Amy Bragg, one of the first registered and licensed dieticians to work fulltime in Division I athletics, is beginning her seventh year as director of performance nutrition for the Texas A&M athletic department. Bragg provides nutritional programming for A&M’s student-athletes. Passionate about utilizing the environ-ment to teach student-athletes about nutrition, Bragg views eating at team meals and choosing recovery foods after team workouts as hands-on educational opportunities.

Nutrition services offered to student-athletes range from grocery shopping tours and cooking demonstra-tion classes to team meetings and one-on-one counseling for performance enhancement. Bragg also plans training table, travel and pregame meals and works closely with the coaching, strength and con-ditioning and athletic training staffs, recommending ways to help maximize the student-athletes’ health and performance.

The highly respected Bragg is one of only 110 registered dietitians in the United States to have earned the Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) credential developed by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), the credentialing agency of the American Dietetic Association (ADA). CSSDs apply sports nutrition science to fueling fitness, sport and athletic performance for college, professional and Olympic athletes worldwide.

In 2007, Bragg was honored as the Big 12 Sports Nutritionist of the Year and also was appointed as-sistant director of Sports Dietetics-USA (SD-USA), whose 500-plus members focus on sports nutrition issues, educating sports dietetics professionals and advancing sports dietetics as a career specialty.

Born and raised in Pittsburg, Texas, Bragg received a bachelor of business administration degree in finance from the University of Texas in 1995 and a bachelor of science degree in human nutrition and foods from the University of Houston in 2000.

Following her graduation from Houston, Bragg served as a nutrition coach and consultant in the Houston area. She has advised more than 6,000 athletes and others on how to improve their athletic per- formance and general health by controlling their weight and increasing muscle mass, strength and stamina.

In addition to her work as a consultant to numerous athletes, Bragg served as an author for “Ask the Sports Nutritionist” for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine’s website and served as a speaker at high school “Junior Days,” recommending ways that prospective college athletes could improve their health through diet. She also worked at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital as a clinical dietitian.

Bragg is an active member of the ADA and American College Sports Medicine (ACSM). She has been a part of two practice groups of the ADA regarding sports, cardiovascular and wellness dietitians and the nutrition entrepreneurs.

Bragg, whose hobbies include cooking, biking and reading, is married to Bobby Bragg. They are the proud parents of daughter Rebecca Mallory Bragg, born January 18, 2005, and son Charles “Beau” Bragg, born May 3, 2009.