Personalized Sports Nutrition Plans for Teens and Adults

What does a sports dietitian do?

A sports dietitian helps athletes and active people fuel their bodies in a way that supports performance, recovery, energy levels, and overall health. At Ruby Oak Nutrition, our sports dietitians help clients navigate things like pre- and post-workout nutrition, hydration, recovery, under-fueling, digestive issues during exercise, body image concerns, and building a more sustainable relationship with food and movement. We care just as much about your overall health and well-being as we do about your performance.

Who can benefit from sports nutrition counseling?

Sports nutrition counseling isn’t just for professional athletes. We work with high school athletes, college athletes, recreational exercisers, endurance athletes, people returning to movement after injury, and anyone who wants to feel stronger, more energized, and better fueled for activity. One of our goals is to make sports nutrition more accessible to the everyday athlete, since it can really make a big difference in how you feel during and between workouts. Whether you’re training for your first 5k, trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon, competing in a local powerlifting meet, or starting an elite collegiate sports career, we’re here to help.

Do I need to be an athlete to work with a sports dietitian?

Not at all. Many of our clients simply want support with eating consistently, improving energy levels, feeling better during workouts, or learning how to fuel movement without falling into rigid food rules or diet culture. Since our dietitians specialize in a wide range of conditions and concerns, it’s OK if sports performance is only a small part of what you want to work on with your dietitian. This is also what sets us apart from nutrition coaches or gym-sponsored nutrition programs: As dietitians, we can help you manage all aspects of your health through nutrition, not just athletic performance and recovery.

Can sports nutrition counseling help improve athletic performance?

Yes. Nutrition plays a major role in energy availability, recovery, endurance, strength, concentration, and injury prevention. Under-fueling or inconsistent eating can make training feel harder and recovery slower. Over time, this can also have a pretty significant on your metabolism, bone health, sleep cycle, and chronic disease risk. A sports dietitian can help you build eating patterns that support both your goals and your overall health while still fitting into your real life.

Can you help with fueling for endurance sports like running or cycling?

Absolutely. We work with runners, cyclists, triathletes, and other endurance athletes on things like carb loading, long-run fueling, hydration, electrolyte needs, race-day nutrition, recovery nutrition, and preventing energy crashes during training.

Do you help athletes with eating disorders or disordered eating?

Yes. This is one of our specialties at Ruby Oak Nutrition. Many athletes struggle with pressure around body size, performance, or “clean eating,” which can contribute to disordered eating patterns. Our dietitians provide sports nutrition support through a non-diet, evidence-based lens that prioritizes both performance and physical and mental health. Some of our dietitians are former collegiate athletes who understand the pressures of high-level athletics, particularly the harmful body image dynamics that are often present in these environments.

What is RED-S?

RED-S stands for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. It happens when someone isn’t eating enough to support both their exercise demands and their body’s basic physiological needs. RED-S can affect hormones, bone health, recovery, mood, energy levels, concentration, and athletic performance. Sports nutrition counseling can help identify and address under-fueling before it leads to more serious health concerns.

Can sports nutrition counseling help prevent injuries?

Under-eating or being deficienct in certain nutrients increases your injury risk, especially if it happens over a long period of time. Being underfueled for too long can negatively impact your bone density and increase your risk of stress fractures, which are tough to recover from and can make it harder to continue in your sport of choice long-term. Eating too little also means it’ll take you longer to recover, which raises injury risk. Our sports nutrition counseling helps ensure that you’re getting enough energy, carbohydrates, protein, fluids, and key nutrients helps support recovery and overall resilience.

Will I get a sports nutrition meal plan?

The short answer: Probably not. We don’t hand out printable meal plans, because they’re too generic to be helpful. (That $200 downloadable meal plan your friend bought from a fitness influencer? That was probably just an AI-generated plan with good marketing.) That said, we sometimes work collaboratively with you to create a custom, flexible meal plan that can help you reach your goals without being too rigid about food. Some clients benefit from more structure, while others do better with flexible guidance. One huge benefit of personalized sports nutrition counseling is that your dietitian takes the time to get to know you, which makes it possible to make specific recommendations that are tailored to your goals, your lifestyle, and your personality.

Can you help with sports supplements?

Yes. We can help you sort through sports nutrition supplements, protein powders, electrolyte products, creatine, caffeine, and other performance products. We’ll help you understand what’s evidence-based, what may not be necessary, and how supplements fit into the bigger picture of fueling and recovery.

Can sports nutrition counseling help with digestive issues during exercise?

Yes. Many athletes experience GI symptoms like cramping, nausea, reflux, bloating, or urgent bathroom trips during exercise. We can help identify patterns, adjust fueling strategies, and troubleshoot nutrition habits that may be contributing to symptoms.

What should I eat before and after workouts?

In general, eating enough carbohydrates before activity and including both carbohydrates and protein afterward can help support energy and recovery. But so much depends on your exercise routine, your lifestyle, and how your body reacts to different foods. Through regular appointments with your sports dietitian, you’ll figure out what works best for you.

Do you work with teen athletes?

Yes. We work with adolescent athletes on fueling for growth, development, school schedules, sports performance, and recovery. We also support families navigating concerns about picky eating, body image, sports pressure, or restrictive eating patterns in young athletes.