‘Making the choice to just do it’: UK alum discovers career as a performance dietitian

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 16, 2025) — Throughout her life, Kelci McHugh has always wanted to do something different. Growing up, McHugh had two main interests: the athleticism of playing soccer, and the athleticism and sacrifice exhibited by her family members’ military service.

The Middletown, Ohio native’s favorite soccer player was two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Mia Hamm. Her grandfather was a retired Colonel in the United States Air Force and a University of Kentucky engineering alum.

Today, the path McHugh is creating for herself brings those two childhood inspirations together — helping people live healthier and perform athletically at the highest level.

A recent graduate of the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) with degrees in didactic program in dietetics (DPD) and nutrition and food systems, McHugh is now a full-time performance dietitian for the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) program at Fort Liberty, North Carolina.

McHugh works with a team consisting of dietitians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches to optimize soldier performance, unit readiness and mission success.

“Each day is different and unique, it’s not traditional work,” McHugh said. “Nutritional needs are extremely individualized depending on mission, and the health and performance goals of our paratroopers. Educational opportunities and mission support takes place through a variety of individual consultations, group briefings and presentations, participation at unit training events, and writing policy or procedure recommendations.”

Additionally, McHugh is the part-time assistant director of nutritional sciences for Ayble Health, a digital gastroenterology care platform. In this role, she helps evolve the personalized diet program, builds training and education pieces for internal and external use, and assists with supporting the growth and users of the application.

“At Ayble, we are combining clinical protocols, behavior science and machine learning algorithms operating on the largest GI behavioral health database in the world to build personalized, predictive care paths for each patient,” McHugh said. “It’s essentially a digital guide to better gut health.”

University of Kentucky: ‘A special place’

When it was time to explore colleges, McHugh remembers applying to several universities, but there was something magnetic about the University of Kentucky.  

“Following in my grandfather’s footsteps, I just found a connection to the University of Kentucky,” McHugh said. “I knew it was going to be a special place for me.”

After taking a Human Nutrition and Wellness 101 class with Tammy Stephenson, Ph.D., current DHN department chair and professor, McHugh was immediately inspired.

“Making the choice to just do it,” she declared her undergraduate major in dietetics.

“Kelci demonstrated an enthusiasm for the field of dietetics and a motivation to learn and apply classroom knowledge through experiential learning and research,” Stephenson said. “She is a leader in the dietetic profession, working to support the health, well-being and performance of elite athletes and military personnel through evidence-based nutrition recommendations.  We are proud of Kelci and all our alums.”

While pursuing her undergraduate degree, McHugh was able to take advantage of unique experiential opportunities, including volunteering in dietetics in the UK Athletics performance nutrition department, helping athletes reach their performance goals. This performance nutrition internship experience connected McHugh to Dawn Brewer, and McHugh became Brewer’s graduate research assistant.

While pursuing her master’s degree, McHugh did a supervised practice dietetic internship for 1,200+ hours. The community rotation experience consisted of stints at UK Athletics and the clinical and food service systems management rotation at the Owensboro Health Regional Hospital.

“These internships really helped prepare me for what I’m doing today,” McHugh said. “I learned to have confidence in decision making, problem solving and finding creative ways for healthy foods and living.”

Dietetics is a unique career field

For those aspiring for a career in dietetics and human nutrition, McHugh believes there are a lot of opportunities.

McHugh adds that future success is not only about making the choice to gain the necessary knowledge and hands-on experiences but also developing soft skills.

“Gaining clinical knowledge is necessary, but it doesn’t have to be in a hospital,” McHugh said. “For instance, one of my first jobs after graduating was an assistant sports nutrition consultant for the Chicago Cubs.”

McHugh adds, “Though athletes are thought of as ‘healthier,’ the principles in biochem or diets from MNT (Medical Nutrition Therapy) still help navigate recommendations for nutrient timing and injury recovery. As a performance dietitian, you must be ready to tackle the workday in all aspects of dietetics. In these types of organizations, you tend to work in small nutrition teams, and as the only nutrition expert. Because of this, personality is key. You must also have a positive, outgoing and creative personality and be able to show empathy, understanding and be open-minded. This will help set yourself apart from others.”

Because of McHugh’s experience with the Chicago Cubs, she was able to earn her Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics.

“Opportunities that are most challenging, and maybe not traditional, are probably going to be the most rewarding,” adds McHugh. “Stay consistent, do what you are passionate about and remember that it must be your choice. I made the choice to just do it.”

UK’s DPD and Accelerated Coordinated Program (ACP) is celebrating 50 years of being accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The DPD and ACP provides education, leadership, research and service in food, nutrition and management — preparing students for supervised practice and leading to eligibility for the Commission on Dietetic Registration national registry exam to earn the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist credential.

To learn more, visit https://dhn.ca.uky.edu.