Hi everyone! My name is Stephanie and I am a distance intern in Boston, MA. Over the last few months I have been in my community rotation working with a local weight loss program where I have had the opportunity to complete cooking demonstrations and provide nutrition education to adults. The program, Wellpowered Weight Loss and Wellness, is a 10 week class that is run by an outpatient dietitian and an endocrinologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. They focus on offering healthy eating tips, meal planning, sleep and exercise education, and how to practice mindfulness. This program is unique in that it doesn’t focus on calories or stepping on the scale, but on educating people to live an overall healthier lifestyle.
The program directors allowed me to take over their “healthy eating” class to showcase my culinary skills as well as create a lesson plan with nutrition topics of my choice that aligned with their program's core values. Prior to starting my internship, I worked as an executive chef so I love having the opportunity to provide recipes that not only taste good, but are good for you! My cooking demonstrations have focused on vegetarian, weeknight meals that are quick and easy to make. Along with providing the demonstrations, I educated the audience with cooking tips and tricks they could use at home to help to make their weight loss journey a success.
Some of those tips included:
Completing these cooking demonstrations has given me the chance to practice my presentation skills because I had to find the balance of speaking and cooking at the same time, all while engaging the audience. I knew one of my presentations was a success when a participant approached me at the second class session to tell me she had made my recipe at home three times since she saw my demo! It felt great to know that not only was I getting practice in the field and honing my presentation skills, but that I was making a difference by teaching others how to cook and eat better. Working with this program has been a valuable experience for me and I have loved spending time with my local community!
The program directors allowed me to take over their “healthy eating” class to showcase my culinary skills as well as create a lesson plan with nutrition topics of my choice that aligned with their program's core values. Prior to starting my internship, I worked as an executive chef so I love having the opportunity to provide recipes that not only taste good, but are good for you! My cooking demonstrations have focused on vegetarian, weeknight meals that are quick and easy to make. Along with providing the demonstrations, I educated the audience with cooking tips and tricks they could use at home to help to make their weight loss journey a success.
Some of those tips included:
- Introduction to knife skills
- Healthy replacement ideas such as switching out soda or sugar sweetened beverages with infused water
- Comparing nutritional facts for bottled dressings and sauces verses homemade options
- Providing recipes that utilize foods most people already have in their fridge and pantry
- Promoting “going meatless” one day of the week and adding plant based proteins to the diet
- Tips on how to eat better at work and utilize the salad bar
- Education on different cooking methods that provide a variety of flavor such as roasting, grilling and poaching.
Completing these cooking demonstrations has given me the chance to practice my presentation skills because I had to find the balance of speaking and cooking at the same time, all while engaging the audience. I knew one of my presentations was a success when a participant approached me at the second class session to tell me she had made my recipe at home three times since she saw my demo! It felt great to know that not only was I getting practice in the field and honing my presentation skills, but that I was making a difference by teaching others how to cook and eat better. Working with this program has been a valuable experience for me and I have loved spending time with my local community!
