Dietitian Eats: What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW)

Hey there! One of the top questions I get (on a daily basis) is "What do you eat all day?" That mixed with, "What's for lunch?" In inspiration of that, plus other RD blogs I follow, I decided to do my own "What I Ate Wednesday" blog!

I tend to eat the same types of things every day. Today, was a little different than my usual pattern, but hey that's life.

Normally, my breakfast starts with either a protein bar, high fiber cereal, or a tofu wrap. Today, I went with some Kashi Go Lean Crunch mixed with Get Balance Fiber cereal. I have unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened cashew milk with that (lactose-intolerant). I try to get a cereal with <10g of sugar per serving and at least 3g fiber. Sometimes, I will do 1/4c of a cereal that has over 10g of sugar and mix it was a low sugar cereal. Just to change things up. I of course have my coffee in my fancy RD cup and my Bubba water (32oz). My coffee I either drink black or with a splash of unsweetened almond milk creamer.

That usually holds me for 2 hours. I had my mid-morning snack about 2 hours after getting into work. I wasn't starving, but, I knew I was doing a demo and would not be eating for another 3 hours. I didn't want to be sampling food and having my stomach grumbling at the same time. I packed some veggie pop chips (leftover from an event) and spinach and artichoke hummus (my favorite).

Lunch today was leftovers from last night; tofu (about 1/2c) with marinara, wheat pasta (1/4c), and broccoli with a caesar dressing on it. I'm not a huge pasta fan, but I was in the mood for it last night!

I also have fruit or a salad with my lunch. Today, I opted for green grapes. Looks like a lot, but I typically put 2 days worth of grapes in my lunch box. One less thing to refill when I get home! My grapes are also looking a little sad, so I am glad I only have 1 more servings worth.

So, last night, my boyfriend and I did an 11-mile bike ride. We didn't go until late (8-ish), which means we weren't back until about 9pm. That being said, neither of us felt like cooking! Adam (aka my boyfriend) wanted Chinese. Usually, I find the "healthy" part of the menu. I opted for steamed veggies (sauce on the side), and Adam got vegetable mei fun. We ordered quarts to have leftovers. Tonight, I had my steamed veggies (broccoli, snow peas, bamboo shoots, etc) with brown rice (1/2c) and about 1 tablespoon of the sauce they sent (there was about 1 cup!). I also had a forkful of Adam's mei fun.

While heating everything up for the night, I was getting pretty hungry. I ended up snacking on a few sweet green peppers from my garden. I also packed my snack and lunch for tomorrow, so I snuck in a slice of cheese! After dinner, I was feeling something sweet so I tried out these new barkThins I got at the supermarket. I like that 1 serving is 22g of carbohydrates and 11g of sugar. Not bad for chocolate! Also, there are not too many ingredients. Anyway, an indulgence nonetheless.

I usually fill my Bubba water jug about 2x during the day. Normally, i get about 75-80 ounces of fluid on a non workout day. Sometimes I will add in seltzer or unsweetened iced tea (brewed from home) to change things up!

Overall, today was not too bad. I got enough fiber, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and vitamins and minerals (with all the veggies!). I wasn't too high on sodium, sugar, or calories (even with the chocolate!). Typically, I would like to get more protein in, whether it is some nuts, beans, or a bar, and another serving of fruit.

Hope you enjoyed the Dietitian's Eats. Tune in next week to see what is on the menu!

My New Garden and Being a First Time Preceptor

It has been quite a while since my last blog. I have been crazy busy between both my jobs, recently moving, planting a garden, and being a preceptor. Not to mention the impromptu summer mini vacations.  Nonetheless, I am back in action :)

About 2 months ago, I was asked to be a preceptor to a distance intern for their community rotation. I am sympathetic when it comes to distance interning (I was one myself). I remember just how hard it was to find all of my preceptors! I must say, it was definitely weird to be the one doing the teaching. The first couple of days with my intern were odd purely because I was not used to someone following me around all day! It was cool sharing my knowledge and experience with someone who has the same passion as me. It was definitely helpful to have a second pair of hands when I was working with a group of young children too! I would suggest to anyone to become a preceptor if your job allows. I felt it was a learning experience for me as much as them!

