I had the amazing opportunity to present to hundreds of women at the annual Celebrating Women Conference in Galveston, Texas on the topic of “The Food and Mood Connection.” I participated alongside University of Texas Medical Branch physician leaders Dr. Zehra Jaffery from Women’s Heart Health and Dr. Juliet McKee from Family Medicine.

Holiday eating is a challenge for all of us. My article, “Tis the Season to be Healthy,” was featured in the UTMB Health Impact Newsletter (pg. 20) with tons of useful tips on how to combat holiday weight gain.

The University of Texas Medical Branch hosted a community outreach series called “The Lunch Bunch” featuring health topics from subject matter experts in various health fields. I was asked to give a presentation on health food trends in weight management that I titled, “The Skinny on the Hottest 10 Food Trends” and as a bonus I did a live cooking DEMO at the end. You’ll want to watch this one all the way through - I still have that Laura Ashley apron!

In this media clip from the Lunch Bunch episode, “My Achy Breaky Bones: Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis,” I was asked to speak on the role of dietary and supplement sources of calcium on bone health. I engaged with the audience using food props in this interactive presentation. My part begins at around 39:12 into the presentation after Dr. Gordon Klein’s talk.

A former patient of mine chose to use his influence as an editor for the Galveston Daily News to document his weight loss journey and experience with my surgery center. His article, “Fat Boy Gives Thanks During Weight Loss Journey” is relatable and genuine. He made some pretty humorous remarks about my guidance as a dietitian on his food choices!

A journalist from the Galveston Daily News interviewed me to find out what I thought helped people to lose and maintain weight if fad diets fail, especially after the initial fervor of new year’s resolutions winds down. Rick Cousins’ article, “Diets fail; What works?” features my take on how to realistically manage weight.

*You may need a subscription with the newspaper to access the full article.

I was a research dietitian in the Look AHEAD Study, one of the largest multi-center trials to study lifestyle interventions in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity. I am so grateful to have been one of the Look AHEAD Research Group collaborators based out of The University of Washington.

Working with Seattle Public Schools on my thesis was challenging, rewarding, and super fun. Under the guidance of my preceptor Kirsten Frandsen in the nutrition services department, I helped the district further develop their Ethnic Foods and Education Project. The goal was to offer healthy meals that reflected the diverse student body and promote cultural education. My contributions to the project included recipe development, nutrition analysis, cost analysis, logistics, and feasibility studies for five ethnic meals representing Somalian, African American, Thai, Filipino, and South Pacific cultures. The best part was working in the test kitchen to create the new recipes, despite having to wear a hairnet!

Early in my career I worked with a fantastic mentor, Dr. Lee-Jane Lu, Professor in Preventive Medicine and Community Health at The University of Texas Medical Branch. She and I published a research paper on our work testing the effect of a soymilk supplement rich in isoflavones (soy plant estrogens) on a measure of cellular lipid peroxidation (one way to tell if cells are experiencing damage) in a controlled feeding study. Did that just sound REALLY geeky? I am pretty ok with being a cool geek.