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Sally Anderson

Director & Founder

Advanced Sports Dietitian | Exercise Physiologist
Level 1 Anthropometrist

Sally has a special interest in energy availability, specifically for adolescent athletes (think: fuelling for the work done, and fuelling for necessary growth). 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 extensive experience in elite sport, having worked with organisations such as Tennis Australia, Diving Australia, the Queensland Academy of Sport, the Australian Institute of Sport, Queensland Ballet, the Brisbane Lions (AFL), and the Queensland Reds (Rugby Union). She has also supported a diverse range of individual athletes across motorsport, triathlon, cycling, rowing, and more. Beyond elite athletes, Sally works with committed non-elite athletes and individuals seeking recovery from disordered eating patterns to 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
  • Awarded: Sports Dietitians Australia – Excellence in Mentoring

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

Publications:

  • Desbrow B, Anderson S, Barrett J, Rao E, Hargreaves M. Carbohydrate-electrolyte feedings and 1 h time trial cycling performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2004 Oct;14(5):541-9. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.14.5.541. PMID: 15673100.

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)

Three things I can’t live without are:
… eyeliner, the cat, and my incredible & sprawling family

9am on a Sunday morning, and I am:
… post-gym, second coffee deep at Sugar Mamas, and making a to-do list

My favourite training session is:
… leg day. The more DOMS the better it was

Tea or coffee?
… anything hot is fine (except camomile – vom)

Most recent hobby I’ve acquired
… not killing indoor plants, and upping the stakes by taking ownership of a bonsai 

My last meal would be:
… a degustation (in no particular order) of wasabi-crusted pan-fried salmon (rare), mum’s carrot cake (just the icing is fine), super-dry extra-chewy dried apricots, chocolate ganache, iceberg lettuce, French onion soup, agadashi tofu, fruit sourdough toast w/ peanut butter & salt. Nowhere to be seen: lychees.

My nutrition philosophy:
… well this is one that’s certainly changed over the years. Food is fuel sure – AND it is so many other things. Food is front-and-centre for human connection in the here-and-now, and I love that it has the power to ignite special memories of loved ones. On the flip side, it can also become a really tricky space when wrapped up too heavily in emotions and control. My philosophy on nutrition is that it is possible to create a relationship with food where it’s integral in moving us in the right direction for what we want in life.