Hi, I’m Deborah – nice to meet you.

Welcome and thank you for coming to deboraholarte.com! This page is about who I am as a dietitian, wife, and mom and what you can expect from my posts. Click here to go to my home page for all my latest posts.

I’m a wife, mother, Registered Dietitian and a PhD student at Columbia University studying behavioral nutrition, focusing on how teachers’ impact students’ consumption of school lunch. I have a Master’s in Nutrition & Public Health and a pretty solid background in food and nutrition education. I love helping people and plants to grow, traveling, eating, and practicing yoga.

– What you will find around here –

Whether you are a parent, grandparent, even a teacher, I believe we all play a role in raising healthy children. My aim is to inspire parents and educators to be healthy role models for children by making small healthy changes together. I will be regularly sharing evidence-based information, resources, educational materials and recipes to help kids and families thrive. It is my hope that my thoughts, resources, recipes and tips will inspire you to make some healthy changes in your life, and your family’s life.

I will also keep you up to date on what is growing in our garden and other things I do to keep centered, organized and happy (ahem, cocktails) while handling motherhood and PhD life. You may also catch some glimpses of our princess-adoring, outer-space-obsessed, smoothie-loving three-year-old.

You will not see nutrition information or calories on any of the recipes I include here. I encourage everyone to read the ingredients labels on the foods they purchase from the grocery store (pro tip: if you’ve never heard of the ingredient, it’s not real food) but when you’re eating homemade meals with whole, simple ingredients, no nutrition information is needed. Calories and nutrition information can also be triggering for those who have eating disorders or disordered eating patterns and so I think it’s best to keep nutrition info out. My goal is to get families to enjoy the simple things in life, like cooking, preparing and sharing meals together.

– My health philosophy –

As a wife, mother, daughter and sister, I am always thinking about my family’s health. I believe healthy habits start at home when we’re young and but it’s also never too late to start. A little daily physical activity combined with solid attempts at eating well-balanced, healthy meals is essential for health. But, I think kindness, forgiveness and acceptance that we’re not perfect beings are important keys to remember when we’re not being as healthy as we’d like. Just “get back on the horse” and try again, as soon as you can.

– My food philosophy –

“Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” ~ Michael Pollan

Plainly said, simple meals made of whole foods are my favorites. Scientific evidence also tells us they’re the best foods to eat for our health. I try to eat local produce and choose organic when I can. And while I do not subscribe to any one way of eating or living, I try to eat as healthy as I can. The way I eat includes some vegetarian, plant-based and Mediterranean-inspired meals but I also love, love, love tacos. I believe moderation and listening to my body are two key healthy habits. I also don’t count calories, or obsess over nutrition facts. It takes up too much mental space.

– What is a Registered Dietitian? –

Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. Not all nutritionists are dietitians. A registered dietitian (RD) is someone who has completed an intensive 10-month dietetic internship (DI) or residency at both clinical and community nutrition sites following at least a bachelor’s degree in nutrition Though, in the next few years, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) will be requiring RDs to obtain a master’s degree. To become an RD, we are required to take almost all typical pre-med courses as pre-requisites before focusing on the hard-core nutrition science. Our practice is evidence-based, meaning an RD consults the scientific research and facts before prescribing or recommending any way of eating. “Do no harm” applies to RDs too. That being said, any information I provide here does not substitute or supersede any advice provided by your doctor or dietitian. Always refer to them first for the best care for you.

– Leave me some love! –

Thanks for reading and learning more about me. I wish you the best and feel free to leave questions or comments to say hello. Cheers!