Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh

E96: From Steelers To Seniors: A Dietitian’s Playbook to Fuel Your Most Nutritious Life

• Leila Carter & Leslie Bonci • Episode 96

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What makes Leslie Bonci with Active Eating Advice by Leslie Bonci a good neighbor?  

Think eating well has to feel like punishment? Registered dietitian Leslie Bonci joins us to flip that script with an approach built on addition, not fear. From her Pittsburgh roots to decades with elite teams like the Steelers and the Chiefs, Leslie shares how Active Eating Advice helps real people create plates they can enjoy and sustain- without the fads, "dreadlines", or food policing.

We dig into the biggest myths that keep folks stuck: the idea of “bad” foods, the obsession with superfoods, and the misplaced hope that supplements can replace meals. Leslie’s take is refreshingly direct: food is the cake and supplements are the icing. She maps out how to build a better plate with simple, repeatable moves- spread protein across the day, time carbs to match activity, prioritize hydration and fiber for digestion, and make room for what you actually like to eat so it sticks.

Leslie also explains how collaboration with physicians and physical therapists can change outcomes for patients working on rehab, body composition, or chronic conditions. Her sports nutrition mindset translates to everyday life: fuel before you go, recover after, and choose habits you can maintain when travel, family, or work gets hectic. We get to know the person behind the plan too- daily movement, a love of jazz, and the joy of spoiling grandkids- because sustainable nutrition has to fit a full life, not the other way around.

If you want to trade restriction for results you can keep, this conversation is your playbook. Hit follow, share with a friend who’s tired of food fear, and leave a review with your top nutrition question- we’ll bring more answers your way.

To learn more about Active Eating Advice by Leslie Bonci go to: 

http://www.activeeatingadvice.com/

Active Eating Advice by Leslie Bonci 

(412)559-5974


SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lila Carter.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a registered dietitian? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Leslie Bonsey, with active eating advice by Leslie Bonsey. Leslie, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01:

Hey, it is great. It is so nice to be here today. And you know what? Everybody needs a registered dietitian. Just saying, you know, I would like one for myself sometime because it's just crazy out there in the eating world.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. So we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Please tell us more about your company.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. So I was, I am a Pittsburgh native. I grew up in Squirrel Hill and then Shady Side, and we live in Point Bree. So we've done a very little circle. Worked for UPMC for a countless number of years and then UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, also AHN, and decided in 2015 to open up my own business active eating advice. And so, you know, I've seen countless Pittsburghers and people really from all over the world, whether it is, you know, to help them to optimize body composition, to help them manage pre-existing diseases, to help with those that are dealing with eating disorders, with also digestive diseases and sport nutrition is my passion. Spent 21 years with the Steelers, as well as some of the other Pittsburgh teams, and more recently the Kansas City Chiefs. So pretty much really helping people, you know, create the great plate that they deserve to do with that focus on what to eat rather than all this nonsense about the you know the scare tactics and the dreadlines and all those things out there that just mess with our head.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Absolutely focused on the positive and what we are consuming rather than stay away from XYZ. Yeah, I love that. And what an intimate business to be in. How did you get into this space, Leslie?

SPEAKER_01:

So I when I went to undergrad, I went uh to school in biopsychology and really didn't like where I went to school. So I graduated early and came back to Pittsburgh and worked at a health education center, a good friend of my mother's. And then I started graduate school in public health, first class with a nutrition class. It's like, huh, this is what I want to do. So I pursued a graduate degree in public health and undergraduate courses to be able to do an internship as a dietitian. And you know, that all started in 1982. So I've been in this field a very long time. I would say hashtag fossil fuel. I am succinct, not extinct. But you know, the reality is everybody needs to eat, and we hear all of the nonsense out there that is more focused on the the don't or the and so that doesn't help. It doesn't make people healthier, it doesn't help people sustain over a period of time. So that really is my passion to kind of be the cheerleader at the plate, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02:

