “Matty is 70% head and 30% heart, and I’m 70% heart and 30% head,” Saunders says.
And for this wife-and-husband team, that’s the perfect balance.
Heaps Good Nutrition offers four different tracks, depending on need, with different levels of support and price points. Applications are currently being accepted for new clients. Find out more here.
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Featured image: @heapsgoodnutrition | Instagram
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