A Week at Diabetes Camp

This week I am spending my time at Diabetes Camp in Noblesville. I am playing lunch lady because I am in charge of the allergy diets. I have 16 kiddos who are on some type of special diet. That means I am cooking up everything from Vegetarian meals to Gluten free + Dairy free + Soy free. So needless to say it at times can be complicated. It  had been fun though! I have learned so much! I haven't had to work this closely for an extended period of time with diabetic patients. Doing clinical work means that we see patients for a short period of time (3 to 5 days) in the hospital. So hanging out with a bunch more of kids for 7 days has been fun. 

My scheduled consisted of cooking/preparing food for 3 meals a day + 2 snacks each day. I ended up preparing food for about 13 kids throughout the week. I spent my mornings making breakfast and then getting the lunch and snack items ready. I would get a few hours off before lunch to do work things, wonder around camp or go for a run. Then I would make lunch and finalize the evening snack. Then I would have another couple of hours off to do something fun. Then back to the kitchen for dinner preparation. I would then normally hang out around the camp in the evening, watching the camp game, going to campfire and then evening snack was at 9pm each evening. 

Camp has always held a special place in my heart. I love spending time at camp during the summer. I even had the opportunity to work in a kitchen at Camp Lakeview for a whole summer. I feel quite comfortable in a camp kitchen. This week at Diabetes Camp was great. I felt like I was able to make a positive difference and able to help this kids with allergies have a "normal" week. I also was able to learn lots more about Type 1 Diabetes in the process. It is amazing how much fun  you can have when you decide to enjoy yourself, work hard and make friends. I am thankful to have this opportunity and be able to serve these kiddos and staff for a week. 

Hanging out watch the camp activity for the evening. 

Thank you to my co-workers Kara and Kim and for all their helping preparing for this week at camp. They both helped so much with inventorying food items, making food labels and creating a chart to help organize the meal preparation process. Thank you to the two Tracys, who were in the kitchen, with me for the week. It was so much fun getting to know them and work with them each day. Also one last thank you, to my other co-worker Kristin, for letting me go to this camp for a week and leave her alone at the hospital. It is tough to be short one person, but I am so thankful to be able to have this experience! 

The Dining Hall at Camp.

The Gluten Free Prep area in the kitchen.

Great week being able to work with some great people! 

Gardening

Last week's post was about eating more foliage and I thought I would share with you my experience with growing leafy greens. 

Some of  you may know that I like to attempt a garden every year. It is a small garden and more of an urban garden. My family always has had a garden and I really do love fresh produce in the summer. If you happen to be growing your own garden and end up with extra produce, feel free to share it with me! 

This year I am growing tomatoes, mint, basil and lettuce. In previous years I have tried to grow beans, carrots, tomatoes and some herbs. Honestly I have the best luck with tomatoes and last year my basil went crazy. I totally killed the carrots and they just ended up rotting. I mentioned that my garden is an "urban" garden, which means I have all my plants in planters. I don't dig up my yard to plant vegetables, because we rent our house and I don't have the tools for that type of gardening. 

These are the tomatoes plants and herbs on my patio. 

This is the start of the lettuce. I was trying a new technique and so far it seems to be working. 

Since my gardening experience is somewhat limited, I thought I would pass along some other gardening tips from the professionals. This was from Ohio State Extension - Edible Front Yard Gardening. If you want some additional gardening tips, Purdue's Extension website is great depending on what types of produce you are growing.

I wanted to include a recent picture from my garden. The pictures above are from a month ago. The tomatoes are taking off and the mint is loving the pot. The lettuce is also starting to come up in full force. If you are curious about how I used a bag of soil for the base, then check out these instructions - CLICK HERE!

Lettuce is growing as of last night. It is looking great and I can't wait to harvest some leafy greens! 

