What inspired you to become a dietitian?
I wasn’t always interested in food or general health, and while I played sports growing up, I wasn’t one to intentionally exercise until my late teens or early 20s. What actually got me interested in nutrition and general health was a research paper I wrote as an undergraduate on the Pima Indians of the southwestern United States. Through writing this paper, I learned how a change in their lifestyle and diet resulted in an epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes. It truly opened my eyes to the importance of nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.
What have you learned most from your experience in this field?
You have to be willing to change. New information and research is always becoming available, and whatever the prevailing opinion is today may very well change.
What do you find to be the most interesting nutritional fact?
That carbohydrate has not been shown to be an essential nutrient. I’m not promoting eliminating carbohydrates because carbohydrate foods do contain beneficial nutrients, but I just find it interesting.
What’s your favorite Medifast tip?
Personalize your plan based on an activity level or lifestyle preference. Medifast has a variety of meal plans that can be used to accommodate the majority of lifestyle choices.
If you could have one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Pizza! It sounds cliché, but you can vary the crust and toppings to such an extent that you could always come up with new and interesting (and healthy) combinations – even desserts.