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Sally Anderson

Director & Founder

Advanced Sports Dietitian | Exercise Physiologist,
Level 1 Anthropometrist

Sally Anderson is an Advanced Sports Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist, and the founder of Apple to Zucchini Performance Nutrition.

Sally has a special interest in energy availability, specifically for adolescent athletes (think: fuelling for the work done, and for the growth needed). Sally also has expertise and experience in supporting individuals experiencing disordered eating and eating disorders, and female athletes.

Despite over 20 years practicing as a sports dietitian, Sally remains committed to ongoing and regular professional development and continues to strengthen her advanced clinical reasoning and paths forwards for clients.

Sally has wide ranging experience in elite sport (Tennis Australia, Queensland Academy of Sport, Australian Institute of Sport, Brisbane Lions AFL, Queensland Reds Rugby Union, and a multitude of individual athletes from motorsport, dance, triathlon, cycling, diving, rowing and a host of others) to the committed non-elite athlete, to the individual wanting to recover from disordered eating patterns and improve their health profile.

Sally & Apple to Zucchini’s backstory:

Sally’s journey into the world of nutrition began during her lightweight rowing days. She quickly recognised the undeniable connection between proper fuelling, physique, health and athletic performance, which set the foundation for her career.

Sally’s dietetic career began in research with an honours thesis on caffeine use in elite athletes. She then tied her dietetics and exercise science background together by completing the Sports Nutrition Course at the Australian Institute of Sport. From there, Sally began consulting for various sports teams and elite sport programs.

In 2006, Sally established her private practice, Apple to Zucchini, in far north Queensland. Today, she continues to run the practice from the Queensland Sports Medicine Centre in Brisbane, working alongside a team of outstanding colleagues.

Apple to Zucchini originally built its reputation on a strong foundation of endurance athletes. Over time, however, the practice has evolved to embrace a more diverse clientele, thanks to Sally’s work with the Australian Institute of Sport, the Queensland Academy of Sport, and growing a team which each have their own expertise and specialties under the sports nutrition banner. Despite this diversity, the core of the practice remains focused on the critical intersection of performance and health.

Qualifications & affiliations:

  • Advanced Sports Dietitian
  • Accredited Practising Dietitian
  • Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician
  • Exercise Physiologist
  • Level 1 ISAK Anthropometrist
  • International Olympic Committee’s Diploma in Elite Sports Nutrition
  • Sports Dietitians Australia – Vice President

Worked with:

  • Queensland Academy of Sport (Athletics, Rowing, Beach Volleyball, Hockey, and Diving programs)
  • Queensland Ballet 
  • Queensland Ballet Academy
  • Australian Institute of Sport (National Officiating Program)
  • Diving Australia
  • Tennis Australia
  • Consultant performance dietitian to: Australian Defence Force, Red Bull Racing
  • Queensland Reds Rugby Union
  • Brisbane Lions AFL

Specialties:

  • Adolescent athlete fuelling
  • Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs)
  • Disordered eating & eating disorders support
  • Weight & eating management for improved health
  • High performance athletes: dancers, motorsport, gymnasts, divers, aesthetic performance athletes
  • Weight-category sports: rowing and combat

Professional development / treatment approach:

  • ACT for Adolescents (Russ Harris)
  • CBT – GSH (Queensland Health)
  • Motivational Interviewing (Practice Pavestones)
  • Eating Disorder Essentials (Shane Jeffrey & Fiona Sutherland)
  • Eating Disorders in Sport (AIS)
  • Trauma Informed in Sport (The Mindful Dietitian)
  • Mental Health in Sport (AIS)
  • Body Image (Marci Evans)
  • Sports Dietitians Australia Masterclasses (Injury, Hydration, Endurance)

Two things I can’t live without are:
… music and sunshine

9am on a Sunday morning, and I am:
… sipping coffee, reading a book in the park by the creek with the dog

My favourite training session is:
… dusk run by the river

Tea or coffee?
… coffee in the morning, tea at night

Most recent hobby I’ve acquired
… learning to ride a motorbike!

My last meal would be:
… Beccofino’s duck ragu with a good glass of red

My nutrition philosophy:
… take time to enjoy and celebrate food – where it’s come from, how it can change the way you feel, and the way it brings people together. There’s a place for fuelling performance just as much as there’s a place for soul food!