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Ep167: Mary Ellen Kelly, Performance Nutrition

April 30, 2024
Mary Ellen Kelly is credentialed as a registered dietitian (RD) and board-certified sports dietitian (CSSD). She holds a Bachelor of Science in nutrition from Boston University, where she was a 4-year member of the NCAA Division 1 varsity women’s track and field team. She earned her master’s degree in clinical nutrition from New York University and completed her clinical training at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center (JJPVA) in Bronx, New York. 

Mary Ellen is the Manager of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA) Sports Nutrition Immersion Program (SNIP) fellowship. She is also currently an Adjunct Faculty for Boston University and has previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Bloomsburg University and online Adjunct Faculty at Drexel University. In 2014 she was hired into a full-time team dietitian role in the National Football League (NFL) with the Miami Dolphins and worked with them for over three years. Mary Ellen was the Head Sports Nutritionist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and prior to UNC, she served as the Campus Dietitian/Sports Nutritionist at St. John’s University in Queens, NY. She began her career as a staff dietitian at the JJPVA.

In 2018 Mary Ellen Kelly founded Fuel Forward, private practice and nutrition consulting business offering nutrition-related speaking, writing, consulting, and coaching for groups and individuals. Current or former clients include but are not limited to: Baylor University, Bloomsburg University, Boston College Varsity Women’s Lacrosse and Field Hockey, Boston University, Golf Mind & Body, LaSalle University, New York Liberty (WNBA), North Coast Seafood, Trimsarter.com, University of Delaware, USA Lacrosse.

In the episode Mary Ellen and I discuss her work with Liberty, being a vegan athlete, importance of getting enough protein and fiber, why nutrition is both simple and complicated, essentials of fueling adequately, and high school, collegiate, and aging athletes.

If you like this episode, here’s a Spotify playlist of other Sports Nutrition episodes.

Fuel Forward
Free 15 minute consult with Mary Ellen
Find Mary Ellen on IG
21 year old vegan ski racer, Sydney Palmer-Leger on Hear Her Sports
Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association
Sports and Human Performance Nutrition
Heidi Skolnick’s terrific book, Total Body Reset.
Nutrition CAN be simple. Check out my conversation with Sports Nutritionist, Nancy Clark
Nancy Clark wrote Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook.
Hormone Intelligence by Aviva Romm
Mary Ellen recommended Stacy Sim's Next Level & ROAR, along with Raising Body Positive Teens.
Order both on our Bookshop page.
Find all our book recommendations at hearhersports.com/books.