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As I entered college, I thought I knew a lot about nutrition because I had spent months reading FITNESS magazines cover to cover. This was before the days of blogs, click-bait headlines, and social media. (Remember the simple days of 2004?) It was before I knew that nutrition professions were registered dietitians, much less sports dietitians.
Now, as a private practice dietitian who primarily works with active people as a sports dietitian, my favorite being fellow runners. Of course I’m still learning.
I recently did a video about sports nutrition with Runner’s Connect coach Tony Pallotta (please see below). We covered the basics of nutrition for runners, and risks of Orthorexia (Orthorexia – When Healthy Eating Efforts Go Too Far).
By the end of our recording, he confessed to me, “I never really saw the value in working with a sports dietitian, until now.” His tone was apologetic, in case I might be offended that he said this to me, a sports dietitian.
But I completely understood the sentiment. Because before I went to college, I didn’t know that there could be more to nutrition than calculating calories in against calories out to lose weight, or tallying up your nutrients for the day with an app (not that we had apps in 2004, either).
Now, with nutrition information a few keystrokes away, there’s even more you could learn on your own.
Bonus Content
Orthorexia – When Healthy Eating Goes Too Far: An Interview With Heather Caplan
Why Work With A Sports Dietitian
Because a sports dietitian knows far more about nutrition than the internet, or the latest health influencer on social media.
It’s easy to spend hours reading about the diet trends, where they came from and who’s promoting them for profit, and then decide to give it a try. It’s easy to fall prey to the “This worked for them, it’ll work for me” mindset. Or worse, the assumption that comes quickly after some scrolling on social media accounts:
“If I eat like ___, I’ll look toned and fit like ____.” Spoiler alert: Neither of those things are true. Ever.
Most, if not all, sports dietitians have one goal in working with you: addressing your unique needs. They’ll start by considering some or all of the following:
- What are you training for
- How challenging is this goal for you
- How are you fueling now
- What kind of progress, or setbacks, are you experiencing now? Why
- What are your food preferences? Allergies? Cultural needs
- What works for you? What doesn’t
- How sensitive is your gut (if at all)
- What sort of dietary experiments have you conducted yourself and what were the results
- What are some of your health concerns (if any)
- How can I help
The internet won’t ask you any of those things. Social media can’t provide answers. A sports dietitian, taking an evidence-based approach with a background in nutrition science, can help.
What Will A Professional Sports Dietitian Offer
- know better than to prescribe the latest fad diet, just to see how it goes
- consider your health history, training goals, personal food preferences, and dietary needs to help advise YOUR unique fueling plan
- understand nutrition on various levels
- not discount the layers of emotions that play into our food choices
- account for lifestyle and exercise needs
Where Can You Find A Sports Dietitian
You can start by searching the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ (AND) sport-specific group, on scandpg.org, for a sports dietitian local to you. (SCAN is the Sports, Cardiovascular and wellness Nutrition group within AND.) You may also meet a sports dietitian at your local running store, through speaking or group events.
If you’re a collegiate or professional athlete, you may have access to a sports dietitian through your university, college, or team. This is becoming much more common in professional athletics.
What’s The Difference Between A Dietitian And A Nutritionist
A registered dietitian is a certified nutrition expert that has completed a Bachelor’s degree (or prerequisite classes) in nutrition or a related field, graduated from a Dietetic Internship, and passed the certification exam.
Anyone can claim to be a sports nutritionist. If you work with a sports dietitian, you are working with a credentialed, highly educated, nutrition professional.
How Will You Know If It’s A Good Fit
Do a little research, first.
Sports dietitians often have specialties, such as working with specific sports, health issues (e.g. diabetic athletes), or even with various sports nutrition philosophies.
Your experience working with a sports dietitian will be most productive if you’re sure that you and the dietitian are a good fit.
As a sports dietitian and runner myself, I primarily work with active women who have a history of disordered eating or fertility issues.
I’m also interested in working with runners to adopt the principles of eating intuitively to fuel their running goals.
Along with many other sports dietitians, I offer free introductory calls with clients to provide an opportunity for us to each ask and answer a few questions about how the relationship works.
Should You Work With A Sports Dietitian
If you’re at all curious about nutrition, the answer is yes, you should work with a sports dietitian. There is always something new to learn about how to fuel your activity or goal of choice.
Even if you choose to just book one session, a sports dietitian can help you sift through all the nutrition noise to decide what will work best for you.
Special Promotion For RunnersConnect Members
20% DISCOUNT on Nutrition Coaching Services: Heather Caplan offers a 20% discount to all RunnersConnect Insiders or Masters Members. To learn more please visit HeatherCaplan.com, RunnersConnect Perks Page or complete this form.
To see all promotions and discounts available to RunnersConnect Members, please visit our Perks page.
Want To Learn More
We’ve published a lot of articles on the subject of nutrition as highlighted below. Or visit our blog and search for more at RunnersConnect.net/blog