Eat More Foliage

Do you eat enough foliage? This is a very important question! Your body needs fiber to help it function to the best of its ability. Unfortunately some lettuce on your burger isn't going to provide enough roughage to have a positive impact on your digestive health. You are going to have to reach for a salad or some cooked vegetables (like cabbage, collard greens or spinach). 

Why take the time to eat leafy greens? They are packed full of important nutrients, like fiber, water, antioxidants, vitamin C and beta-carotene. Fiber is good to help with weight loss because it provides bulk and helps keep you feeling fuller for longer. It also provides bulk as it moves through your digestive tract and can help to pull cholesterol from circulation, which is good for heart health. Water is always important, because your body is comprised primarily of H20. Antioxidants help to fight off free radicals that attack your cells. This can help prevent inflammation and keeps your cells healthy. Vitamin C is immune boosting and can help your body make collagen. Beta-carotene is converted into Vitamin A and this helps with growth and repair of skin cells. There are so many great things that dark, leafy greens provide for your body. 

Want to learn more about one of my favorite leafy greens ... spinach, watch the video below! 

Meal Planning

Do you struggle with meal planning? Is your meal plan commonly just finding something to put on the table 30 minutes before everyone gets home? A lot of people view meal planning as an overwhelming task and something that they don't have time to do. I am here to tell you that meal planning can be quick, easy and a painless part of your weekly routine. Meal planning can help take the guess work out of dinner and help you stick with your food budget. Here are a few tips to make your dinner tonight a success! 

https://www.pinterest.com/ajonnette/delicious-recipes/

1. Pick out some delicious recipes. I love to find new foods to try to make at home. Pinterest has so many different options. I love all the pictures and being able to see what the food item to suppose to look like before making that dish. I will save my meal items to a board on Pinterest and then go through that board and print off the recipes that I want to try. 
2. After printing off my recipes for the week, I take the time to put them in sheet protectors. You may ask "why go through that hassle?" because I plan on saving the recipes and using them in the future. I like to cook from a paper recipe. With the sheet protector on the recipe it gets the paper from getting wet or something spilled on it. Then when I am done using the recipe I put it in a three ring binder and that is what I use as my "cookbook" of recipes my family enjoys. 
3. Once I have my recipe picked out and put in a sheet protector, I then make out my grocery list of items that I need to cook these meals. 
4. Head off to the grocery to purchase the items that I don't have in my pantry. 
5. Then I am ready to cook for the week. I have the recipe, food and I then just decide what meal to make on which evening based on how long the recipe takes to prepare (30 minutes, something may need to marinate overnight or have the items prepped if you have a busy evening). 

In 5 simple steps you have your meal planned and ready to go for the week! For some other helpful tips check out the CDC website and their Meal Planning Tips.

Expiration Dates on Your Food

Have you ever wondered for how long those left-overs are good in left in the refrigerator or in the freezer? This can be very confusing because different foods have different shelf lives and it does matter if the item is raw, cooked, canned or frozen. Recently in the news there have been lots of food items that have been contained with some serious food borne illnesses like Listeria in ice cream, Botulism at a church potluck or EColi in produce. This has significant community health concerns because most of these products are going all across the country and potentially affecting lots of people. 

The area of food safety is the scientific study of handling, preparing and storing food. The end goal is to prevent food borne illness. This contamination can come from people, animals or microorganisms. Obviously as a consumer you can't control what the manufacturer has done/or not done to keep that food item safe, but you can prevent food borne illnesses once you have brought that food item home. Remember to keep cold foods cold and cook foods to proper temperature when cooking. For more recommendations on safe food preparation check out the USDA Website HERE. 

So you are probably wondering about those dates you find printed on the foods you purchase. What do they mean? Once that dates passes, do you have to toss that item out? 