Post digging out 

3 weeks after planting

My biggest project since my boyfriend and I moved into our duplex was my garden (or should I say gardens). One, I am no garden expert. Two, I learned plenty of things I should and shouldn't do. Three, things taste wayyyyyy better when you grow them yourselves! Four, don't try and attack your overgrown, new yard with a tank top on or you will become a vesicle for bugs and itching.

I never had my own yard space until now. My dad always had a garden in our yard growing up; however, it was never something I really worked on. Our yard with quite overgrown when we moved in, so it took about a week or so to pull weeds and get the dirt ready for planting. The lady that lived in the house years back had put down some bricks around plots of land. It made for great sectioning of my garden:) I ended up with 3 plots for vegetables and a 4th for a butterfly bush. We also had an overgrowth of mint in the yard, which was super fun pulling out (not). A few things about mint: never ever plant in the ground unless you want it to take over your yard and be prepared to muscle out the roots if you try and pull it out!

Tomatoes, peppers, etc

Tomatoes, peppers, parsley

I ended up planting one plot with cucumbers, carrots, kale, spinach, and lettuce. I trim the kale, spinach, and lettuce every other day. I love fresh garden salads! The cucumbers I am still waiting to grow an actual cucumber and not a thousand more leaves and flowers. My other plot has tomatoes, peppers, and parsley. I got about 4 peppers so far and 50 tomatoes, all of which are still green. The 3rd plot has parsley I started from a seed, basil, peas, and another tomato plant I just moved out of a pot. I also have aloe, hot peppers, and a weird cactus looking plant in pots along the edge of my garden.


Having a garden is hard work between prepping the soil, planting, weeding (almost every day), and watering. Despite all that (plus the poison oak/sumac I got on my arms), I absolutely love it. Someone said to me that gardening was therapeutic and I totally believe that! I can spend hours outside and I wouldn't even care. You wouldn't believe how excited I was when my first leaves poked out of the ground, or my first green tomato sprouted. It is like my little baby!

First pepper

First tomatoes

It definitely makes you appreciate the food you eat when you grow it yourself. And if you were wondering. After I got poison oak/sumac, I went outside with pictures of all the poisons, found the tree/bush with both sumac and oak twisted around each other and hacked it apart. Take that!

Stay tuned for my new "What I ate Wednesday" posts, inspired by fellow dietitian, and "Fresh Fridays" post with my garden updates!

Tips for Teaching High School Nutrition

This past week, I went back to my old high school to teach nutrition in the health classes. I had already been back here to teach in January for the first round of health; however, I came back to teach the 2nd semester students. This was all through my position as a ShopRite Dietitian. I do in-store counseling and demos; but also go out in the community for presentations and classroom teaching (whem i am invited). It is such a great experience for me since I love teaching nutrition. I also love working with kids! The little ones (kindergarten) are my favorite; however, I do like high school too.

This week, I mostly had freshman students with a few random juniors and seniors. I did 5 separate classes, covering about 130 students total. I choose to do just a basic MyPlate, food group, lesson. I wasn't really sure the knowledge of students and I wanted to just do something simple. I started off by introducing myself and my role as a dietitian. I was surprised that about 80% of the students didn't know what a dietitian was, let alone, what I did! After that, I did a short introduction of the MyPlate symbol. I gave a pre-assessment activity to see how well they knew the food groups. Most students didn't know avocado was a fruit or what tofu was (no big surprise there). I did have 1 student tell me that soda was a protein food and another tell me that candy bars should be considered a dairy product because it contains milk. Yup.

Then, I jumped into the bulk of the lesson. I went through the benefits of different foods (like citrus containing Vitamin C, which is good for immune health) (1 soft pretzel being equal to 4 slices bread) and the recommendations for things like protein and vegetables. I tried not to just lecture to the students. I remember what it was like to be in a classroom, so I didn't want to bore them, if possible. I did a lot of interactive questions. I would ask if they thought something was a myth or a fact. For instance, eating oranges to prevent a cold. MYTH. Vitamin C will shorten the duration of your cold but not prevent it. Asking a lot of questions helped to keep them more engaged.

After moving through different foods and food groups, I gave them a blank plate and had them fill in what they ate yesterday for dinner and what category the foods were in. A lot of the students did great with this, even though they were a little nervous about sharing. I also told counseling/food stories throughout the class to keep the conversation light. I always love telling students about how a fellow employee literally hid her fast food from me and became super awkward when I said hello to her. No, I am not the food police. Ha.