Very good. Are there any myths or maybe misconceptions that you'd like to address today in our conversation? Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So first of all, people will say, Oh, you're the food police. Um, no, don't wear a badge, don't do any of that kind of stuff. So not the food enabler, maybe, but not necessarily the food police. Secondly, I think the assumption that there are inherently foods that are bad, sure. If you have an allergy to a food, it could kill you. Don't eat it. Or if you have an intolerance to a food or the food is spoiled, but that's it in terms of the bad that is out there. Or that we should just really focus on the elimination. What we're not going to do, that's a big myth. You know, as well as there are superfoods, there aren't, because there's not one food that's going to do it all for everybody, or that the food is robbed of the nutrients in the soil. Get over it. It's not true. And we can't do supplements in place of food. That's not the way the body works. The food is the cake, the supplements are the icing. So you can't just do the icing, you gotta do that cake underneath.

SPEAKER_02:

Gotcha, gotcha. And so, as we're thinking of marketing as the heart of any business, uh, who are your target clients and how are you currently attracting them to your business?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so uh it it is I have a lot of private clients that I work with, and oftentimes that's coming from physicians in the area. You know, I've been a fixture here for a long time, so I know a lot of the physicians and they refer and I prefer back. Um, even physical therapists. What's interesting is a lot of patients that go to CPTs, they really need the help of a registered dietitian in order to optimize the rehabilitation that they're going through. Uh, I do still a lot of work with sports teams. We'll talk in high schools and even at universities, talking at Carnegie Mellon on Wednesday night. So there's not a that audience as well, you know, as well as people that are recreational athletes or even more than that, a professional athletes that are trying to take it to the next level. And then I do some work with industry as well. So it really is very, very broad based in terms of what I do by choice. I I really love having all the fingers and all the fives all the time.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and I know it is it is so personal, but it's also something that so many people can benefit from learning about. Have you ever thought about maybe doing your own podcasts to share that information?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know what? I have, and I because I travel so much, like it, it's like it, it I haven't gotten that to fruition yet. But I also thought about as a as a my TikTok channel ticked off with all the things that make me angry in the nutrition space. The problem is you don't want to be bitter. You really want to emphasize that in a positive way, but it's still there at the back of my mind, and maybe someday it'll be out there as a podcast with some creative name that has yet to be decided. Lunch with Leslie, or you know, something like that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that. Yeah. So outside of work, what do you do for fun, Leslie?

SPEAKER_01:

You know what? I I uh I do walk the walk. So I am out there exercising daily. If it is walk-run, I row and I lift weights. Those are my big three things to do. We are big jazz aficionados, so we belong to MTG Jazz. What a jewel in this city. Um, and we have little ones in our lives that not none of them live here in Pittsburgh, unfortunately. But you know, we try and visit them as often as we can, spoil them because this is what grandparents do, right? My my own children were never spoiled. Hello, but all bets are off when it comes to the little ones. We love it.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it's very sweet. Yeah, I love jazz as well. And um, maybe we can shout out Con Alma on this episode as well because they have lots of amazing healthy choices there, also in their selection of foods, um, and just such a lively jazz scene here in Pittsburgh to appreciate as well. So, Leslie, please tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about active eating advice.

SPEAKER_01:

Is the the focus is on the what you can do, what you will do, what you can continue to do. So it is all about what you can attain, maintain, sustain. Give me a call. More than happy to work with you.

SPEAKER_02:

Excellent. And how can our listeners reach you?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So um my website is active eatingadvice.com and also via email, which is bonclj1 at gmail.com. Best ways to get in touch with me, or just send an SOS and I'll find it in a smoke signal somewhere.

SPEAKER_02:

Leslie, we need you.

SPEAKER_01:

Help, help, come and take this out of my mouth. I won't do that. I absolutely do not do that.

SPEAKER_02:

You'll be like, here, have this instead. That's right.

SPEAKER_01:

Excellent.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, Leslie, it was a pleasure having you on the show. I really appreciate your time today and having you on here with your business. Thank you so much, and we wish you and your business the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, thank you so much for having me. It was a true delight.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppittsburgh.com. That's gnppittsburgh.com or call 412 561 9956.