• Milk is usually until for a week after the date on the container (which is a use by date). 
• Eggs are ok for 3-5 weeks after you bring them home (if purchased before the sell by date on the carton). 
• Poultry and Seafood should be cooked or frozen within 1-2 days after bringing those meat items home. 
• Beef and Pork should be cooked or frozen within 3-5 days after bringing that meat home. 
• Canned goods can be kept for >18 months (if they are highly acidic, like tomatoes) or up to 5 years (for low acid foods, like green beans). Remember to keep these canned items stored in a cool, dark place. 

There is a new mobile app that you should download and have on your smart phone to help answer your food safety questions and concerns. It is called Food Keeper and the USDA created this as a tool to help consumers. It tells you how to properly store food/beverages to help maximize their freshness and quality. If is available for Android and Apple devices. 

First Marathon

This past weekend marked the first marathon that I have ever run. This was a huge accomplishment for me because I had only dreamed of running a marathon and never thought was some I would actually do. Well on April 18th I made that far fetched dream a reality. It was a great day for a race. There were no clouds and lots of sunshine. The only issue was it started to get a little warm (mid 70s) which was a challenge because I had spent the whole winter training in frigid temperatures. I ran very consistently and honestly felt good. It got harder at the 22 mile mark and the course was a little more boring at that point, but thankfully I was able to power through for that last 4 miles. I am so blessed to have the ability to run and have this opportunity to compete. I finished in 3 hours and 46 minutes, which was great consider this was my first marathon ever. 

Since I am a dietitian I wanted to share with you some about my nutrition plan. I am firm believer in having a nutrition plan for your race (anything longer than 1 hour, you need to refuel). What you put in your body is very important. I have done race day nutrition presentations for local stores and I love talking about different endurance activity nutrition products (shameless plug, if you want me to come talk about nutrition and exercise send me an email via the CONTACT ME link). There are a ton of different products out there and the main take away message here is to find what works best for you. So here is what I use and why I have chosen these products. 

Energy Gel: Huma Gels 

These Huma energy gels are made from chia seeds. The best part of the product is the fact that it doesn't contain malto-dextrin (which is a type of carbohydrate that can cause some people GI distress). The texture is nice as well. Unlike a gel, it is more the texture of applesauce, slightly chunky due to the chia seeds.The flavors are all fantastic. If you have had issues tolerating a gel product then I would encourage you to try Huma and I am sure that you will be hooked! 

Electrolyte Replacement: Salt Stick 

I like using Salt Sticks, because I normally don't drink a carbohydrate/electrolyte solution when I run. For some reason I have had issues tolerating some like a Gatorade product. I do better with plain water and then I take the Salt Sticks to help make sure I am replacing the electrolytes that I have lost from exercising. I typically take 1 every 45-60 minutes when doing endurance activity. It works well and I have found it helpful when doing endurance activity. 

Beverage: Water

As mentioned above, I normally drink water. I carry water with me when I run to help make sure that I am staying hydrated. I didn't use to do this, but I have learned that I feel better if I take water with me when I am out for > 60 minutes. I use the Nathan hand held water bottle. I love it. It holds 18oz and during my marathon I used two. I carried one with me for 12 miles and then I picked up a new one (filled with cold water) and carried that through the end. I did end up using the water stations starting at about mile 20 because I was starting to run low on the water I was carrying with me. 

I received no compensation for my views on any of these products. This was my personal experience. These are recommendations, but results will vary from person to person. If you have specific nutrition related questions, please feel free to reach out to me via the CONTACT ME link above.

Media Award from the Indiana Dietetic Association

I had the honor to receive the Media Award from the Indiana Dietetic Association (IDA) on April 16th at the IDA Spring Meeting in Indianapolis. It was a fun day. I got to attend the conference in the morning and listened to some great presentations. I also had the opportunity to see and network with some old colleagues, preceptors, classmates and professors. In addition to attending some presentation and getting continuing education, we had a fantastic luncheon followed by the award ceremony. My Dad was able to come to the luncheon with me, which was fantastic. Chas' mom come to the ceremony along with my co-workers Kristin and Lori. It was such a welcomed surprise to have all of them there. 

