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SPEAKER 1: Her vision and passion for nutrition made her a legacy among students, faculty, and communities across the country. As the specialist in institution management for New York state's Cornell Cooperative Extension, Proud strove to improve the facilities and resources available to community kitchens.
Soon thereafter, her ideas were applied to community kitchens all across the country. In 1984, Dorothy Proud established a lectureship to enhance undergraduate education in the fields of Nutrition and Dietetics at Cornell. A committee of faculty, alumni, and students carefully choose a speaker for the Lectureship.
Past speakers include Anita Owen, Mary Abbott Hess, and Ronni Chernoff, all of whom are past presidents of the American Dietetic Association, as well as John Alexander, past president and founder of the CBORD Group, Abby Black, and Jane Andrews.
The Division of Nutritional Sciences, along with the Cornell University Dietetic Association, worked to coordinate this year's lecture and are very pleased that Ellie Krieger was able to return today as a 2009 Dorothy Proud lecturer. The details for this event were managed by CUDA leadership and include the following students, [? Michelle ?] [? Denton, ?] Marissa Frieder, Marcey Shapiro, and myself.
I would also like to thank [? Gail ?] [? Canterbury, ?] Molly Berwald, and Deanna Owens for their administrative assistance while planning this event. Please hold your questions until the question and answer period. During this time, we'll have runners bringing the microphones to you so you can ask questions.
Also please be aware that the lectures have been approved for 1 and 1/2 continuing education credits for our RDs and DTRs. Proof of evidence and CEU certificates will be available at the lecture halls at the entrances on your way out. Immediately following the lecture, there will be a reception and book signing with Ellie located in Trillium. Everyone is welcome to attend.
It is now my great pleasure to introduce today's master of ceremonies Ronni Chernoff. Ronni Chernoff earned her bachelor's of science and masters degree from-- actually, this is a correction to the program-- she earned her bachelor's of sciences from Cornell University and both of her master's from Columbia and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Chernoff is currently the Cornell trustee and the director of the Arkansas Geriatric Education Center. She is also professor of Geriatrics and Health Education and Behavior at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Dr. Chernoff was a chair for numerous governmental health boards, the past president of the American Dietetic Association, and a past Dorothy Proud lecturer.
Please give a warm welcome to Doctor Ronni Chernoff.
[APPLAUSE]
RONNI CHERNOFF: I'm cold and she's wearing sleeveless stuff. That's what happens when you move south. Thank you very much Hillary, and welcome to all of you today. This is a lot of fun for me. I get to introduce somebody and don't have to do any work, other than introducing Ellie.
The lecturer today is someone well-known to me. She's been an ADA spokesperson for, I think-- she's looking at me like, what are you talking about? I thought you were. We met at ADA a number of years ago. She is New York Times best-selling author, and helps people of all ages achieve balance in food, health, and life, and have joy right at their fingertips.
She is a registered dietitian and host of a hit show, Healthy Appetite on Food Network. I'm sure many of you have seen it. I've seen it myself. Ellie's warmth and charisma have made her a go to nutritionist with a lifestyle emphasis in the media. And her success can be attributed on her way of offering real advice without any of the gimmicks and crash diets that permeate today's news.
She reaches people with her message that it is possible for anyone, given the tools and knowledge, to live life to the maximum, by being in healthy balance, nurturing a richly satisfying, and sumptuous, attainable lifestyle. She believes that through her work she can help to change the way society views food, health, and nutrition.
Ellie's ease in front of the camera can be attributed to her years as a fashion model, for the world-famous agency-- it's just Wilhelmina, isn't it? Yes. After receiving a bachelor's in nutrition and completing dietetics requirements at Cornell in 1988, a master's degree in nutrition from Columbia-- aha-- Ellie began educating others on eating healthy in a realistic, delicious, and easy way.
Her first book in 2005, was a how-to on easy-to-live-with habit changes that yield optimal results. Ellie second book, The Food You Crave, Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life, was an immediate New York Times best-seller, peaking at number two on that list, which is quite an amazing achievement.
In addition to being named to Amazon's customer best-seller list for 2008, The Food You Crave won the 2009 IACP cookbook award and was recently nominated for a James Beard Foundation award.
Ellie held the position of director of nutritional services at the prestigious LA PALESTRA, Center for Preventive Medicine for several years, where she worked with a team of physicians, psychologists, and fitness specialists to create a multifaceted obesity treatment program.
