Sports RD Snippets

Veteran Sports RD! Jennifer Gibson has incredible advice for early professionals in the field! Jenn shares a day in the life of an NFL dietitian, the characteristics and qualities of a dietitian at the pro level, and her unique role as a consultant in her career path.  Jennifer Gibson is an internationally recognized sport dietitian with 16 years of experience in elite sport. Most recently, Jennifer spent 7 seasons as the lead sport dietitian and sport science coordinator for the Chicago Bears Football Club. Between 2006-2015 she was a senior sport dietitian and applied physiologist with the United States Olympic Committee and within the Canadian Olympic sport system. Her consulting work has included the New Orleans Saints (2013-15), Vancouver Whitecaps MLS (2006-2011), Women’s Tennis Association Pro Tour (2006-2013) and within the NBA (2013-2014). She has traveled to over 20 countries to service her athletes including 2 Olympic Games (2010, 2012), 2 Pan American Games (2007, 2011), 1 Canada Winter Games (2007), 6 world championships, and hundreds of professional tournaments/games. Gibson served as an adjunct sport nutrition lecturer for the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs (2011-2015), and was active in research, having published 9 peer reviewed scientific papers and 7 book contributions. Gibson completed her bachelors of science degree in Nutrition at Ryerson University and her dietetic education at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. Her masters in Exercise Science was completed at the University of Victoria in Victoria, Canada. She is a distinguished graduate of the International Olympic Committee Diploma in Sport Nutrition and a Level III certified anthropometrist with the International Society for the Advancement of Anthropometry. Jennifer is also a Board Certified Specialist in Sport Dietetics with the American Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition. This episode is sponsored by Momentous and Honey Stinger! Check out livemomentous.com and use the code RDSNIPPETS20 for 20% off all products Check out Honeystinger.com and use the code RDSNIPPETS20 for 20% a one time retail order Contact Teamsales@honeysinger.com for samples and team pricing.

Pressure is a privilege! Collier Madaleno shares incredible advice for students and entry level RD’s looking to break into the field of performance football nutrition! Collier talks all about bowl prep, behind the scenes of fueling the College Football Playoff, the value of lifelong recruiting, and so much more! Collier Madaleno is finishing up her fourth season as the University of Georgia’s Director of Football Performance Nutrition. Before Georgia she served in a similar position as head of football nutrition at the University of Florida. Collier grew up in Athens Georgia interested in food, nutrition, and college athletics. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama and got her Dietetic internship and masters from Georgia State University. Collier was able to work in Alabama’s Sports Nutrition Department and at IMG in their NFL combine training program. This episode is sponsored by Momentous. Use the code RDSNIPPETS20 to get 20% your order. Check out their website at livemomentous.org

Mentors are key! Emily Kaley talks all about her incredible mentors that have helped her become the Sport RD that she is today! Emily has a unique path that will inspire and motivate anyone that listens. Emily Kaley, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD, ISAK 2 is in her 7th year as a Sports Dietitian and just finished up her first season with the Washington Nationals as their MiLB Performance Nutrition Coordinator and the Nationals first full-time dietitian within the organization.  Emily joined the Nationals after two seasons with the New York Mets as their MiLB Performance Nutrition Coordinator and the organizations first full-time dietitian (2019-2020).  In 2021 Emily was invited to assess the next generation of baseball talent at the inaugural MLB Draft Combine where she completed ISAK skinfold measurements on all draft players.  From 2017-2018, she served as Madison Square Garden’s first assistant performance dietitian working with the Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, Westchester Knicks and Hartford Wolfpack.  She worked as an assistant performance dietitian within the Chicago Cubs organization in 2017, and worked for the United States Olympic Committee Swimming and Track & Field teams as a sports nutrition consultant leading up to Rio 2016.  Emily graduated from Simmons College in Boston, Mass. in 2013 where she played lacrosse.  In 2017, she received her master of Sports Nutrition from the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs and went on to Culinary School at Culinary Tech Center in Manhattan where she obtained her certificate in commercial cooking and catering and completed her externship under French Chef, Jean-Georges.  Emily greatly enjoys cooking and exercising, she was also bit by a huge travel bug and likes to explore and experience different cities and countries as much as possible.  You’ll find Emily in Brooklyn, NY with her family and cute baby nephew during the offseason! This episode is sponsored by Momentous! Visit their website at livemomentous.com and use the code RDSNIPPETS20 at checkout to get 20% off your order!

Training Camp is HERE! Peter Ritz talks all about his role as an Advanced Clinical Dietitian for Football, and shares early lessons learned in his career as a Sports RD. Veteran and experienced Sports RD's also share their advice for students working their first training camp! Is being a Football Only Sports RD for you? Find out in this episode!  Peter Ritz is currently an Advanced Clinical Dietitian with Northwestern Medicine serving as the team dietitian for Northwestern Football. Peter came to the program in March of 2020 after three years working with Virginia Tech. In addition to providing clinical nutrition counseling and education, Peter is also heavily involved in the department's research and sports science efforts. A Texas native, he earned Bachelor’s degrees in both Nutritional Science and Kinesiology at Texas A&M in 2015, and a master’s degree concentrated in Applied Nutrition and Physical Activity at Virginia Tech in 2019. Peter is a Registered Dietitian and a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics with 9 years of experience working within college athletics, specifically college football. He was awarded with the 2018-2019 CPSDA Research Grant for his work entitled "The Omega-3 Status of Collegiate Athletes" which he presented in May of 2019 at the CPSDA Annual Meeting and was recently published. Links to his most publications will be linked in the show notes. Dietary and Biological Assessment of the Omega-3 Status of Collegiate Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Analysis https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0228834 Gatorade Sports Science Exchange #212: Promoting Optimal Omega-3 Fatty Acid Status in Athletes https://www.gssiweb.org/en/sports-science-exchange/Article/promoting-optimal-omega-3-fatty-acid-status-in-athletes This episode is sponsored by Momentous! Visit their website at livemomentous.com and use the code RDSNIPPETS at checkout to get 20% off your order! 