I feel that being a Registered Dietitian means I am a nutrition expert. Four years of college and a year long internship had provided me with a fantastic base of knowledge to help interrupt/communicate nutrition recommendations to the public. Lots of time the media if filled with people talking about nutrition and they don't always have the correct information. I love being able to speak to people and provide accurate nutrition recommendations. Being the recipient of this award was so great and I am so honored. Thank you for the nomination Angie and I hope that there are lots of other dietitians getting out there in communities and helping people make healthy choices. 

The 2015 Indiana Dietetic Association Media Award! 

My Dad and Chas' Mom after the award presentation.

Marathon Training

I am on week #16 of my marathon training schedule and on Saturday (April 18th) I will be running my first marathon ever. I posted back at the beginning of March about how I was water jogging. If you missed out - check of that blog post HERE. I made an effort each week to get to the pool twice a week and water jog for 60 minutes. It has been a fantastic experience. I have been so thankful for that opportunity and I think it has helped with my recovery after long runs. 

I never thought that I would be getting ready a marathon. I have run 7 half marathons over the past 5 years. I started with a half marathon in Illinois after working at NIFS (National Institute for Fitness and Sport) and was inspired by my boss who was an iron man competitor. I thought I could run 13 miles. Up until that point I had never really run over 8 miles. After that first half I started to get hooked. Then in 2014 I decided that I wanted to try to do a marathon. My goal was to run a marathon in November of 2014, but that didn't happen. I was kind of disappointed, but decided I should do 26.2 miles before I turn 27 years old (at the end of April). So on Saturday I will complete my first marathon - 26.2 miles while 26 years old. I never imagined that 5 years ago when I ran my first half marathon I would be running a marathon in the future. 

August 2010 - Very first Half Marathon in Illinois with my sister Ivana. 

It has been an amazing learning experience in discipline. I trained the entire time outside. I don't belong to a gym and I had to run outside. In the rain, snow and ice. There were a lot of firsts for me - first time running in sub-zero weather, first time running over 13.1 miles and first time running for more than 2 hours. 

If you have ever wanted to run and thought about a marathon. You should do it! It is challenging and there were days I didn't eagerly anticipate my cold run outside, but it was worth it every single time. 

Looking forward to Saturday and rocking out 26.2 miles! 

Healthier Chocolate?!

There was some research that came out of the University of Ghana about the processing of cocoa beans. It is pretty exciting, because there are ways to make "healthier" (more antioxidant rich) chocolate that tastes sweeter. If you are interested in learning more about this research article, here is a clip from CBS about the research - CLICK HERE.

This research found that in this process, prior to roasting, the cocoa beans are allowed to rest and sit in storage for up to 7 days and this lead to a increase in chocolate flavor (sweetness) and more antioxidants. These antioxidants are preserved when the roasting occurs at a lower temperature and in the end creates "healthier" more antioxidant rich chocolate. This system is then being considered as a new way to process chocolate around the world. 

Have you wondered about the percentage that is sometimes on chocolate bars? Or wondered why dark chocolate is talked about has healthy? Well it all comes down to those antioxidants in chocolate. That is why this research is so intriguing to the food science field. The health benefits of chocolate lies in the antioxidants and there are more of those found in darker chocolate. That is why chocolate bars are labeled with the percentage of cocoa powder included. This is a ratio of the cocoa powder to the milk/added sugar. 

As a reference point a Hershey bar contains 10% cocoa powder. That is the minimum that is mandated by the FDA. Then other bars (like Godiva or Ghirardelli) start off having ~50-70% cocoa powder. These make a great transition chocolate if you are use to the sweet Hershey bar, but want to try something with more antioxidants. Then working up to bar like Endangered Species that has 88% cocoa powder. 

If you missed the segment that was on FOX59 on the evening news - CLICK HERE to see the clip.  

