Hi everyone and welcome to the Florence’s BIGGEST LOSER! Thank you for your contribution to United Way of Florence County and for taking on the adventure to learn more about eating right and moving more!

To tell you a little about myself, I am a Florence native and grew up with traditional Southern foods. My Mom still cooks the best biscuits around! I haven’t lived outside of the South, but enjoy traveling and learning about different foods and traditions – Italy and Greece are my favorite foodie countries and my dream is to take a cooking course in one or both countries. I enjoy cooking although I am definitely not a gourmet cook. You will most often find me making basic, simple foods including lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. I also love delving into and experimenting with herbs and spices. I have even experimented with herbs in the kitchen (though my thumb is not very green.) Eating out at good restaurants is a passion when I am traveling – my rule is to never eat at a chain restaurant if I can help it!

Over the next several weeks, I will be your nutritionist/dietitian and my goal is to help you learn how to take better care of your body through a healthy eating lifestyle. Like all the other things in life, sometimes we are effective and sometimes life gets in the way of what we are aiming for. With eating, it is all about having a plan to make sure healthy foods are available – what to buy – how to prepare it – when to eat and how much. Then, it’s about figuring your strategies in all the other eating situations – dining out or on the go – parties – vacations/holidays – business trips, etc. You’ll get off track at times and that is NORMAL. Bouncing back quickly is part of the overall strategy. It’s also about finding healthy options that taste good to you (and we all have different tastes). Enjoying your food not only makes it easier to stick to the plan, it actually makes it FUN and enjoyable. Finally, this is not about suffering or deprivation or that 4 letter word – DIET. Rather, it is about finding a plan that works for you – over days, months and even years! It’s also about trying new foods, techniques and strategies to help you on this quest.

Nutrition is my passion – it is an ever changing study and while I don’t know all the answers, I will work hard to find the latest evidence-based information and practical strategies to help you achieve optimal health! One of my strong suits is coming up with suggestions and ideas for you to try. I am the queen of suggestion and ideas! It’s your job to find what works since you’re the one who knows you best. 🙂

Looking forward to meeting you and helping you on our journey together!