I left about 10 minutes for questions and open conversation. Last time I was at the school, the teacher asked a lot about school lunch and sugary beverages. I left time to incorporate that into my lesson for this round. I did a brief couple of minutes on sodas and juices (both of which are no match for water), protein drinks/supplements, nutrition for athletes, vegetarian diets, and dieting in general. All of these topics would be great for future lessons for high schoolers. I also left 2 nutrition handouts on the front desk in the classroom for students to take if they wanted. I found that just handing out materials will lead to most of them throwing it out or leaving it on the floor. About 50% of the kids took the handout and I figure majority of them were actually interested in the nutrition information.

One of the biggest things with teaching high schoolers is to be relatable. Don't go telling them to eat salads and broccoli if they probably won't. Get on their level and figure out what they do now and how they can improve. Relate healthy eating to performance and feeling good versus "getting fat." I had the students think of ways they could improve their lunch. Maybe, they would bring an apple or baby carrots. I also reminded them it is about balance and adding healthy items to their meals. It is not about restricting, limiting, or cutting foods out. The other major thing with teaching high schoolers is to really know your material. They will ask a lot of random nutrition questions, so don't go teaching something you don't really know much about.

Hopefully, this helps you teach nutrition to the youngsters :)

Reasons Why I Love My Job

I just realized it has been waayyyy too long since my last post. Whoops :) Today as I was driving home from work, I had one of those moments where I thought about my day and said to myself, "I really love what I am doing." I always hear from friends or coworkers how much they hate their job or hate what they are doing in life right now. I feel really lucky to say not only do I love my field, but I also love working as a Retail Dietitian.

One of the first things I love is all of the connections I get to make with people. Even if it is just a passing by conversation with the same customer every single Tuesday, it is nice to think that they swing by my desk just to say hi. It is great to have other employees walk by and ask me nutrition questions or pick my brain about something. I feel like I am much more settled in my new job and people are starting to see that I really do know what I am talking about :) Today, I had one employee come by and tell me she lost 5 pounds since talking to me. Wooohoo!

Earlier at work, I did a food demonstration with hummus, veggies, and crackers. If you haven't been reading my other blogs, part of being a supermarket RD is healthy food demos. Sometimes I will make a healthy recipe in the kitchen; other days I pull products from the shelf and try to match them with coupons I have. Today happened to be Sabra hummus in my heart healthy snacking demo. As I am giving out samples, I get the few people who walk by and make a face at the mention of hummus. I also get the people who never tried hummus before and love it their first time! I had this one mom come up with her child and asked if she could take one. I was like of course, thinking it was for her. She reaches down to her child and goes, "Here, it is hummus, your favorite." It gets me all excited when kids are excited about healthy foods! Win!

Probably the most rewarding part of my day was a counseling session I had. It was a late in my shift and I was burnt out from working 10 hours already. My client was so motivated and already making lifestyle changes that it made me super excited to get to work with her. She got into some personal issues she had with food and used some of my listening and reflecting skills. We went on to talk about a few new nutritional changes she could make and I really encouraged her to keep up what she was already doing. So, as we near the end of her time, she goes on to tell me, "I just need to tell you I really appreciate all the advice you gave me. I feel like you covered everything really well. You truly listened to what I had to say and allowed me to get some things off of my heart. It feels really nice to be able to talk to someone about my health and I really appreciate you listening." Day made. That is the best part of my job. Working one-on-one with people is so rewarding for me. I get into such a groove for a counseling session that I feel like I am walking on air when I am done (I know, it is weird). I love seeing clients for follow-up and tracking the progress they made. It is so awesome to be a part of someone's journey to health.

There are a ton of other things I could go on and on about with why I love what I am doing; however, these were just the few little things that happened today that I felt the need to share :) Hope you had a great Monday as well!

What Nutrition Counseling Is REALLY Like

In my field of work, I do nutrition counseling with a lot of people (about 10 per week on top of my other duties). More and more, I notice people have this skewed idea of what counseling is like. Some examples: "So, you'll tell me what to eat right?" or "You make diet plans, right?' or when non-clients state, "Your job must be so easy" or when co-workers say "Don't people know this stuff already?" The truth is, I won't tell you what to eat (exactly), I don't typically make a "diet plan," my job isn't always the easiest, and people certainly do not know this stuff (to put it simply).