Grocery Store Tour with Fresh Thyme

Tuesday evening I had the opportunity to work with the American Diabetes Association in Indianapolis and put on a grocery store tour at a local Fresh Thyme store on 82nd Street. It was a great opportunity to help provide people who some healthy tips about navigating the grocery store. It can be extremely challenging to know what items to purchase, what is the best time to buy certain fresh produce, what wheat bread means and how alcohol may affect your blood sugar if you are diabetic.  These are all issues that you can run into while navigating the grocery store. 

Here are some great tips to help you next time you head to the grocery store: 

1. Make out a plan for the week. It helps to know what recipes you want to prepare at home during the week. I dislike having to go back to the grocery because I forgot something, so make sure you make a plan. Then planning out your meals/recipes for the week will help to create your grocery list.
2. That is a good segue into the second point. Always make a list! This is a must. You can't head out of the house without a list of things that you actually need. Check the items in your pantry and refrigerator and only put the items on your list that you need. 
3. When you get to the grocery, stick with that list. Don't get distracted by the tempting foods, only purchase the items that you wrote down on your list. This also will help to stick with a budget and may help to save you some money. 
4. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. In most traditional grocery stores the fresh produce, meat and dairy items are located on the outside of the shopping area. All of the processed food items are in the middle items/freezer sections. 
5. Purchase produce that is in season. This is important to help make sure you are getting delicious produce and not spending too much money on fresh fruits/vegetables. There is a great chart that is put out by Purdue --> Click here for the Harvest Calendar for Indiana. 

Eating Healthy During Pregnancy

So as many of you might know I work at a Women's Hospital and I end up working with quite a few pregnant women. It is so important to make sure that you are eating healthy foods while pregnant because your diet has a huge impact on your baby's health and wellness. I wanted to outline just a few of the recommendations that we had displayed in our cafeteria today. 

1. Variety of Foods - This is key! Variety helps to ensure that you are getting different vitamin and minerals in  your diet to help protect maternal stores and promote appropriate fetal development. It is essential to consume folic acid when pregnant to help prevent neural tube defects - the recommended amount of 0.4mg per day. Folic acid is found in dark, left vegetables (lettuce, spinach, kale, etc) and beans (legumes, lentils and black beans. Try to work in 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. The goal would be to consume 3 servings of protein a day. This is minimum and honestly if you are carrying multiples then you need to eat more protein. You need 1000mg of Calcium each day to support pregnancy. Some women aren't big milk drinkers so trying to include other dairy items in your diet is essential (like cheese and yogurt). 
2. Prenatal Vitamins - Taking your vitamin everyday is a must! This helps to ensure that you are getting ALL of the nutrients your body needs during pregnancy. I like to think of taking a vitamin as an insure policy. Even if we try to eat healthy and get enough fruits/vegetables in each day we aren't always perfect and taking that vitamin helps to make sure that you are still getting enough B Vitamins, Vitamin C, Folic Acid, etc. Prenatal vitamins now include added DHA (omega 3 fatty acid) to help with brain and eye development. 

Hopefully you found some of these pregnancy recommendations helpful. If you are wondering what to eat during pregnancy and how to plan meals this is a great video from Baby Center and has a dietitian talking about meal planning. CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

National Registered Dietitian Day!

If you didn't know March 11th is National Registered Dietitian Day! So if you know a dietitian then you should definitely wish them Happy RD Day! I think it is excited that there is a day during National Nutrition Month when we get to celebration dietitians. I may be tooting my own horn, but RDs do so much behind the scenes in hospitals to help provide care to sick patients. To give you a glimpse into what an RD might do during their day here is a list of things that I did today: 

• Sat in a 2 hour meeting about a fortifier to use in human breast milk and the feasibility of getting this product in our NICU. 
• Put together a display for National Nutrition Month for the cafeteria on Smart Snacking. 
• Charted on NICU babies - assessing calorie/protein/fluid needs, growth and updating their nutrition plan of care. 
• Spent 1 1/2 hours working with a patient on our Med/Surg unit who needed some soup and supplements that we didn't end up having in house, but got those items finally to the patient. 

