Holiday Message

cooking
Written By Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Every Day is Not a Holiday

Lauren Giddings, RD, Director of Nutrition Services, tells her clients, “Enjoy the eating festivities on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but if you eat like every day is a holiday, we need to talk!”

So many people get worked up over the idea they can’t enjoy all their holiday favorites. I tell them enjoy. What we need to talk about is what we eat every day, not just what we do on two special days in the year. And her final tip, “Sweet potatoes are one of those great super foods. Let’s make this something we eat all year long, not just on Christmas and Thanksgiving.”

Holiday Newsletter Messages

Monica Dawkins writes a year-end newsletter, Healthy Holiday Lifestyle. She focuses on:
• Holiday dinner substitutions.• Adding sparkle nutritiously to the holiday meal.• Holiday leftover tips.• Making physical activity a priority during the holidays.

Holiday Party Primer

Mary Wilson, MS, RD, Extension Nutrition Specialist, conducts a class to help individuals maintain their healthful lifestyle during the holidays.
She asks, “What are some food challenges or other problems people face during special events and parties?” She encourages the class to brainstorm and write them down. Here are her examples:• Eating too much• Gaining weight• Saying “no” to Aunt Betty• Eating at night• No time for exerciseShe uses a flip chart with the class to brainstorm ways to counter these challenges.Participants identify and write down two personal food challenges that they face during the holidays and create a strategy to minimize each challenge.
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Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy’s passion for cooking began with helping her grandmother make raisin oatmeal for breakfast. From there, she earned her first food service job at 15, was accepted to the world-famous Culinary Institute of America at 18 (where she graduated second in her class), and went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland, where she focused on pastry arts and baking. After a decade in food service for Hyatt Hotels, Judy launched Food and Health Communications to focus on flavor and health. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude distinction from Johnson and Wales University with a BS in Culinary Arts, holds a master’s degree in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and runs a food photography & motion studio where her love is creating fun recipes and content.

Judy received The Culinary Institute of America’s Pro Chef II certification, the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year. Her enthusiasm for eating nutritiously and deliciously leads her to constantly innovate and use the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to guide her creativity, from putting new twists on fajitas to adapting Italian brownies to include ingredients like toasted nuts and cooked honey. Judy’s publishing company, Food and Health Communications, is dedicated to her vision that everyone can make food that tastes as good as it is for you.

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