How I Became a Dietitian

My name is Mary Glenn Lipman and I am the Assistant Director of Sports Nutrition at Vanderbilt University. The story of how I became a dietitian stems from a few high school experiences. First of all, I love to cook. I grew up helping my mom in the kitchen making family recipes for dinner after sports practices. As these practices became more competitive, my mindset began to switch from just working alongside my mom, to thinking about how this food fuels my body? I knew I always had a sentimental value to food and a love for sports, so when I got to college, I thought, how can these two passions of mine be combined? When I was accepted into Auburn University, I researched different majors offered and discovered a Nutrition/Dietetics Program. A program all about how food affects and can heal your body. Upon further investigation, I found Auburn Athletics had a sports dietitian. What a perfect combination!

In my first semester at Auburn University, I reached out to the sports dietitian to start shadowing him on his daily duties. This was back when there were much more restrictions on what foods can be given to student athletes. All we could provide was trail mix, fruit, and bagels. We would go to the training table nightly to have more interactions with the athletes, helping them make better choices in the cafeteria to fuel their bodies for their sport. Seeing these daily interactions with athletes reminded me of my older sister.

In high school, she ran cross country, played soccer, basketball, an all-around athlete. Unfortunately, in her freshman year, she developed an eating disorder. Something that is becoming all too common in female athlete populations. Sports dietitians were not a common profession when we were growing up. Her passion of being a successful athlete, I thought, how impactful a sports dietitian could have been for her at a young age. And then I realized what I wanted to pursue a career in – Sports Dietetics.

I want to be able to educate athletes on how much of a role food plays in performance, also how to have a healthy relationship with food. From my experiences, food is something to be enjoyed, a way to connect with others. And I strive to help every athlete along their journey.

From the struggles my sister went through and still has to this day, I believe body image awareness is a big step to building a healthy relationship with food and loving yourself. Our bodies come in different shapes and sizes. And for athletes, that is why we are better at different sports than others. Even within the same sport, different positions and events. A great example of this is the swim team. For instance, an endurance swimmer may be slender, but a sprinter is built to be more powerful. Someone who swims butterfly may have broader shoulders than someone who swims freestyle. I try to teach my female athletes that our bodies are built to be a certain way for a specific reason, and it’s lucky to have been able to find what your body was built for and excel at it, being a collegiate athlete. And after college, how to continue to love and appreciate yourself as you start a new chapter in life.

Even though I never was a collegiate athlete, as every female, I struggle with body image. Especially being a professional dietitian, I worry about how I look and if people are judging what I eat. How can I be trusted to give nutrition advice if I am not a size 0 or someone sees me eating fast food? But I have to tell myself, that is not realistic.

We all struggle with our own demons and body image issues, but opening up and talking to someone can help you find you are not alone. You can learn from others’ stories. Our bodies are used to carry us through life. So, the better we treat and respect our bodies, the more we will get out of our bodies and enjoy life.