Dietitian Eats: Dinner Edition

So, today was a bit crazy at work. Let me tell you how absolutely grateful I am to have an intern (and a pretty awesome one at that)! Not only do I have an extra set of hands for events; but, I can also bounce ideas off of her. I also really like teaching someone things I learned. It is pretty cool to be on the opposite side after being an intern myself :)

Instead of giving you a rundown of my eats for the day, I decided to focus on dinner. Mainly because I made something pretty awesome from leftovers and also because I forgot to take pictures of all my other meals...Whoops :)

I didn't get in until late tonight, so I was debating on a quick shake or actually making something. I decided I wanted something hot. Let me preface this with earlier in the week, I had cooked off a bunch of brown rice and leftover faro. Made it easy to throw in my lunches. So, I started off with 2 veggie burgers. I get these ones from Aldi's. I like these for the limited number of ingredients and the fact that I know what all of them are. Each patty has 3g of fiber and 5g of protein. Made with carrots, peas, oats, zucchini, edamame, corn, and string beans mainly.

So, I sautéed my veggie burgers in some olive oil, garlic, minced onion, and oregano. I threw in some hemp seeds for a little more fiber and protein. One the veggie burgers were pretty much cooked, I broke them apart and added my rice. I also splashed on some Bragg's Liquid Aminos (soy sauce alternative). Bragg's is a vegetable protein made from certified non-GMO soybeans. No preservatives, no alcohol, and gluten-free. I've been in a mood for artichokes lately, so I added a few canned artichokes (marinated in just olive oil and spices). Lastly, I threw in some fresh leftover spinach I had. I left that all cook together for about 5 minutes...and presto dinner!

I'm a huge fan of one dish meals; less clean-up plus I like mixing everything together for the best flavors anyways. I tend to do similar types of cooking for dinner. This only took maybe 10-15 minutes? It could have been shorter, but I was doing homework and forgot to put a lid on to trap the steam. If you do something similar, you can always throw in your favorite veggie (instead of the spinach) or use some shredded potatoes instead of the rice.

What did you make for dinner tonight?

Grad School, Vacation, and Dietitian Shore Eats

Well we are officially in September and I am finally on vacation! This week has been kind of weird for me. This is my first PAID vacation from my new job (started last year) and the first week of grad school! I am doing online school for my Masters in Dietetics Administration from Utah State University, which is also the University I did my dietetic internship through!

It definitely felt weird to turn my work phone off, and leave it at home! Normally, on my days off from work, I leave it on and check my emails and voicemails. I figured it would be good to disconnect for a while! I do keep having weird dreams where I come back to work with 533 emails or a huge pile of boxes at my desk (this happens when I am gone for just a day or two). It never felt weird being away from my part-time job for a while; however, I figure because I am full-time and more invested in my new position that it feels so odd. This time next year I will probably be thinking I was crazy for saying this! HA-HA.

So, Monday marked the first day of grad school! Yay! I was excited about getting back into school; that is until I started getting overwhelmed with all the assignments and deadlines! Balancing school and work has never been an issue for me. I always worked 1 (or 2) jobs and went to school full-time. I just need to be even more organized with working 2 jobs + getting my new business off of the ground! I'll feel better once I have all my assignments mapped out in my planner and highlighted in their different colors :) I am a highlighter junkie!

Everyone always asks me if I ever eat junk. Well of course I do! Just rarely and mostly saved for vacations HA-HA. Yesterday was a prime example of this. I had a morning smoothie with fruit, unsweetened almond milk, chia seeds, and plant-based protein powder. I like to try out different types of powders to see which I like best. This was the first time I had vanilla cinnamon and it was really good!

  

I followed that up with some So Delicious cookies and cream "ice cream," which was sooooo delicious. I made tofu, broccoli, stewed tomatoes (from my garden), and sautéed potatoes for lunch. I followed that up with some chips :) I finally cut and ate some of the watermelon we bought Sunday. Again, I followed this with 1/2 of a corn muffin. For dinner, I made refried bean burritos and more broccoli. I followed that with some more chips :) Do you see a pattern yet? :)

Here is my personal stance on vacation eating. Try to still eat healthy (maybe the main meals) and sprinkle some unhealthy in between. I know I don't normally eat these kinds of foods; however, if I want them on vacation, I am going to indulge and not feel bad about it. I also try to keep active on vacation (aka like our 32-mile bike ride on Tuesday or my 2 beach walks today). I figure that also evens out the not-so-healthy-foods :)

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 10 Dietitian Misconceptions

"Dietitian...that means you make meal plans, right?" (Said by someone I encountered at my one job). If you are a fellow Dietitian (or Nutrition major), you have probably heard that phrase, or something like it, before.  If you haven't, just wait and see :)

Here are my top 10 things I hear and chuckle at (I've gotten over being annoyed) that are complete misconceptions (at least for me)!

