Here at Dineamic we have the pleasure of working with an amazing team of nutritionists and dietitians, some who've already led illustrious careers in nutrition and dietetics, and others who are starting out on their own amazing professional pathways. Claire Saundry has been part of the Dineamic Team for a number of years, however more recently she became the dietitian at the 2016 AFL Premiership winning, Western Bulldogs. We sat down with Claire to get an insight into her journey and see how important sports nutrition was to the Western Bulldogs.

Congratulations on your fantastic efforts this season!

Can you tell us a little about how you ended up being the dietitian for the Western Bulldogs?

I was lucky enough to work as student dietitian under Simone Austin at Hawthorn Football Club in 2015. From the experience I  gained from Hawthorn and all that I learnt through my mentors including Simone Austin, Karen Inge and Emma Stirling, I have been extremely fortunate. It was through great networking and hard work that I ended up being dietitian for the Western Bulldogs. I went though the normal process, wrote a cover letter and resume, then got invited for an interview and was then accepted into the role at the start of 2015/2016 pre-season.

 

If you had to sum up the year in just a few words, what would they be?

Unreal feeling, never say die attitude.

 

What was the biggest challenge you faced this year within your role at the Bulldogs?

Scheduling, the boys have a fairly tight schedule when at the club, so it can sometimes be difficult to catch the players one on one for a nutrition consultation – my ways around this include talking to them in the gym or during meal times.

How would you rate the nutrition knowledge of the players before they started working with you?

It was a real mixture, some had quite good knowledge and some didn’t have much knowledge at all. 

 

Can you describe a typical day’s intake for a player during training in terms of frequency and quantity?

Breakfast: 3 x poached eggs on 2 pieces of multigrain toast with half an avocado plus a café latte. A banana on the way to training.

Mid Morning / After Training: Glass of high protein milk or normal milk, handful of fruit, plus banana and date loaf

Lunch: Large multigrain wrap with tandoori chicken, tzatziki yoghurt and green salad plus an apple and latte

Mid Afternoon: 2 handfuls of almonds/mixed nuts plus a tub of Chobani yoghurt

Arrive home: Bowl of soup (pumpkin or tomato)

Dinner: Fillet of salmon, 1 cup of brown rice and steamed greens or Dineamic Thai Green Chicken curry with steamed broccoli and 90 second brown rice

After Dinner: Frozen berries with 3 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt

How important was meal preparation in the player’s meal planning? How did Dineamic fit into their requirements?

Meal preparation was a huge area to consider when it came to meal planning. Most nights the boys get home from training late or complain that they are to exhausted to prepare dinner. During my education with the players, I educate them on easy to prepare main meals, what they should stock their cupboards with so that a meal can be easily prepared and to write down at the start of the week what they are going to have for dinner during the week. Players always tell me that if they are not organised then they are more likely to go for takeaway. Dineamic makes meal planning extremely easy as there is no stress about having to shop, prepare and/or cook. The boys really love how tasty and convenient Dineamic. We have many players with children and families and they speak incredibly highly of Dineamic as a healthy well balanced family meal.  

Congratulations Claire and the whole team at The Western Bulldogs for a fantastic season in 2016 and we wish you all the best in 2017.

To hear more from Claire listen to her interview on 3AW here