So, if nutrition counseling isn't any of those things, then what is it? Counseling is not only an assessment of the person's diet and health history, but also their emotions towards food. Counseling is establishing a rapport with the client so they will trust your suggestions. Counseling is working with clients to figure out how they can be motivated to make changes (and see them through). Counseling is not only being the credible knowledge source, but translating that knowledge into practical strategies that will work for various clients. Counseling is..... well you get the idea :)

Besides being all of those things I mentioned, doing one-on-one nutrition counseling can be a little intimidating when you first start out (whether it is inpatient or outpatient). When I first started doing outpatient counseling, I would stumble over what I was explaining. I was nervous about clients asking crazy questions and me not knowing the answer. I brought every handout I owned JUST in case. I was constantly saying to myself, "I wish I had said this instead of _____." I had a lot of bumps in my early stages of counseling; however, I began to find my own rhythm (trust me, you will too!) and things ran much more smoothly. It seemed like the information just came out so easily when I needed it to! Just a side note here, if you ever do any courses or credits for counseling, it seems like so much to learn (being empathetic, saying key words, phrasing properly, etc); however, once you get practice, these strategies become so natural!

One of my greatest pieces of advice is that it is perfectly okay to say, "I don't know much about the research for ______, but I can find out and get back to you." People look to you for credible information and yes they can Google it themselves, but lets face it, they don't/probably won't. Plus, most of the people I see in counseling say they get overwhelmed and just don't know where to look. Again, where the Dietitian comes in :) Just an example, I had a client come to me looking for the Vitamin K content of edamame. This person had to watch their intake because of the medication they were on. I certainly do not know how many micrograms of Vitamin K are in edamame (41mcg for frown unprepared in case you were dying to know). So, I said to this client that I wasn't sure off the top of my head, but I could get back to them about it. They were very happy with that and came back later for a print-out. Again, MOST people just want the information handed to them and know that you are the credible source to give it. Just a side note, the USDA has an awesome database for this!

Another thing I learned in nutrition counseling is that you can PLAN for what you want to cover; HOWEVER, always be prepared for a curve ball.  Like a client who brings you a list of 15 supplements they are taking or a client who doesn't have time for snacks because they exercise for 2 hours between meals (aka 10000 crunches, push-ups, etc) or a client who has an underlying pre-occupation with food or a client who said they would be bringing their family and that meant 6 other people. And if you are wondering, these people exist because I have counseled them! Don't let situations like these rattle you! Go with the flow and just make do with what you have. Again, situations like these will get way easier with more practice.

The way I handled the first person in counseling consisted of me mostly asking about the supplements and the reasons for use. I didn't tell the client to stop taking them, we just discussed ways of spacing them out or how combining a few into one pill would be better. You are not going to change people's mind by telling them they should or should not do something. It is best to give them all the information and allow them to have tools to make a more science-based decision. With the second client, we talked about bulking up the meals for more calories instead of having snacks. The third client, started off talking about sports nutrition and turned into obsession over calories. This client was a lot more rational than the typical eating disorder patient; however, they did have a history. That being said, I didn't refer out since the client was focused on being healthy and eating enough for both exercise and the potential carrying of a baby. The last client(s) was a bit chaotic, since I have a small counseling space; however, it worked well to have most of the family sit while I stood in front of the "U-shaped circle" to talk about nutrition.

With all that being said, hopefully you have a better idea of what nutrition counseling is like as a client or Dietitian. Feel free to leave a comment or send a message of your experience with nutrition counseling :)

Top 5 Tips for Running a Food Demo

Part of my job as a Retail Dietitian is running food demonstrations. This is one of the parts of my job that I love/dislike. I love demoing recipes and having customers enjoy new foods that they never thought they would eat. I also love when I hear my recipe has become a family favorite! I am, however, not a fan of the recipe planning. I tend to overthink things, like most Dietitians I know. I worry about not choosing a recipe that goes over well with customers. After doing a few demos, I learned that you are not going to please everyone and not to take that personally. With that in mind, below you will find my tips for running a food demo!

