Sports RD Snippets

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! 

Transitioning into a New Role! Nicole Kiley was recently named the Assistant Athletics Director of Nutrition at Iowa State! Nicole talks all about how her past experiences set her up for success in this new role. She shares advice for new directors, professionalism in the workplace, and redefining your dream job! 

Nicole Kiley is currently the Assistant Athletics Director for Nutrition at Iowa State. Kiley comes to Iowa State from UNLV, where she served as Director of Performance Nutrition from 2017-22. Kiley's exceptional department leadership helped to support the clinical and sport performance needs of UNLV's 515 student-athletes. She was integral in the launch and management of their first athlete-only training table and fueling stations.

Kiley maximized relationships with the School of Hospitality and School of Health Sciences to expand her nutrition and culinary team, further enhancing the sport nutrition presence across athletics at UNLV. She is a master's level registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics with over seven years of experience in collegiate and professional sports.

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!

Episode 50- Crazy that halfway to 100 happens to fall on this episode! I reflect on closing one chapter and turning the page to another. I share life lessons, advice and insight on my first full-time job. So many changes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! PS: I'm coming HOME!!

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!

Tactical Nutrition!

Taylor Lile shares the behind the scenes of her role with the US Army in the Holistic Health and Fitness Program. Taylor has incredible advice for sports dietitians on work-life balance while still thriving in your role as a Sports RD. Interested in a 40-hour work week that compensates well? This episode is for you!

Taylor Lile, MSc, RDN, CSSD, LD is a registered dietitian, Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, with over nine years of sports nutrition experience working with NCAA division I and professional athletes and military combat forces. Her interest in sports nutrition began in high school through her own experience as an athlete and how diet impacted her performance. At the University of Oklahoma, she was a sports nutrition volunteer with the football team, while earning her Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences. In graduate school at Loughborough University in England, Taylor worked with the Nottingham Panthers of EIHL as a sports dietitian while earning her Master’s degree in Sports and Exercise Nutrition. Taylor has worked as a sports dietitian at Clemson University, the University of Oregon, West Virginia University, with the NFL Dallas Cowboys, Gatorade Sports Science Institute working with the NBA G-League Texas Legends team and currently with the US Army Command Forces. Taylor has written blog content for Dairy MAX, a non-profit dairy council, and speaks at a variety of health and nutrition engagements to various businesses and companies. Taylor is the CEO and founder of Taylored for Performance, LLC, a business created to provide nutritional services to elite athletes educating on optimal eating around training to enhance performance and healthier lifestyles.

This episode is sponsored by Momentous! Visit their website at livemomentous.com and use the code RDSNIPPETS 20 at checkout to get 20% off your order!

25K Downloads! 

With 25,000 downloads since the podcast started in August of 2020 I’m sharing 25 lessons I’ve learned as Sports RD! Thank you all so much for listening and spreading the word! 

My top 6 lessons!

1. Go with your gut

2. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it

3. Go for it!

4. Always have an agenda

5. Over communicate

6. Write a thank you note

47 Episodes down and so many more Sports RD’s to go! Thank you for being here! Cheers to 25K more!

This episode is sponsored by Momentous. Check out their website at livemomentous.com and use the code RDSNIPPETS20 for 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.

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 

Say YES to opportunities that will serve you! Jana Heitmeyer has incredible advice for early dietitians on how to have a sustainable career as a Sports RD. Jana Heitmeyer has served as the UGAAA Director of Sports Nutrition since September 2017. In March 2019, she was elected to act as one of nine members of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association Board of Directors.

Before coming to Georgia, Heitmeyer was the Director of Sports Nutrition at both Baylor University (May 2015-August 2017) and the University of Missouri (January 2007-May 2015). Also at Missouri, she served as Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning from February 2006 to January 2007.

Heitmeyer received a Bachelor of Science from Kent State University in 2003 before going on to earn her Master of Education and Bachelor of Science in Dietetics at the University of Missouri.

She has two sons: Gage (8) and Zayden (4).

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!

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!

You can't fix everyone! Wendy Sterling shares incredible advice for dietitians working with eating disorders in sport. Wendy talks all about the plate by plate approach, biggest mistakes dietitians make when working with eating disorders, and the value of networking! 

Wendy Sterling, MS, RD, CSSD, CEDRD-S is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and Approved Supervisor through the International Eating Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, and a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics in the Bay Area in California. She has consulted for the Oakland Athletics, Golden State Warriors, NY Jets, and NY Islanders. She is the co-author of How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder, No Weigh! A Teens Guide to Body Image, Food, and Emotional Wisdom and the forthcoming, Raising Body Positive Teens: A Parent's Guide to Diet-Free Living, Exercise and Body Image.  She maintains a private practice and is now seeing patients virtually. For more on her practice, check out her website at: www.sterlingnutrition.com. Follow her on Instagram at @wendy_sterling and @platebyplateapproach   or  Twitter: @WendyMSRD. 

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!