She was also an adjunct professor at the NYU department of nutrition food studies and public health. In her years in private practice, she counseled a variety of clients, from homemakers and CEOs, as well as, notable celebrities and top models.
Today, Ellie's extensive work in the media has earned her a loyal following-- and I was telling her that I'm up here, actually, for a different reason today, and one of my counsel board members was pouting because I was going to get to hear her and this person wasn't-- too bad.
She speaks regularly at events around the country and has appeared as a guest expert on dozens of programs, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, and CBS's Saturday Early Show. This March, Ellie-- this is the neatest thing-- this March, Ellie joined a notable list of celebrities to take part in the illustrious "Got Milk" campaign.
And so, with that, I'm going to turn this over to her, and be terribly jealous of the "Got Milk" mustache.
[APPLAUSE]
ELLIE KRIEGER: Thank you, Dr. Chernoff. The milk mustache was so much fun to do. And there's actually a person whose job it is-- their like job description, is mustache maker. And it's the secret formula and stuff. It's really pretty interesting. You kind of like, put it on your lip, and then he comes over and paints it so it's just perfect. It was a really great experience, but this is a really wonderful experience too.
And I feel so honored to be back here in this capacity. I really feel like, although it was a lifetime ago, it wasn't very long ago that I was a student here. And it has a special place to me, a special place in my heart.
I just wanted to officially thank Dr. Chernoff for the lovely introduction, and also thank Emily Greer, and Hillary and the whole CUDA team, for putting together really, for me, what's been a seamless trip, and just really enabling me to, besides, be here up in front of you and have everything go so smoothly, just have a good time as well.
So thank you so much for your hospitality, and for inviting me, and for this honor.
But Cornell means-- before I get into the main body of my talk, I really just wanted to say how much Cornell means to me, in terms of the foundation of what it gave me, both personally and professionally. And on a personal level, I really made my closest friends here.
There's something about this environment, I think, that forges these strong bonds. Maybe it's the stress-- I don't know. But whatever it is, it really, for me, I have, especially, a group of 10 women, and we wound up living together on Bryant avenue, and we're friends to this day.
And we would get together, the 10 of us, pretty much, at least once a year, for the past-- since college, you know? And just last year, we had a special reunion here, and we brought our families. So there were 35 of us. And I brought a picture to show you.
There were 35 of us all together. And it was summer, and so it was really quiet on campus. And we took over the quad. We had these fabulous picnics on the quad. We went swimming in the gorge. And just to see our kids playing together, and getting to know one another, was great.
And my husband and daughter are here now today, if you want to wave. That's my husband, Tom, and there's my daughter, Isabella. But that's me and Tom, and that's Bella there. And we just-- it was just wonderful. And it's just this personal connection to this place, it kind of never leaves you, in a really good way. And so I'm grateful for that.
But as I was digging through photos, I found a couple of others that I thought you might enjoy. Check this one out. So this was in my dorm in Donlon. And this was in the days of serious hardcore, 80's aerobics, in case you couldn't tell. People actually wore this. And I have seen people wearing these bandannas recently, so I don't know if this is a new trend now, but I highly recommend not doing it.
But we did it. That's my roommate, who was one of the 10 women that I'm still friends with. And we used to do aerobics. I actually wound up starting an aerobics class that I did in the Donlon-- one of the rooms in Donlon. And that's how I made a lot of my friends. So there's a little ode to Jane Fonda there.
And then, so that's sort of a little hint of the personal side, but professionally-- so there is my graduation picture, also very 80's-- big, chunky earrings. But in terms of the academic side of this place, I mean, I feel just being here and in this environment, I feel like learning something. There's something that just fills the air with learning, don't you think so?
Are you laughing at my picture-- no. But I feel like this sense of wanting to learn and absorb knowledge and learn, and I feel like the people around you really are what makes it, and makes it such a stimulating environment for learning. And I think it's irreplaceable, in many ways.
And the foundation that I got here, I believe, is the best possible foundation I could have gotten for what I'm doing today. So I'm grateful to this university for that, and to the Department of Nutritional Sciences. And so, some things, when I thought back about it-- I mean, just like biochemistry, if you don't know just the basics of that, and if you don't know really well, no matter what you do later-- like, in my show and in my writing, I don't necessarily talk about those biochemical things, but they're there backing up what I'm saying.
