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Find a sports nutrition nutritionist or dietitian covered by your insurance
When it comes to optimizing athletic performance and maintaining overall health, nutrition plays a crucial role. These specialized sports nutrition nutritionists and dietitians possess the expertise to understand the unique dietary needs and physiological demands of various sports, enabling them to design personalized nutrition plans that help maximize performance, prevent injury, and support recovery.
By prioritizing a sports nutrition nutritionist or dietitian, you can be confident that they are well-versed in essential concepts such as macronutrient and micronutrient balance, hydration, supplementation, and periodization. This ensures that your nutritionist or dietitian is equipped to address your specific needs, providing tailored advice and guidance that considers your training schedule, intensity, and individual goals.
Shirley Plotnik, RD
Abby Banks, RD
Spencer Simons, RD
John Quintanilla, RD
Marlisa Pitchford, RD
Emily Carlson, RD
Dominick Luna, RD
Mark Levine, RD
Angelique Gouin, RD
Paige Bossart, RD
Fay has high standards for quality of care, read more about how we screen providers to guarantee you're meeting with the best nutrition and wellness experts in the country.
Sports nutrition counseling covered by insurance
The best sports nutrition nutritionists and dietitians
Fay has high standards for quality of care, read more about how we screen providers to guarantee you're meeting with the best nutrition and wellness experts in the country.
Fay has high standards for quality of care, read more about how we screen providers to guarantee you're meeting with the best nutrition and wellness experts in the country.
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Can't find the right match?
Work with a sports dietitian or nutritionist covered by your insurance
Optimize your sports nutrition
As an athlete, you have specific nutrition requirements. It can be difficult to manage all the different factors:
- Knowing what to eat and when
- Recovering well to keep up with training demands
- Ensuring you’re eating the right mix of macronutrients
Chronic under-fueling can lead to diminished athletic performance and even injuries.
Optimize your sports nutrition
As an athlete, you have specific nutrition requirements. It can be difficult to manage all the different factors:
- Knowing what to eat and when
- Recovering well to keep up with training demands
- Ensuring you’re eating the right mix of macronutrients
Chronic under-fueling can lead to diminished athletic performance and even injuries.
Everyone's journey is different, so your dietitian works with you 1 on 1 to provide a hyper-personalized plan
Have you tried (seemingly) every diet out there with limited success? Trying to beat prediabetes holistically? Worn out from life and know your diet could be better but don’t know where to start? Your dietitian will assess all this and more to craft a completely personalized approach for your treatment based on your goals, lifestyle, health history, motivators, and more. Fay dietitians use clinically proven methods to drive results, including goal setting, intuitive eating, nutrition education, lifestyle counseling, lab testing, and meal planning.
The world of nutrition is overwhelming. There’s so much information out there – but how can you know what’s right for you? The reality is: nutrition is complex and requires an expert’s guidance. Registered dietitians are the only nutrition professionals qualified to offer medical nutrition therapy (MNT). That means RDNs have a deep understanding of the chemical properties of food and how that interacts with one’s body on a cellular level to impact overall health. Instead of stressing out over the latest food trend, put your care in the hands of a dietitian and find ease in knowing you’re getting personalized, research-backed nutrition advice.
Ready to break free from the harsh voice in your head criticizing your every food choice? Whether weight loss is part of your goals or not, your dietitian can help calm the noise with a research-backed approach that addresses both the practical challenges of daily meals and the psychological factors of disordered eating. You can learn ways to manage your health and weight that go beyond the confines of a traditional “diet” by prioritizing balance and finding the right nutrition approach for you personally.
Accountability is a crucial factor in making any lifestyle change. Having a set weekly meeting with your dietitian – and knowing you have an expert on your side – can make a world of difference when it comes to sticking to your nutrition goals. You’ll have regular check-ins where you go over your progress and any challenges you’re facing, and together, you and your dietitian will make adjustments to account for your evolving needs. RDNs know as well as anyone that a successful plan is one that fits into your life, not works against it.
You have to make a lot of decisions every day, including what to eat. Meal planning removes the headache of that decision, and when it’s done in partnership with your dietitian, it’s that much easier to meet your goals without exhausting yourself in the process. All the hard work of figuring out how much to eat and when is already done for you – you just need to stick to the plan. Your RDN can provide meal ideas and recipes too, which can help boost adherence and make following your plan simpler and more enjoyable.
No matter why you’re getting a dietitian’s expertise, intuitive eating principles can help almost anyone cultivate a healthier relationship with food. Using behavioral psychology, intuitive eating emphasizes getting in touch with your body to better understand hunger and fullness cues, identify emotional eating, and remove any shame or guilt that might come up. With this psychological approach, your dietitian can help you calm the “food noise” in your mind to cultivate a sense of empowerment and joy in eating once again.
Meeting your nutrition goals is about more than just the food you eat. Your daily routine – activity level, sleep schedule, stress levels, work life, and environment – has a huge impact on your overall health. Your dietitian will create your personalized plan based on these factors and more. Taking this approach makes your plan more realistic, which makes achieving your goals easier. It also allows your RD to identify any potential challenges and craft a plan to overcome them.
Food can play an important role in managing chronic health conditions, but you need an expert to guide you. Fay has dietitians specializing in diabetes, IBS, PCOS, thyroid health, obesity, and more. These providers can collaborate directly with your broader care team to ensure your nutrition plan is aligned with your ongoing treatments. Your RDN can do more than just make a meal plan based on your goals and condition – they can also educate you on the key factors of eating for that condition, empowering you to continue the care for yourself.