Basketball Fuels! Leigh Hullet and I talk all about fueling behind the scenes of March Madness. We are answering all of your questions from Instagram in this episode today! Leigh recently became the Director of Sports Nutrition at University of Notre Dame and has incredible advice on how she landed the role. You won't want to miss this one! Leigh Hullett is the Director of Sports Nutrition at the University of Notre Dame. She is a registered dietitian working to help student-athletes optimize performance, recovery, and health through nutrition. Not going far from Indianapolis, where she was born and raised, she went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Indiana University in 2016 and completed her Dietetic Internship with Wellness Workdays in Hingham, Massachusetts; specializing in Sports Nutrition. Leigh found her way to Notre Dame by doing part of her dietetic internship with the Sports Nutrition department, and quickly felt right at home. Prior to beginning her dietetic internship, she traveled to Bali, Indonesia for a month to study yoga and become a certified yoga instructor. She loves to find ways to combine yoga health, and nutrition on a daily basis, and hopes to continue to grow in both areas. Currently in her fifth year at Notre Dame, Leigh oversees two full time dietitians and 14 student-workers continuing to grow and strengthen their department. Leigh works with Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse, Baseball, Men’s Soccer, Swimming and Diving, Rowing and Cheerleading. She loves connecting with students and helping them achieve their goals by empowering them with positive and attainable nutrition goals and education. This episode is sponsored by Momentous! Visit their website at livemomentous.com and use the code RDSNIPPETS20 at checkout to get 20% off your order!

You have to go through the fire to become the fire! LaReine Schock-Leonard talks all about the value of hard work, patience and loving what you do! LaReine shares the challenges she faced early on in her career and she overcame it. We also talk about LaReine's amazing Linkedin post and her thoughts behind the graphic! Early RD's this one is for you!  A native of Rose Hill, Kansas, Schock-Leonard became Director of Olympic Sports Nutrition at West Virginia University after serving nine months as the director of sports nutrition for North Dakota State University, where she was responsible for all of the nutritional needs of the university’s 450 student-athletes. She also aided in the development of a new eating disorder treatment protocol for Bison athletics. Prior to that, she served as a sports nutrition graduate assistant for the Ole Miss volleyball and softball teams. She completed her dietetic internship at Ole Miss in May 2020, where she completed specialty rotations with Clemson Olympic Sports Nutrition and Ole Miss football sports nutrition. She also served as a sports nutrition intern at Tulsa University in the summer and fall of 2016. Schock-Leonard graduated from Wichita State with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Exercise Science in 2016 and from the University of Mississippi with a Master of Science degree in Food and Nutrition Services. She completed more than 1,300 hours of supervised practice in clinical, food service, public health and sports performance with an emphasis in sports as part of her dietetic internship at the University of Mississippi. This Episode is sponsored by Momentous! Use the code RDSNIPPETS to get 20% your order of $40 or more. Check out their website at livemomentous.com 

Calling ALL Students and Early Professionals! This episode features an undergrad student, dietetic intern and an Early RD in the field! We talk all about the hardest part of where each panelist is in their career path right now, best advice on communication with supervisors/mentors, how to overcome imposter syndrome and more!  Nancy Siegel is currently a junior in the Didactic program of Dietetics at the Ohio State University majoring in Human Nutrition/Dietetics with the ultimate goal of becoming a Sports RD. She is working as the head undergraduate leader of the Sports Nutrition Club which includes working in fuel zones, creating volunteer schedules, and facilitating general membership meetings with the performance nutrition team. Right now, she spends her time with football, men and women’s basketball, and men’s ice hockey teams. She also owns a small business titled “Nutrition ‘N Nancy” that produces homemade protein bites that are sold at local farmers markets and business wholesale. Her education thus far has helped her business and inspired her to help athletes fuel to win every day. She’s focused her undergraduate career on gaining experience in many areas of the field such as with clinical nutrition working as a dietary aide, volunteering in community nutrition, and becoming an active member of the Student Dietetic Association. These experiences have led her to pursue a career in sports nutrition as she spends her time at OSU and pursues graduate school in the future. Chelsea Shafer graduated from Purdue University in December of 2020 where she also served as a fueling station manager for Purdue Athletics. She has now moved on to be a dietetic intern at Duke University through the Wellness Workdays program working with the soccer and basketball teams for a 20 week rotation. Chelsea has also been on the CPSDA student committee since Fall 2020 and will continue her role as co-chair until Fall 2022. Alex Winnicki was a Robot Programmer for John Deere, but gave up the 9 to 5 in order to pursue professional cycling. After a brief stint on the UCI professional cycling team Cyclus Sports Alex saw a need for evidence-based nutrition education among athletes. After completing his education in nutrition and dietetics at Appalachian State and Lamar University Alex was accepted into the Gatorade SNIP Fellowship program through Northwestern University. Currently, In his fellowship role he is the lead sports dietitian for men's and women's soccer, assisting RD for football, fuel bar manager, and is deeply involved in data collection for performance nutrition related research. Upon completing my fellowship at NU in March of 2022, Alex will continue to work towards obtaining CSSD and CSCS and pursue career opportunities in performance nutrition.  On a personal note Alex loves exploring the Chicago restaurant scene with my amazing girlfriend and also RD Mckayla Braender, He also love cycling, weight lifting, playing guitar, and nerding out over nutrition related research.  This episode is sponsored by Momentous! Check out their website at livemomentous.com and use the code RDSNIPPETS at checkout for 20% your order of $40 or more!