But also just the food course that I took, the food lab, really taught me how to cook. I mean, I always cooked. I actually had in my dorm, quite illegally, a toaster oven and a burner, and I would make lasagna in my room. I was a little cuckoo, but-- still am, probably.
But I think I really got an incredible basic knowledge about food and how it works through this course, which I after the fact, today, found out that Emily Greer teaches, so I just love that. And I feel like that's where I made my first souffle, and understood how that works. And that's where I failed my pudding test, because I stopped stirring for a fraction of a second.
But I learned that that's how you do it. And that's also where I made my first tortillas by hand, so-- As Dr. Chernoff mentioned, after leaving here, I went on to get my master's in nutrition education. So with this foundation, I got my master's at Columbia and was fortunate enough to be taught by Jennifer Wilkins, who's here, and it's wonderful to see her.
But I also learned-- I got my master's in nutrition education, which is basically how to teach these things to people. So we can know all this stuff and we can have this great broad base of knowledge. And we can tell people-- we can tell them the entire encyclopedia page of nutrition, and they might be able to recite it, but if people aren't changing what they do, what they actually do day to day, it doesn't matter.
So people can know that eating local food or eating organic food is a good thing to do, but if no one's doing it, we didn't get anywhere really. So the goal of nutrition education is not to impart knowledge, as we might first think-- oh, yes, I'm going to teach people all-- I'm going to give them a list of foods. If they're not ready to make change, and if we don't inspire them to actually change, then it's not really effective.
So I really-- although, some people may see me as a host of a television show, or an author of books, but the base of everything-- what I have in my heart is a nutrition educator. And I feel that what I'm doing in my work, incorporates all these concepts.
So today, I wanted to share with you some of the science and thinking behind what I do, and hopefully, inspire you to incorporate some of these ideas in your work, moving forward.
So the name of the talk is "Getting Through-- Communicating Nutrition Effectively to Inspire Change." And that's the thing, there really is a tremendous gap in this country between what people know and what they do. So people know that vegetables are good for you, and that too much chocolate cake is not good for you.
I mean, this is not rocket science, as they say. But why aren't they doing it? And so, I always perceived my role as bridging this gap between knowing and doing. And certainly, people don't know everything and you have to assess that, where those knowledge gaps are. I don't mean to minimize that, but it's only one part of the process.
So rather than just think of it as a transfer of knowledge, to think about nutrition education as something to inspire change, and this will help you communicate in all of your areas more effectively. So to kind of start off, I want to break down communication in a model form.
And the most basic form is that there is a sender, someone sending the message, I guess that's me, right now, and there is the receiver, or receivers, which is you guys. And then there's the message, which is these words. So this is like the most basic way of thinking about communications. And I think this is often how we think of it if we were just-- didn't think too hard about it, but this is how we perceive what's happening. But there's much more to it than that.
This breakdown of the communication-- has anyone seen this before, just wondering? A few people. If we look at it a little more carefully, there's a lot more happening. So it's more of a loop, where there's an intercommunication between us.
Even though you don't think you're communicating with me, you completely are. I can look and see if I have your attention. I can see if you are on your BlackBerry, or something. I'm sure that's got to be against the rules around here, but it happens in places.
You know, I can sort of see if you laugh at my jokes. I'm getting feedback from you. So there is very much a give and take. So the sender sends a message, the receiver gets the message. And then, the receiver sends feedback back to the sender. So this happens all the time, when you're one-on-one with a person, whether it's your best friend, hopefully you're listening to.
So the sender, the person talking also needs to be the person listening, and that's a big message here. And this also happens in the media.
So with each of-- throughout this talk, each of these examples, I'm going to give sort of a practical example of how it applies one-on-one, when you're talking to somebody, whether you're talking to groups, which is often something you'll encounter in your practice, if you're a public speaker, or if you have a group of five or six clients or patients, and also in the media, because I worked in all these fields, and it really applies to all of these things.
In the media, you get feedback by e-mails from people. You get ratings. You get-- people are amazing at sending e-mails about-- you didn't wash your hands after you touched the chicken, or whatever. And the thing is, if I had to actually show washing my hands, it would be the most boring show in the world. But I am aware of food safety, if that raises any eyebrows.
And I do wash my hands. But it's interesting because you have to balance that with maybe it's boring to watch Ellie wash her hands seven times on the show. So another way of in the media getting this feedback, I thought I have really a funny Food Network story.