That is just a glimpse into the variety of things that I find myself doing each and every day as a Registered Dietitian. For more information about Registered Dietitians CLICK HERE.

Smart Snacking

Smart Snacking ... what does that mean? I don't know about you, but I love a good snack. Maybe it is because I love food, but I am always looking forward to my mid-morning snack and my afternoon snack. It is important to make these snacks healthy. Don't get me wrong, I understand sometimes you just want a cookie for a snack and that is fine (if it is only one cookie and it doesn't become a routine). The key is making sure that other snack options are healthy. 

What types of foods do you think are healthy and good to include in your day as snacks? Some times it helps to think outside the box and maybe try some new foods. Variety is always important when it comes to eating healthy and getting all the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to run efficiently. 

Listed below are some great tips from the ChooseMyPlate.gov website. 

Snacking Tips from www.choosemyplate.gov website. Check it out for more healthy tips!

Water Jogging

Some of you may know this, but I love to run. In fact I have been training for a marathon for the past 9 weeks. My first marathon every and I am super exciting and yes slightly terrified. Well after my 16 mile run last weekend I started to experience some knee pain. I knew right away what was going on .... runner's knee. This is an inflammatory condition of the muscles surrounding the patella that is due to weak quadriceps muscles/hip muscles, poor running form, bad shoes or over use. Well I knew that if I didn't change up my routine then this pain was going to persist and get worse. I did end up running 5 miles on Monday, but I ended up walking some, because I didn't want to push too hard. From Tuesday through Thursday I took time off. I spent Wednesday evening doing hip strengthening exercises for an hour. Then Friday morning I went water jogging. I found a community swim time at the Zionsville High school and headed over there to run in their deep end of the pool for 60 minutes. It was quite the work out and I think I am going to work water jogging into my routine. 

                                                                                  http://tinyurl.com/or72lod

If you aren't familiar with water jogging then here are some good articles: 

Latest Research from Runners Connect

Pool Running is Great Recovery 

Off the Deep End

National Nutrition Month 2015

March is National Nutrition Month. Now you might be wondering what that means ... well in the world of dietetics this is the month that we work hard to promote leading a healthy lifestyle! I love the logo and slogan for 2015 because it talks about biting into a healthy lifestyle. The goal is to live healthier, one small step at a time. 

So what can you do this month to live healthier? Are there any habits that you have that you have wanted to change? Start with one thing .... I want to stop snacking late at night or walk for 15 minutes each day. Pick one simple goal and make that attainable this month! 

One of the most common complaints that I hear about trying to live a healthy lifestyle is that it is expensive. I believe that there are ways to make healthy, budget friendly choices. Plus being healthy now helps to decrease healthcare costs in the future, therefore saving you money in the long run. Check out these Healthy Eating on a Budget Tools from ChooseMyPlate.gov. 

Another helpful tip to saving money when eating healthy is to prepare your food at home. This can help you save money and enjoy delicious meals at home. There is a great recipe book that provides ~30 recipes from cookie recipes to dinner entrees using healthy foods that is available from ChooseMyPlate.gov - CLICK HERE for the Cookbook. 

Welcome!

This is my new blog home. I was very excited to actually create a professional website and blog. I have spent the last 5 years writing on my Life Through Green Eyes Blog and then separately posting on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Here recently, Chas (my amazing husband) came up with the idea to have my own centralized webpage where I can have a more professional media presence. I thought it was a great idea and so what you are seeing if hopefully the start to something amazing. We were able to purchase the domain name www.RDAnna.com and hoping to build off of that. It is a work in progress so bare that in mind as we get started with this new website and blog platform. 

Hopefully this will be a great place to post information about new nutrition research, recipes for you to try, tips about being healthy and can be a platform to share my media work with my friends and family.