#1 Do you only eat salad?
Nope. I eat meat, veggies, fruit, etc. I do enjoy a salad and I will often eat from the salad bar at work. And by salad I mean a small amount of lettuce with a crazy amount of toppings (mushrooms, broccoli, croutons, chicken, chickpeas, etc). But again, I don't just eat it because I am a RD, I actually like it.

#2 I am not judging what you eat.
People will literally say to me, "Oh, I know what I am eating is bad for me, I was just really hungry." I could care less what you eat! I just came into the room to make phone calls for work. Along with me not judging what you eat, you can refrain from hiding your food from me. One day at work, I was walking down the hall and a lady with a bag of fast food literally put it behind her back when I walked by. After I said hello, she looked genuinely embarrassed and hurried off. TRUE STORY.

#3 Please stop judging what I eat.
I love the occasional ice cream (with my Lactase pills of course) or chips. Who doesn't?! I really don't like when people see me eating something "unhealthy" and say, "Wow, you're eating chips?" Yes, I am human and do enjoy these pleasures once in a while.

#4 Now that you are a RD, can you write me a meal plan?
Much to what people think, I don't just write meal plans. Actually, I rarely write out a meal plan for someone. I generally like to give people the tools to be able to choose foods that fit their dietary needs. Plus, if I told you what to eat for each meal, chances are that would become very boring. I also don't like putting people on "diets" or talking about them for that matter. I am all about healthy lifestyle changes, which do not fall in line with a meal plan.

#5 So, you are not going to tell me to cut out my favorite foods?
This goes along with my whole no-diet-thing. Generally, when you cut foods out, you tend to miss them. This can lead to binge-eating and "going off the diet" wagon. In my experience, with both counseling and my own life, it is better to keep in your favorite foods and just eat them in small portions.

#6 Yes, I did go through 4 years of school, an unpaid internship, and a final exam.
A lot of people I talk to think that I became a RD once I graduated. I wish! After getting my bachelors, I had to apply to internships, get accepted, pay large amounts of money, and then sell my soul for 9 months (not counting the lack of life for the 2 months I spent studying to take my exam). Dramatic enough for you? But seriously, becoming an RD is not easy and props to anyone who is embarking on the journey.

#7 Dietitian and Nutritionist are not the same.
Nutritionist is not a licensed term, at least in PA. Basically, anyone could call themselves a Nutritionist. A Certified Nutritionist has more credentials than a regular Nutritionist; however, Registered Dietitian trumps all :)

#8 I don't know everything and I am not afraid to say it.
It surprised me how people are shocked that I don't know something specific about a food. Example: "What are baby romanesco good for?" First of all, I have never even seen one until now. Second, I don't know all the nutrients in every fruit and vegetable. Yes, green leafy veggies have Vitamin K and red/orange veggies have Vitamin A; however, I mainly just tell people to eat fruits and vegetables. You don't really need to focus on eating specific ones for specific nutrients. That is so complicated! Make it simple and just choose a variety. In the words of many RDs, "Color your plate."

#9 Every counseling session should be standardized to cover the same thing. 
I don't know where people got that idea from; however, none of my counseling sessions are ever the same. You don't talk to a 60-year-old the same way you talk to a 12-year-old. You can standardize the process (aka you have the same introduction of yourself, similar forms, same waiver, etc); however, what is covered in a session is completely client-centered. I not only learned that in school; however, leading counseling sessions has taught me to be super flexible. I might want to cover protein with someone (seeing as they don't eat enough), but they get into their binge eating habits. That last bit of information is more important to cover first. Counseling is all about getting to know your client and helping them to reach the goals they want to set.

#10 "You don't need to see a Dietitian because you are not fat."
Just because you are thin does not mean you are healthy. As a Dietitian, I help people gain weight (if they are underweight or looking to gain muscle), lose weight, and maintain their weight. People come see me for all different reasons. Plus, a skinny person might have horrible eating habits that lead them to become Diabetic or deficient in certain nutrients. Again, I am here to help the client reach their goals. I never judge by body size because it is such a horrible indicator of actual health.

These 10 items are all things I have encountered between my jobs, friends, family, community, etc. You may have more to add to this list or things to change (depending on your situation).

Hope you enjoyed the read. Stay tuned for my next blog "10 Tips for Conducting a Recipe Demo."

PS: This is a Baby Romanesco. Tastes and looks like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower!