Tag: nutrition

Vacation Meal Planning

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Vermont in the summertime is glorious. The way that the evening summer light reflects off the mountains is downright magical. I certainly didn’t appreciate it when I was growing up there, but now that my husband and I have lived in the Boston area for almost 10 years, our trips to VT in the summer always feel too short. We were desperate for a vacation this year, but 3 years of my super-part-time income and student loans didn’t exactly set us up for a life of luxury. We decided that a week in VT fit the bill for a peaceful, relaxing, inexpensive getaway. And you know what? It was one of the best vacations that we’ve ever had.

As a couple of foodie, health-conscious vegetarians, meal planning is a consideration from the start of the vacation-planning process. Here are our priorities:

  1. Budget: This is the least negotiable, so it’s the most significant in driving our decisions.
  2. Health: A week of overconsumption is unlikely to cause irreversible damage, but vacation is a good opportunity to practice a moderation mindset instead of treating it as a free-for-all. This makes it easier to have a balanced approach to food when returning to regular life. Not only that, but my body usually doesn’t feel great if I overdo it on foods that aren’t part of my usual diet.
  3.  Enjoyment: Good food is one of the things that we both love about vacation. This can mean seeking out an exceptional restaurant, buying local produce, or tracking down speciality treats.

It’s tough to find vegetarian options at restaurants that make it worth the money. As a result, we usually try to find lodging that allows us to prepare at least some of our own meals. This can shift depending on where we go, but we research our options in advance so that we know how we want to prioritize our money and calories to make the best use of what the location has to offer.

The Setup

We were fortunate to have free lodging with a view of Lake Champlain, thanks to my in-laws. As far as RVs go, this one was pretty nice. We had a full stove, refrigerator,  microwave, charcoal grill, and most importantly, a coffee maker. The kitchen was stocked with all of the pots, pans, and utensils that we could need. My mother-in-law even got us set up with some staples, like eggs, bread, and milk. The plan was to stay there for 4 nights before moving on to another part of the state for the rest of the week.

IMG_4976

The Plan

The original plan was to have eat out for 2 dinners, and to make the rest of our meals at the RV. We had approximately 8,000 tomatoes to use up, as well as Swiss chard, zucchini, and cucumbers from the CSA, so we brought them with us in a cooler (everyone brings produce on vacation, right?). We made a loose meal plan, and then made a grocery run before heading to the islands. We stopped at farm stands along the way for produce that I knew would be in season.

Meal Ideas

Caprese salad

Omelets

Veggie burgers with beans and veggies

Tofu and veggie kebabs with quinoa

PB&J sandwiches

Snacks and Treats

Local blueberries

Bananas

Apples

Oranges

Cucumbers, carrots, and hummus

Chips and salsa

Popcorn

Brie and crackers

S’mores

Wine from a local winery

We revised the plan as we went along, adding or subtracting meals out, and enjoying local treats as we discovered them, like the maple creamees at Allenholm Farm, and the chocolate chip cookies at the organic market in the middle of our 70-mile bike ride. Yum! Here are some of the meals that we ended up with:

Veggie burger with tomato and avocado, baked beans, and grilled zucchini
Avocado toast with fried egg and caprese salad
A plate of cucumbers and a table of fruit.
Happy hour!
Veggie burger with sauteed swiss chard and grilled squash

Was this a “perfect” nutrition plan? No, of course not, but it was better than what it could have been. We enjoyed plenty of treats that we don’t typically have at home, but by having a plan and cooking for ourselves, we weren’t subject to the excessive amounts of fat and sodium found in many restaurant meals, and we were more likely to consume reasonable portions. We were also able to make sure that we got at least some protein at every meal, along with plenty of fruits and vegetables. I recognize that not everyone is into cooking while on vacation, but planning can be as simple as keeping some fruit and yogurt in the refrigerator to ensure a strong start to the day, or researching restaurants in advance to make sure that healthy options are available.

And lastly, you should take a vacation in Vermont. It’s beautiful.

Sunset over Lake Champlain
North Hero
Knight Point State Park
Spruce Mountain Summit
Noyes Pond
Noyes Pond
View from 4 Corners Farm
PYO Flowers at Cedar Circle Farm

 

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A diabetic what? An overview of the Dietetic Internship Process

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This is a conversation that I have almost every day:

Other Person: “What do you do?”

Me: “I’m a dietetic intern.”

Other Person: “A what?”

Me: “A dietetic intern.”

Other Person: “A diabetic what?”

Me: “Nutrition. I’m a nutrition student.”

Other Person: “Oh. I eat McDonald’s every day, but I put butter in my coffee, so that’s healthy, right?”

Most people in my life know that I’ve been a teensy bit preoccupied for the past 8ish months, in addition to the 4 years prior that I was in school. The people who really know me understand all of the things that went into the process. My best friend in Boston teared up when I told her that I matched to an internship last year, and my sister calls me and sings me songs about how many days I have left until I’m done. Most other people probably just know that I’ve been pretty unavailable, and it has something to do with nutrition, so here’s a comprehensive explanation.

To become a Registered Dietitian, a person must complete a Didactic Program in Dietetics, complete 1200 hours of supervised practice (dietetic internship), pass the national registration exam, and maintain registration with continuing education. The only people who can apply for a dietetic internship are those who have a bachelor’s degree and have completed ACEND-accredited coursework through a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD). Some people do an undergrad nutrition program that includes the DPD requirements, while others earn a bachelor’s degree in another field, and then return to school to complete a DPD program, which is what I did. Someone who earns a master’s degree in nutrition without completing a DPD program cannot apply to an internship. Anyone who has not completed a dietetic internship cannot become a Registered Dietitian (excluding ISPPs). DPD coursework varies slightly across programs, but follows the same general ACEND guidelines. If anyone is interested, you can see the Simmons curriculum here. Basically, I took a bunch of lab sciences and a bunch of nutrition courses in different areas of nutrition (food service, community, and clinical).

Simmons requires a C- or better in the science courses, and a B- or better in all DPD nutrition courses, but of course, getting by with the bare minimum does not make a student competitive for dietetic internships. This is what we are told throughout the program. The match rate is approximately 50% for dietetic internships. There are WAY more students applying for internships than there are places for them. The internship thing is tricky. You have to be willing to put other things in your life on hold, spend a bunch of money on tuition, and work full-time for free for 9-12 months. Once you make the decision to do an internship, you have to decide which programs to apply to. Dietetic internships are primarily accredited through hospitals and colleges, with a handful of exceptions. All internships must include rotations for clinical, community, and food service, but they can emphasize different aspects of nutrition by having interns spend more time in certain rotations. Once an applicant decides what they’re interested in, they fill out 58 million forms, acquire all of their transcripts, and beg professors and employers for recommendations to submit to a computerized database for the big event of them all. MATCH DAY. After submitting the required materials, applicants rate their internship choices. The internship programs then rate the applicants. Applicants bite their nails, cry to their loved ones, and generally freak out while waiting for match day. If it’s a match, well, then a dietetic intern is born.

I knew that I would want to do individual counseling, so I chose to apply to the Simmons internship program and the UMass Amherst program because (a) I wanted to do a community nutrition-based program vs. a clinical program, and (b) I didn’t want to uproot my life by leaving Boston. Most students apply to 5 or more programs. I took a risk by only applying to 2 programs because I wasn’t willing to compromise on what I wanted. Had I not matched, I would have either waited another year and reapplied to internships, or pursued something else and not become an RD.

The internship has been interesting/stressful/frustrating/exhilerating. I have (almost) completed 6 rotations:

  1. Government/non-profit: Executive Office of Elder Affairs (Elderly Nutrition Program for state of Massachusetts)
  2. Counseling/Education: Harvard University, sports nutrition/eating disorder counseling w/student athletes.
  3. Food service: New England Conservatory
  4. MA Dept. of Public Health- WIC Program
  5. Community Health Center- Cambridge Health Centers, outpatient counseling
  6. Acute Care Hospital- Melrose-Wakefield Hospital
  7. Will complete: Intern’s choice week, shadowing 3 different private practice/outpatient RDs who do ED counseling.

I certainly did not expect that I would be writing this, 2 weeks away from the completion of this 5-year journey. I didn’t expect any of this to happen when I started out with Intro to Nutrition, thinking that I would just explore some career options and take advantage of free tuition. I was convinced that I would fail every single exam and every class along the way. Even if I passed, I wasn’t sure that the internship would be worth the sacrifices, but I have learned something new every single day for the last 8 months,  and the perspective that I’ve gained cannot be acquired through any other experience. I am grateful for the opportunity.