There are two hard things about being a vegetarian.
1.) Managing your Diet: making sure you aren’t missing any nutrients. Are you really healthy? Are you getting enough protein? How do you respond when people have something negative to say about your diet?
2.) Eating peacefully at family meals. How do you integrate a vegetarian with a family that eats meat? Estimates differ, but roughly 5% of the United States population is vegetarian (any type). It would make sense that a lot of those people aren’t married to (or in any type of relationship with) a vegetarian.
The good news is that more and more people are willing to cut back on meat, giving us a lot of leeway on combining the two dietary styles (aka a multivore family/relationship).
I have worked hard to figure this out in my own life. So, I created this blog to help you solve both of these problems in yours.
I’ll provide science-based nutrition advice, tips, and ideas to feed your meat-eating family, and even throw in a recipe here and there to help you along.
DietitianJenn.com is emerging as a top authority in vegetarian nutrition.
The information you read here is the best, most comprehensive, up-to-date, and most relevant to you.
To ensure this, each blog post is meticulously researched, ranging from 1 hour (a recipe) to 15 hours (see my Nutrients of Concern posts).
All to ensure that the information you receive is consistent with the research and not clouded by my own personal nutrition journey. Any information that is anecdotal or part of my specific situation is clearly presented as such.
I also strive to update past posts so they remain as relevant and up-to-date as possible.
Nice to meet you!
My name is Jennifer, and I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. I graduated with a Master’s Degree in Dietetics from a nationally accredited university in August of 2018 and have worked in both outpatient (cardiology) and in-patient (psych) settings.
Currently, I own a private practice in North Texas, contract with outside facilities, raise my 2 children, and try to fit all of that together with this site.
I am also a vegetarian in a multivore family.
I have been married for 18 years, and we have a son, Roman, who is 11 years old, and a daughter, who is almost 3.
The last 2-3 years have been a busy, blurry haze of graduate school, internships, starting kindergarten, studying for my licensing test, applying for jobs, starting 2 jobs, quitting one, starting this blog, starting a private practice, quitting the other job, pandemic, having another baby, and striving to push my businesses further.
Dietetics and nutrition is a second career for me. I spent 13 years as a veterinary technician before and during school. My original plan was to be a veterinarian. But man did I hate the undergrad work.
After lots of hesitation and thinking later, I decided to go back to school to focus on my second passion, nutrition. More school, different pre-requisites, a hellion of an application process, and then 2 more years of school, and I was finally done!
My mission is to help my readers learn how to spot bad advice and bad science. I want you to learn to create a healthy eating pattern that allows for indulgences.
Finally, I aim to teach vegetarians how to peacefully and healthfully coexist with a family that wants meat.
What is a dietitian?
A registered dietitian (RD) is a licensed healthcare professional who focuses on using nutrition to contribute to the overall health of a person.
This can be promoting wellness, aiding in healing wounds, trauma, and surgical sites, treating major illnesses, or managing chronic diseases.
In addition to an advanced degree, I participated in 1200 supervised clinical hours and a lengthy, 4-part test to receive my credentials.
I must also prove that I am continually learning in my field by submitting a minimum of 75 hours of continuing education units every 5 years.
For the record, I hit that in 3 years, and that’s just the learning I can submit to my governing body! The hours I’ve spent reading journal articles and discussing with other RDs don’t count.
In contrast, a (non-RD) nutritionist may or may not have a degree in nutrition or anything health-related. They cannot treat specific conditions and are not held to any standards.
Meaning that while the information I provide must be research-and-patient-based, a nutritionist can say whatever they want. They have no pesky licenses to worry about.
