You’re at work.  It’s been a long morning, and you’re starting to get hungry.  You decide to pull out that bag of almonds from your desk drawer.  You dump a few on a napkin.  And you dump a few more.  You check the label - a serving is 2 Tbsp.  That looks about right, you decide.  You fold the bag back up and stash it away for another day. But here’s a question.  Why is a serving size of almonds 2 Tbsp?  Is that all you need of nuts for the day?  Is it a perfect portion for YOU?   These “serving sizes” were actually determined back in the 1980’s - 1990’s after a group of researchers with the USDA surveyed Americans regarding how much they would eat of a certain food “per eating occasion.”  The average of the collected data became the serving size when nutrition labels became standardized in 1994.  So, basically, that ½ cup serving of Life cereal you had this morning was dictated by the rest of America.  Not sc...

Remember back on New Year’s Day when the resolution to lose weight seemed like a fantastic, and certainly easily attainable, goal.  You were motivated.  You had a plan.  You were going to stick with it this time.  But now, it’s March and it’s cold and it’s gross outside.  You haven’t seen the sun in an eternity.  And eating salads every day is really boring.  You’ve lost the motivation to try.  Maybe next year... Motivation.  Have you ever wondered where we get our motivation from?  Why are we motivated to do certain activities but not others?  Why can’t we tap into this part of our brain and MOTIVATE ourselves to do what’s best for us regardless of how we are feeling each day.   Oxford Dictionary defines “motivation” as “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.”  And to take that to the next step, the meaning of “desire” is “wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.”  Wis...

As I enter into my 6th year of practice I realize I face different challenges than when Kindred Nutrition was created.  Upon opening I battled with insurance, branding, and choosing a location.  I worked to create cohesive relationships with the medical community in Frederick and Montgomery Counties and value every relationship I have.  All were interesting challenges that helped Kindred Nutrition grow successfully into the community it is today. The last year, however has had different challenges. The largest by far is battling all the misinformation that is provided by the internet,by those who are not licensed or educated to provide nutrition information, all the super claims, super foods, super pills and more. I could go on forever. As I've published before, dietitians are so lucky to live in the state of Maryland. As of 10/1/2014 there was an addendum signed to our licensure that allows for civil penalties for Unauthorized Practice.  I have to ask myself tho...

This article came to my email the other day and although it is short, I thought it was great. Often when cruising the internet, I read about the newest Super Foods and their claims. Sometimes they hold a little truth, and often times they promise the world with little collaborative thought.  What I liked most about this publishing was this quote: "But for virtually every "health food," there are potential problems along with more commonly extolled virtues." We live in a busy society. Most of us have jobs that exceed 8 hours a day or involve incredible commutes. We have children, school, continuing education courses, the stress of taking care of sick family members, the priority to exercise and the time it takes to do it and more. We all, including me, want to believe that something will make life easier especially when it comes to health. This desire for ease, however, makes us become easy prey to incredible claims. Often when a company is promoting a "mir...

Kindred Nutrition is so excited that Dawn Frick RD, LDN joined us in the Fall of 2015.  Our clients just love her and our thriving! Dawn's specialties include Gastrointestinal Health, Weight Management, Picky Eating and more.  Dawn really enjoys assessing our clients' essential vitamins, minerals, and gut health and practices what she preaches. Starting today Dawn will be tag teaming with me, Amy to bring you more of the blogs you love and request. Have ideas or questions you want answered? Comment here and we'll put it in the queue for the coming months! As always, we hope you enjoy our blog! Just heard the weather forecast for tomorrow – a high of 22° F with30 mph winds.   Winter is definitely here.   I spent this weekend making sure our family is geared up to stay warm and healthy these next few months:   Hats? Check.   Gloves?   Check.   Boots?   Check. Vitamin D? Well, that’s a work in progress for all of us.   ...

Tis' the season! Welcome to the Holidays. I believe it's safe to say it's some (most) of my client's hardest time of the year. Each year at Kindred Nutrition we talk about recipe modifications, goals for weight maintenance or loss, and how to just enjoy the holidays without feeling pressured to eat, drink, and be merry every.single.day. The most puzzling thing to me though, is that we move through these motions pushing off our goals to get fit or start a plan until the New Year. I think about this often and have come up with possible reasons why people tend to push this goal off. 1) Change is SCARY. Adults especially are set in their ways. It's scary to potentially change the way you buy your food, cook your food, and eat it. It's especially scary when you have a million other priorities you need to focus on such as work, kids, Holiday Shopping & Entertaining. I can't imagine starting something so different during this time either. 2) It's ...

Every year the holidays seem to creep up sooner than last. This is the most difficult time for the majority of new clients, some current clients, and many soon to be clients.  The combination of surplus candy, parties surrounded by food, and just the general expectations of the holidays can cause chaos which ultimately shifts our priorities. I invite you to join my social media outlets. Follow us every day starting in November as I will have a #kindrednutritiontip of the day. Tips will include motivation for exercise, food prep, nutrition, recipes and more.  My hope is that you can take some of the tips and make them work for your family to give you more balance and ultimately help make health, nutrition, and fitness a priority.  I can't wait! There will be great tidbits for you to try. Click any of the below sites and follow us starting in November! Facebook Twitter Linked In Cheers to good health, Amy