Jennifer Makin Expert Guru

Being healthy doesn't have to be painful, miserable, or taste anything akin to cardboard. When did you last notice a commercial, an advertisement in a magazine, or a newscast on a nutrition topic? Did you wonder if, in fact, the information presented was truly healthy? Did you wish you had someone there who could tell you? Have you ever sighed to yourself, "It's impossible to eat right!"? Relax. I'm here to help. Trust me to take the science, research, fads, truth, and just plain mumbo-jumbo and turn it into real-life, easy-to-follow nutrition advice. I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics from Purdue University. I am also a graduate of the Purdue University Coordinated Program in Dietetics, which earned me the right to take the national exam to become a Registered Dietitian. And Registered I am. This status enables me to work professionally in the clinical setting where I am currently practicing. I am also a Certified Dietitian, by the standards of my state. What do all these credentials mean? They mean that I put the time in, learned the latest research and best practices of nutrition. I am fully qualified to give nutrition advice, and it is my pleasure to help you. I've dedicated my life to it.

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Veggie Hate

In my line of work, I'd be rich if I had a nickel for every time I've heard, "I hate vegetables!". If you're seeking to expand your nutrition horizons, challenge yourself. Go to the grocery store with an open mind. Look over all of the freshest produce. Take in the different colors, textures, and scents. Select a few vegetables that look interesting to you. Go home, and make preparing those suspicious-looking veggies into an experience. Look online for an unusual way to prepare your new-found flora. Steam them, season them, bake them, whatever appeals. If you enter the experience with an open mind, there's no telling what you might come away liking!

What is trans fat?

Trans fat. It's all over the media. Let me make it simple. Food manufacturers want to make everything as inexpensively as possible. They take liquid fat, for example, vegetable oil, and send it through a process called "hydrogenation". Basically, to make a long story short, this changes the configuration of hydrogen bonds in that vegetable oil. What does that mean? That liquid oil becomes a solid oil. Imagine shortening. Eat things made with that shortening, and you're at higher risk for heart disease. Check the food label for trans fat content.

Do-It-Yourself Snack Packs

Are you sick of paying high prices for low-calorie snacks? Do it yourself! It's easy. Check out the Nutrition Facts Label on your favorite snack food. Estimate a portion size that will provide you with anywhere from 90-110 calories. Measure out several of these portions into small plastic bags. You'll save a pinch in your pocketbook and quite possibly an inch in the waist!

Fabulous Fat-Free Desserts

Let's face it. We all love our sweets. Here's a little trick to make them guilt-free:
Next time you bake that favorite cake, consider this. Instead of shortening, margarine, or butter, substitute in unsweetened applesauce. This will provide the moisture and tenderness that fat is intended to do. You'll have a divine dessert that's much less sinful.
Also, if that cake is going to be chocolate, you might use pureed plums, which will also reduce the fat content of your treat, while giving it a richness you'll find pleasantly unexpected!

Prep-Ahead Meats

What stops you from cooking on weeknights? For me, it's the time that involved recipes take to prepare. After working a long day at the office, I have no desire to slave over a hot stove while I stare at the raw beef, taking its sweet time to brown. I often imagine chucking it and just ordering a pizza!

Take a little time in advance and you'll thank yourself. Choose a day when you'll have a little extra time to spend in the kitchen. Poach a few chicken breasts in boiling water. Brown the ground beef. When all of the meat is finished cooking and cooling, package it into the amounts you'll need for meals and toss it into the freezer. When those weeknight meals come, you'll simply reach into the freezer, snag the meat you're after, and whip up a casserole, soup, or sandwich. You'll thank yourself!

No-Measure Fruit Crisp

This is a wonderful year-round recipe. Choose your favorite fruit. If it is summer or spring, perhaps you will choose an in-season fruit, such as berries or peaches. If it is fall, try fresh apples. If it is the winter season, any canned fruit will do.

Lightly spray any size baking dish with canola oil.
Place your fruit into the bottom of the baking dish.
Cover with brown or granulated sugar or the artificial sweetener of your choice.
Add rolled oats to taste, along with 1/2 cup water.
Add a few teaspoons of butter, margarine, or unsweetened applesauce for moisture.
Top with sugar or sugar substitute.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until heated evenly throughout.

Serve and enjoy. Excellent with milk or low-fat ice cream!

Make It Lifelong

So many people get onto "diet kicks" or "health crazes". They religiously follow a plan until it has served their purposes, then toss it by the wayside. Choose a healthful lifestyle that you find you can happily adhere to for the rest of your life. If the changes you make aren't permanent, you won't see lasting results.

Fact or Fad?

With so many quick-fix diet programs on the market, it's hard to know what to believe. Americans are desperate for weight loss help that they often fall for gimmicks! Spare yourself by keeping these tips in mind:
-If the program is entirely based on your frequent consumption of a certain drink, pill, supplement, or product, don't listen! The program is just after your money.
-If any foods are considered entirely "bad" or "good", the information you are receiving is not true. No food is either. Everything in moderation is best.
-If you cannot happily remain on the diet program for the rest of your life, don't commit to it. A healthy lifestyle is meant to be just that-- a way of life forever.
-If the diet program requires that you eat specific foods in a certain order, under claims of "best metabolism", don't believe it! Calories are calories, no matter which order in which they are consumed.
-If the diet program requires you to eat less than about 1200 Calories per day, it may be dangerous.
-See a Registered Dietitian for help! They are trained in safe, effective weight loss techniques.