Tip #1: Choose Your Recipe Based on Your Population
If you are serving a population of young kids, you wouldn't necessarily choose a spicy or tough-textured recipe. You might, however, choose a healthy and simple snack or a common favorite dish with a healthy spin (like mac n' cheese made with broccoli and chicken). Or if you are serving a group of seniors, you might go for softer foods versus nuts and crunchy items (since a lot of them have a hard time chewing). The population I work with is mostly families and health seekers. These health seekers want quick and easy recipes. I am not going to choose a recipe with 15 ingredients because even if customers like the recipe, they are not likely to make it at home. It is always best to assess your population first, then choose a recipe you think will go over well.

Tip #2: Add Options to Your Recipe 
A lot of times, I will create or alter a recipe to make it healthier. I might cut back on the fat, sodium, carbohydrates, etc. I usually add to the bottom of my recipe ways to add flavor or ways to pair the recipe with something else. For example, I made a crockpot chicken fajitas recipe. I gave the option for people to add a wrap or rice for a carbohydrate source. I also gave the option to add extra veggies for more bulk. Another example is a cauliflower mashed potatoes recipe I tried. I used herbs and spices for the recipe, but gave the option to add parmesan cheese for extra flavor. Those who didn't want to add the fat/sodium/calories were free to choose otherwise.

Tip #3: Taste and Prep Test Your Recipe Prior to Demoing
My first demo, I made an awesome sweet potato and acorn squash bake. The recipe went over so well; however, the prep was a disaster! I didn't realize how long it would take to peel and chop 4 acorn squash (almost an hour). I was rushing and trying to recruit help for the prep with only having 1.5 hours before the demo start. It was definitely a stressful start, but you live and you learn :) I've also had a few ideas for recipes and taste tested at home only to realize I needed to add or change things to make it more palatable. You won't always have the time to alter recipes the day of, so it is best to perfect it prior to demoing.

Tip#4: Make a List of Everything You Need
Usually, my demo days are hectic. I come in 1-2 hours prior to the event. I make the recipe, set-up the demo table, and merchandise the items I am using. Unless I make a list, I forget even the simplest things (like my tablecloth for 1 demo). Make your demo run that much more smoothly and have a list of everything you need, down to the napkins!

Tip#5: Have a Copy of The Recipe With Nutritional Facts
Almost every person who comes to my demos will ask me something along the lines of, "Is this good for me?" Or, "I have Diabetes, how many carbohydrates are in this?" Or, "I have to watch my sodium, is there a lot in this recipe?" I find it so much easier to just have the recipe with the nutrition facts on the bottom. Even if I know the recipe is healthy, customers still want numbers. Plus, if you have a entree heavy on the carbohydrates, then those people with Diabetes might need to plan some non-starchy sides to balance it out.

I hope these tips help you in your food demos as much as they did me! Stay tuned for more tips from the life of a RD :)

Pomegranates I used in a Produce Pick taste testing!

My First (Horrible) Experience with a CPE Seminar

As part of keeping your Dietitian title/license, you need to complete continuing education credits (75 over 5 years). It's pretty standard for many other medical/health professionals as well (Pharmacists, RNs, OTs, PTs, etc). I have been leaning towards a mix of webinars, self-study courses, and lectures to gain credits. It works the best for me with having 2 jobs and an overall busy schedule.

Recently, I went to a seminar called, "Food Addiction, Obesity, and Diabetes," provided by INR. I was super excited! It was going to cover overeating, binge eating disorders, managing food addiction, managing Diabetes, sleep, stress, and so much more. It would also be my first seminar and it was $81 for 6 credits, which isn't too bad at all! Anyways, I made the 45 minute drive and attended with another Dietitian friend of mine. Let me just say, thank goodness for the free coffee and company or I would not have made it through the lecture. What a disappointment!

First of all, the lecturer (we will call her Dr. X) started late. Big pet peeve of mine! So, Dr. X does the introductions and starts off with the food addiction. She used a ton of medical terminology and definitely seemed liked she was very knowledgable. May I just say that "seemed" is the key word here. We get into food addiction, all very interesting; however, we are not following along in the 41 page (front and back) booklet I have, which apparently was due to someone different writing the slides. Anyways, Dr. X quotes a ton of research articles, which is great, except it takes an extra couple minutes for her to locate each one. This might sound great to you because she is using evidenced based research; however, for each claim she had 1 article and only read a few lines in the summary (not mentioning those involved in the study and other information you would want to know). Still not a big deal until we get to the first break and we are already very behind, aka we were supposed to had moved on to obesity and were still on the first section of the first topic!

