Pop Star: Leslie Bonci

You’ve got to see this wisp of a woman (well, she’s a marathoner, and that’ll melt the old avoirdupois) lecturing athletes the size of Venango County, saying things like, “Ok, now, bulk up on the broccoli – and lose the cheese curls. Cut out the fried chicken! From now on, it’s fish fillets — and hold the butter!”

The hook? Not a sleeker, svelter bod, necessarily, but increased athletic performance. Forget positive self-esteem. It’s bigger bucks at contract time. “A lot of guys are hearing the message,” nutritionist extraordinaire Leslie Bonci says. “They’re understanding that nutrition complements training and conditioning.”

Director of UPMC Sports Medicine’s Nutrition Program, Leslie J. Bonci trails her name with a bowlful of alphabet soup – MPH, RD, LDN, CSSD. It all adds up to Bonci holding of a master's degree in public health, being a registered dietitian, and a board-certified sports nutritionist who counts among her clients the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Panthers, Riverhounds – even the Ballet Theatre.

A consultant for such blue-chip companies as Frito-Lay, Gatorade, and Heinz, Bonci also was a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. A regular on Today, she’s co-authored Total Fitness for Women, written the American Dietetic Association Guide to Better Digestion, and contributes regularly to Training and Conditioning Journal. Between an average half-dozen media interviews a week, regular appearances on Pittsburgh Today, and preaching the gospel at colleges and corporations all across the country,

“I’m never at a lack for work,” she says. (By her own count, Bonci’s traveled to 49 of the 50 states. Idaho, home of the eternal spud, is the lone hold-out.)

Growing up Leslie Joseph in Squirrel Hill, she went from Winchester-Thurston to Vassar, majoring in biopsychology. At Pitt for public health, a nutrition course was kismet.

Living in Point Breeze, she practices pro-active, preventative health care with individuals as well as teams. Athletes’ diets, she says, “are very different now.” Gone are the high-fat fried foods, the creamy soups, the 15-pound steaks for breakfast. Now, stir-fry is de rigueur, along with wraps; more carbs for burning, less protein for building.

Counting Steeler Hines Ward, Pirate Freddie Sanchez, and Penguin Sidney Crosby among her star pupils, she tells them that “talent only goes so far. You’ve got to have good nutrition to keep your body going at maximum efficiency.”

For sports where energy demands are high – hockey and basketball, for example -- Bonci recommends two-thirds of the plate be carbohydrates – bagels, rice, pasta, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables. After the game? “A little smaller steak,” she counsels, “with a big potato. Recovery is huge.”

For the rest of us, Bonci recommends smaller, more frequent meals. “We need energy during the day,” she says. “Eat fruits and vegetables, fiber and fluid. Sit down and eat. Use a knife and fork. See it. Smell it. Taste it. Food is not the enemy.

“I would love to see us change the name of the city,” Bonci adds, “from Pittsburgh to Fitsburgh. But we have a lot of work to do.”

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Abby Mendelson’s latest book, Ghost Dancer, a collection of short stories, is available at amazon and bn.com.

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All photographs of Leslie Bonci and UPMC Sports Medicine complex copyright Brian Cohen