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Three Weeks in the Life of a Sports Dietitian

May 2019

By Nicole Barron, BS
Dietetic Intern

My opportunity to get an inside look at sports-related nutrition started here at SCORE! From day one, I was sitting in on cabinet meetings with extremely talented coaches and athletes. I was fascinated to hear Sports Dietitian Natalie Christensen’s presentation on eating disorders and how profoundly they can interfere with an athlete’s success. 

The first few days consisted of one-on-one counseling sessions with talented athletes--Natalie often shared the latest research in nutritional science. I like to say today that in order to provide effective dietary counseling to athletes or anyone with an active lifestyle, every mentor should have sports nutritionist knowledge. Additionally, I met different ISU coaches and helped prepare team talks with Natalie.

The week ended with the opportunity to meet two Registered Dietitians from Dairy West. They traveled from Boise to meet see the SCORE program in action because Dairy West contributes funding for this sports nutrition program. During the Dairy West visit, we gave an introductory tour of ISU Athletic programs and resources.  Additionally, Natalie hosted several team talks with the soccer, tennis, and the cross country athletes.  I’m personally partial to cross country, but they were all great.

I loved learning about the SCORE program and significant impact a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) can have on the athletes or anyone with an active lifestyle!  By shadowing Natalie’s work with the ISU athletes, I was inspired and felt validated that I’m headed in the right profession.

I could not be more grateful and proud to have been a part of this unique program; meeting and learning about Dairy West, the SCORE nutritional programming, and the memories from this experience will linger for the rest of my career.