As we get back from the first break, me with more coffee, I start to notice that when anyone asks a question, she gives a politician answer. By that I mean, she does not actually answer the question. Dr. X gave this round about answer quoting another 1-2 studies (spending the time to again find them) and leaving many people frustrated. We again continue to trudge along and make it to the lunch break. At this point, I notice that we are still not through part 1 (supposed to be on part 2 of 4) and that we spent so much time on the super science part (aka names of specific hormones and transporters) that I didn't feel like I learned anything useful/practical yet.

So, my RD friend and I head to the in-hotel dining area, where lunch is not provided (my mistake for thinking my $81 also extended to lunch). Here we have another depressing scene: $7.95 for cold salad bar and soup or $12-something for the hot bar. Now, I am starving and want to check out the menu for the hot bar. We have vegetables (nothing fancy), bratwurst and cabbage (oh yum), chicken schnitzel, and potatoes with bacon. Glad I looked because chicken schnitzel means breaded chicken patties that you would expect to find in a school lunch program.  I went with the soup and salad bar, which actually had a lot of options, and a lovely dessert of fresh fruit and a cookie (very good). It seems lunch was looking like the highlight; however, I go in open-minded to our second half of the day.

In talking about diets, Dr. X mentions the diet fads; one of which is the Paleo diet. Her take on this is that we shouldn't tell people to cut out food groups because it does not work long-term. I generally don't tell people to start cutting things out in counseling either. Dr. X goes on to say that Paleo dieters cut out grains/carbohydrates, using those terms interchangeably. I have a few issues with this. One of which is that not all carbohydrates are grains (aka fruits). Also, many Paleo diet followers (many RDs I follow online) are more-so cutting back on the breads and pastas and aiming for majority of carbohydrates from fruits and veggies. Nothing wrong with that!

Right after saying not to cut foods out, Dr. X answers a question regarding red meat. Here Dr. X states to not eat the red meat because of it having saturated fat. My issue is meat quality. Grass-fed beef is way better than conventional fed meat (fed grains).  To quote Mayo Clinic: Grass-fed beef has," less total fat, more heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids, more conjugated linoleic acid (thought to reduce heart disease and cancer risks), and more antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin E."

My last remaining hope died with Dr. X's statement towards Diabetic meal plans. She quotes this (apparently from the American Diabetes Association) in terms of macronutrient distribution, "50-60% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 10% fat." What?! The AMDR for fat is 20-35% so 10% is way too low. What Dr. X might have meant to say was the American Diabetes Association recommends less than 10% from saturated fats. What frustrated me the most is that people in the lecture were taking notes and writing down things she said. This misinformation turns into what health professionals are then spreading!

Quick note: I am 6 cups of coffee in for the day (one of the best parts of the lecture was the unlimited coffee). We are getting to the last hour of the seminar and we have 3 parts still to go over! Dr. X decides it is a good idea to have no more questions from the group and to blow through about 25 pages (front and back) of information in an hour. Well, that didn't turn out well. The seminar contained a lot of good information; however, I have to read through and learn it on my own. Part of attending a seminar is so you don't have to spend extra time teaching yourself!

Besides my unlimited coffee for the day, one other benefit was that they had discounted self-study courses. I was able to buy 2 at $10 each (3 credits each) and one at $25 (5 credits). Great deals on interesting CPEs that I can use. Just as a disclaimer, I spoke to another Dietitian who attended the same seminar in another location and she had a much better experience than I did. I apparently just got the bad apple of the lecturers. Looks like I will be sticking to my self-study courses and webinars from now on :)

To end on a positive note, I went to my Dietitian meeting today and got a King Trumpet mushroom!

My Top Webinars/Self-Study Courses
http://www.todaysdietitian.com
http://www.dietitiancentral.com/ceu/continuing_ed.cfm
http://www.pbhfoundation.org
http://www.nutrition411.com