Health is foundational to wellbeing. Fay dietitians are qualified to support weight loss, hormonal imbalances, chronic disease, and much more. Collaborating with an RDN greatly increases your chances of success in meeting your goals. Whatever your nutrition goals are, you can find a board-certified registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in that area with Fay.
What to look for in a sports nutritionist
Excellent qualifications
The title of “nutritionist” can be very loosely defined based on where you’re located. A registered dietitian nutritionist, however, is a protected title, which means only those who meet the stringent requirements can use it. RDNs are the most qualified nutrition providers out there.
Expertise in athletics
Sports nutrition is about a lot more than just what food you eat. It involves meal timing, proper recovery nutrition, balanced macronutrients, and a lot more. For women, the female athlete triad (disordered eating, menstrual irregularities, and bone density loss) is a particular concern. You’ll want to work with a dietitian who specializes in sports nutrition to ensure you’re getting the best care possible.
Thoughtful approach
Adding someone to your training team requires a lot of trust. Look for someone experienced who also has a good rapport, and aligns with your personality and athletic mindset. With Fay, you can read through all the providers’ reviews before booking a consultation to learn more about their approach. And if it’s not a good fit, you can meet with another provider, no problem.
Accepts insurance
Being an athlete with a support team can get expensive. Luckily, there are health insurance benefits you can take advantage of to get your care covered. Fay makes this easy – all providers accept health insurance and you can check which ones are compatible with your plan before booking. Plus, they bill directly on your behalf, so you don’t need to worry.
Find your new sports nutritionist with Fay
Custom approach
Each athlete has their own personal needs and goals. Your Fay sports nutritionist will create a custom plan specific to your sport and individual factors. This will be based on a thorough intake that goes over your health history, athletic accomplishments and goals, and much more. This plan will be in lockstep with your overall training program for maximum impact.
Experience in sports nutrition
Crafting a nutrition plan for an athlete is different than a plan for someone who wants to lose weight. Working with an experienced sports nutritionist means you are getting someone with a solid background in athletics and a well-rounded understanding of athletic nutrition needs. You can filter for sports nutritionists in the Fay database to find a dietitian with this expertise.
Flexible meeting arrangements
Finding a good sports nutritionist is one thing, but finding time to meet with them is another. Having the flexibility to meet virtually is a crucial differentiator that can make sports nutrition counseling much more accessible. All Fay dietitians offer virtual services – but you can also meet in-person if that’s your preference.
Broader nutrition guidance
If you’re also dealing with food intolerances or allergies, injuries, or eating disorder recovery alongside your athletic pursuits, your Fay dietitian can support you in all of it. While your RDN might specialize in sports nutrition, they will have education in all facets of nutrition and can support you however you need.
Top nutrition concerns for athletes
Sports performance & injury prevention
As an athlete, food is one of many important components of your training, performance, and recovery. What should you eat? When? How much? Do you need to eat during a workout? How much protein do you need? All of these questions are likely swirling around in your mind amidst all your other training concerns, like your next workout, upcoming competition, and ongoing recovery. With a registered dietitian, you can be sure you’re hitting the mark on all of the above and fueling for performance.
Meal timing
When you eat is just as important as what you eat. A poorly timed meal can have a drastic effect on a competition or workout, leading to digestive distress or inadequate energy. Everyone digests food differently, so it’s crucial to find what works for you. Working with a registered dietitian, you can methodically test different approaches to find your personal optimal meal timing to ensure proper energy and prevent any digestive upset.
Body composition
Many sports require weight management, whether to make a certain weight class or maintain optimal dynamics. You also want to be sure you’re fueling for muscle growth. Whatever your goals are, your Fay dietitian can help you reach them with a personalized meal plan that is tailored to your specific needs. If you struggle with disordered eating, your RDN can also help manage that as you tackle this often-complicated facet of athletics.
Macro- & micronutrient intake
Every athlete wants to know: how much protein should I eat? Protein is a crucial element of sports nutrition, but so are the other macronutrients, fat and carbohydrates, as well as micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Your dietitian will provide custom macros and nutrient guidelines based on your personal health history and athletic goals, all designed to prime you for top performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a nutritionist or dietitian help with sports nutrition?
A registered dietitian nutritionist is an excellent partner for athletes. They create custom meal plans for optimal nutrition tailored to your specific sport, health history, and goals. Working with a nutritionist is one of the best ways to support your athletic performance and fulfill your aspirations.
Is sports nutrition covered by insurance?
With Fay, it is! All Fay dietitians accept health insurance, making sports nutrition much more accessible than your traditional provider. Fay bills directly on your behalf so you don’t have to worry. Many users pay as little as $0 per session.
Does Fay have online or virtual dietitians and nutritionists who can help with sports and fitness?
All Fay providers work both in-person and virtually. This makes nutrition counseling much more convenient and opens you up to providers across the country instead of limiting you to those in your area.
How much protein do I need as an athlete?
How much protein you need depends on your body composition and athletic goals. Your dietitian will give you a custom daily protein goal based on your personal intake.
Start working with a sports nutritionist
Ready to fuel for top performance? Start working with a Fay sports nutritionist today.
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