I can’t believe my time at Kindred as the Insightful Intern is over! This summer has gone by ridiculously fast when surprisingly, I wanted it to slow down. Although I am excited to finally be getting back to school, I’m sad to have to leave Kindred behind.           At the beginning of this summer, I had no idea what to expect. I found out last minute that I was coming home for the summer. When I returned home, I realized that I had nothing planned for the next 3 months. So after that rather frantic realization, I decided to email Amy about the possibility of interning at Kindred Nutrition. I am so thankful that she decided to give me a chance and that she didn’t mind me following her around all summer!         Interning has completely changed my outlook on the dietetics field. I’ve said it before but learning in the classroom can only get y...

       These last 6 weeks have gone by incredibly fast and now there is only 1 week remaining. When I start to think of myself being in Amy’s shoes in 2 years it’s just the motivation I need to finish up my senior year. This internship has been like looking into my future and now I just need to push through one year of school and one year of an official internship to get where I want to be.         I think what I am looking forward to most about being a dietitian, besides finally being done with classes, is having my own clients. I’ve seen a lot of Amy’s clients multiple times and it just hit me that I won’t continue to work with them or monitor their progress after next week. When you see people once a week for the entire summer, you definitely build a relationship and want to see them succeed. Dietetics is not a job that you leave at the office. I’ve found myself brainstorming about struggling client...

        Before I started my internship, my only knowledge about how dietitians handle nutritional counseling was really from the professors at school. In class, they show a more black and white approach to nutrition but from observing Amy I have learned it’s more shades of gray.   So I am going to share with you some common misconceptions some people believe about dietitians.           The first thing I really observed was how dietitians construct such personalized plans . Amy takes the time to talk to each client about his or her routine and works the plan around it. A “one size fits all” plan does not exist. While I knew to calculate the amount of calories for each meal plan, I didn’t know just how customized it should be. Amy asks what foods you eat on a normal basis and fits those in rather than giving out a standard plan.         While sh...

           I have officially hit the one-month mark of being an intern at Kindred and continue to be as enthusiastic as the day that I started.               My focus for the past 2 weeks has been on Kindred’s social media. Most recently I have started to add new Pinterest boards that include gluten free recipes, dairy free meals and tasty summer desserts. While I am researching new recipes, I have found so many interesting substitutions that you can use to lighten up a meal, like Greek yogurt for butter or even mayonnaise. Pinterest is a great source to find fun and interesting recipes that you wouldn’t usually try.            Every day that I go into the office, I have no doubt that this is what I want to do after I graduate. One of my favorite things about the dietetics field is that ev...

          Today marks the completion of two week of interning at Kindred Nutrition and I already love it! Although I was nervous on my first day, I had absolutely no reason to be! This is already one of the best and most eye opening experiences in terms of all that I am observing but I still understand that I have a lot left to learn.           I’m enjoying each and every session that I am shadowing in. So far I have learned so much from the Kindred clients regarding health and wellness. Amy really takes a realistic approach when counseling patients, which is enlightening to see because each plan is very feasible. She is also showing me how to make the plans flexible to work for each patient’s unique schedule.           Probably one of my favorite experiences so far was on my first day when I got to witness my first RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) te...

            Hi all! I’m Carly Francis and I am the new intern at Kindred Nutrition for the summer. I am thrilled to be chosen for this experience and can’t wait to get started! A little about myself: I am going into my senior year at Florida State University as a Dietetic major. When I’m not pouring over books at the library, you can find me running outside, trying out new Pinterest recipes or enjoying downtime with my favorite TV show “The Office”. I am new to blogging though so bear with me!               I became interested in nutrition after I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 9 so when it was time to pick a college major and career path, I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a Dietitian! My goal is to help someone one day as much as Dietitians have helped me along the way.    ...

A very heartfelt thank you to Susan Davis, Editor @Holistic Degree for letting us know that Kindred Nutrition's Ask Amy blog spot is rated as a leading site for holistic nutrition consulting and therapy.  Be sure to check out our blog and others here .