As I was sitting and thinking of interesting topics and recipes for my blog, my good friend and college roommate Carly popped into my head. She recently started her own virtual private practice, and has a lot of tips, tricks, recipes and useful information for people looking to live healthier lifestyles. I immediately reached out to her and we set up a brainstorming session to come up with a topic that people would enjoy reading and would find useful. From that, we came up with the next series… The Summer Snack Series.
So, to kick off the series, let’s learn more about the snack aficionado herself and what snacks and information we can look forward to learning from her throughout this series.
Tell us a little more about YOU!
Hi! I’m Carly and am thrilled to be here and collaborating with a bestie from College! A little bit about me– I grew up in Northern New York on the St. Lawrence River (which is where the inspiration for my biz name comes from) in an Italian Family with a Mom who is a GREAT cook. So great that she actually started and maintained a successful (Woman Owned- yahoo!) business in our hometown catering for locals and out of town folks who found our little piece of heaven on The River.
Growing up all of my favorite memories were surrounded by food: Sunday Sauce with my extended family, Holidays with the family each had a major food element, cooking with Mom, and finding that ending the day around the dinner table with my sister, brother, and parents was one of my all time favorite daily rituals. I was athletic in high school playing soccer and basketball and always found exercising and eating balanced meals to made me feel my best.
Onto college – I think I’ll try nutrition and it stuck. I’ve been a registered dietitian for 7 years now and have worked in various clinical settings. My true passion in nutrition lies with my private practice clients implementing behavior change to instill healthy habits and rituals that will ultimately lead to weight loss. Ive been married for 3 years to my college sweetheart and we have a beautiful little girl, Gianna who is the love of our lives. We both work full time, and I am finding that helping other Moms figure out how to live a healthy life that works for THEM is the most fulfilling.
Tell us a little more about your business, Health Anchor Nutrition.
I run a virtual private practice, where clients and I work on creating sustainable habits that make sense for them. We check in weekly to establish goals and discuss previous week’s success and obstacles. Together we decide on the next week’s goal list and customize their meals/menus into things that make sense for them. The ultimate goal is weight loss, but I practice Food Freedom (no fad diets, or elimination diets here) to make eating healthy more approachable. I am currently piloting a monthly group accountability program to create more of a sense of community for my clients.
Where does your passion for food and cooking come from?
My family, but bottom line I love to eat. The more flavors and textures the better. My husband and I are quite adventurous when it comes to cooking in our kitchen and have been for the 10 years that we’ve been together. Most of our friends know that when they come to our house they are going to EAT WELL.
What is your favorite part about being a dietitian/nutritionist?
As a new mom, I struggled to get my feet under me again once Gigi was born. I couldn’t figure out what to eat when, or how to eat when I was trying to nurse and be a mom while also heal from my C-section. So being able to work with moms (before during and after) on pregnancy is really my favorite part right now in my career because I’ve been there and I know what they are going through.
What is your favorite food or dish to make and/or enjoy?
I love the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) so anything from her cookbooks is a win. Most of the time we just cook for flavor and you never know where it will end up.
Tell us what we can look forward to in the Summer Snack Session.
Through this series you will hear about some of my go-to snacks including traveling snacks, kid snacks, big-kid snacks aka adulting snacks, and more. I keep it simple, and utilize ingredients that you probably already have in your refrigerator and pantry.
I give you some tid-bits on why I choose those things to help highlight the nutrition information. Each snack means something to me, so you’ll learn a bit about me and my lifestyle as well.
What is your advice for all of the people out there who are trying to make healthier choices this summer?
Hydrate! This is my number one foundation for clients. Shoot for that (8) 8 oz glass water goal daily- it makes a HUGE difference in most parts of your body.
Focus on ADDING as many fruits and veggies as possible. In every meal try to incorporate a serving size (1 cup) of fruits or veg. You’ll up your fiber intake, decrease your caloric intake, not feel like you are depriving yourself and hopefully create an opportunity for weight loss.
At social gatherings, start with a non-alcoholic beverage then go into something containing alcohol. I also usually encourage clients to stick with a light beer. About 150 calories a beer, and you don’t have to worry about all of the added sugars (which create the hangover) that some mixed drinks have.
Michella Hand 
I’m pretty sure Carly’s husband’s Mom and Dad are from Catskill. His Dad is Frank and I grew up with him in the neighborhood. He looks just like his Dad, and he has his Dad’s eyes! I’ll be surprised if I’m wrong. Have a good day honey! Teri
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