Food For Your Whole Life Symposium, Day 2

Food For Your Whole Life Symposium, Day 2 started out with a super-early morning press conference with all of the big players - from Dr. Katz to Dr. Clemens to Dr. Michael Roizen. They all reviewed their part of the upcoming program for the day and answered questions from the press. The best part of the press conference was the five of us in the second row with our computers out, tweeting away. We were quite a sight to be seen.

After the press conference, we got a bite to eat for breakfast and the day started rolling, one talk after another. During the morning sessions, Karen Collins talked about the importance of making nutrition a priority during early adulthood. During this time, good nutritional practices are not always on the top of a young adult's priority list; usually, it is getting through college, getting a job, paying bills, establishing yourself, etc. These days, it seems like less and less young adults are cooking for themselves, and Dr. Collins, RD quoted that in young adults, 40% of caloric consumption comes from foods eaten out of the home. This is a huge contributor to a young adult's energy and nutrient needs.

Dr. Collins also discussed the importance of stressing adequate sleep when working with individuals within this age group. A study that Collins presented showed that only 23% of individuals studied said that in the last 30 days, there were zero days that were reported as excessively tired due to lack of sleep. As a whole, we need to be working on getting adequate sleep to improve the quality of our waking hours.

When working with this age group, Collins recommends:

• flexible meal planning
• providing practical application for grocery shopping for meals
• providing basic cooking skills
• providing time management cooking skills
• providing education about equipment and access barriers

Collins, the RD for the American Institute on Cancer Research also recommended a great resource called the New American Plate, and is a great resource for any age group. Check it out here.

And then came lunch. I have to say, this was the best conference lunch I've ever had! One of the underlying themes of most of the speakers' presentations was the emphasis on a plant-based diet for good health. We all agreed that focusing on and celebrating this type of meal pattern at lunch would be a "great way for us as health professionals to practice what we preach."

This pear and blueberry dessert in a walnut tuile cup was SO delicious. I wish I knew how to make tuile cups with walnuts.

After lunch came some more presentations, including Brian Wansink's interesting discussion about his research. Elizabeth was granted an interview, and when she posts about it, you HAVE to read it. He is quite the character, and I'm sure it came through in the interview. Check out some of the work that he and his lab does up at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab here. Watch the video. It rocks. It's pretty amazing stuff about why we eat the way we do. After all, he specializes in behavioral psychology about food behaviors.

I have an interview in the works with a very special guest. This post to come shortly!

Overall, this was a great experience, and I can't thank that staff that organized Food For Your Whole Life enough for the opportunity to partake in this conference! Thank you also to the gracious sponsors The California Walnut Board, USA Pears, Wild Blueberries, The Pea and Lentil Council.

Where's Waldo?

So after the conference, Janel and I flew to Arizona for the ADA Leadership Institute. Here's a photo journey of what we've experienced so far...

We ate breakfast here.

We relaxed here.

We ate a healthy lunch of fish tacos and hummus and pitas.

And did yoga here.

I'm so excited for the ADA Leadership Institute to begin!