You know how Emeril has his like iconic bam, right? So I guess one of his-- as he was talking-- sometimes when you're cooking, tend to cook and you get kind of drone on, and you just get sort of monotone, and it gets boring. And I guess one of his sound guys was sort of nodding off, and so he goes, bam, and guy woke up.
He just sort of like said this-- you know, put the space in and went bam, and the guy woke up. And chances are, if the sound guy is falling asleep, your audience is falling asleep too. So that's how bam came about. But it's all about being aware of that feedback, really.
And so besides the receiver and the sender, and being aware of this listening process. It's not so much a talking process as a listening process as well. And for example, I listened before I got here, and I'll get into that a little bit too.
But essentially, I talked to Emily quite a bit about who the students are, and what their needs are, and what the coursework is like, and where I could maybe fill in where they don't have as in their basic curriculum. So listening before you even get there is part of it.
So then, besides all these things, it's really important to consider this interference factor. So one-on-one, interference could be an attitude of your client, for example. Let's see, my notes got a little bit jumbled on the computer here.
So I had a diabetic client, once, and he was sitting in front of me, eating candy. It was amazing. So it could be verbal or non-verbal. He was communicating something very clearly to me-- popping candy, almost like defiantly in front of me.
So this is, I guess, what I want to say before the interference part. This is like communication comes not only from listening and words, but also physical actions. Communication also comes from your physical environment. Is a desk in between you and your client, or are you sitting next to each other?
These are all ways of speaking. Are you sitting like this to your client, scowling at them, or you open and warm toward them? And these are all ways of communicating that are nonverbal that are really important to consider as well. So when you think about the message, don't just think of it as verbal, but think of it as nonverbal.
One of the things for the show, for example, it's what I say, but it's also the whole environment. You think about the whole set. It's clean. It's white. We think about this as like we're communicating a sense-- I want it to be an oasis for people to come and not feel stress about food decisions and about food.
I want them to watch the show and feel like it's a relaxing experience. So all these things are thought out. So you want to think about the message your environment is giving and all your nonverbal signals as well. In terms of interference, it could be attitudes. It could be the language barriers, for example, if you're sitting one-on-one with a client.
You think they're hearing you, but there's this interference that they don't really understand what you're saying, because of a language difference perhaps. With groups, that can happen as well.
Also, literacy and things like that, they have to consider that are barriers, that are interference for the communication. And then, of course, maybe it's static on your TV, or something like that is an interference, potentially with the media.
So based on this, talk-with model-- so the first one, the simple one, that's just the direct line, that's when you talk to people. So ideally, you want to restructure your thinking that you're not talking to someone, you're talking with them, and it's a conversation.
So with this in mind, I came up with three simple-- sort of a three-step plan for effective communications, and it's been somewhat inspired by my shampoo bottle, which you'll get in a minute. So you might think step one is to send the message, but like I said, before I got here I was listening.
Step one is to listen, to find out who you're talking to. So I think very often we'll say, OK, we want you to give a talk. Oh, you're the nutritionist. We want you to give a talk to a group of 10 people. And then you say, OK, I've been wanting to talk about cholesterol.
So then, you'll formulate this talk about cholesterol. Then you get there, and there's a bunch of nursing mothers or something, and it's not appropriate. It's not what they wanted. It's not what they were hoping for. And so, understanding who you're talking to and listening first, before you set out your message, is a really critical step.
Step two, then you go ahead and you create and transmit your message. And this is the shampoo part-- repeat. So you want to go for that loop. So I'm going to talk a little bit about the first step and how you listen in various situations.
So there are lots of ways-- basically, you want to get to know who you're talking to. Who are these people? What makes them tick? What do they think? What do they care about? What's important to them? What do they know already? Are they well? Are they sick? Are they stressed? Are they happy?
You want to-- One-on-one, there are different ways to do it. When you're talking to groups, there are different ways to get at this. And then, also, there's ways to get at this in the media. So one-on-one, you might have that person's chart in a hospital and you'll have their history, but then, just speaking with them. Finding out who the human being is that you're talking to, and really approaching them like, let me get to know them.
A lot of times, in the hospital situation, time is so limited that you don't really get to do that. But in any way you can, really connect and find out what this person is all about. You're going to be much more effective. You want to find out about their education level. How much do they know already?
You want to find out what kind of resources they have, both financial and social. So I remember, during my internship, I had a diabetic patient, it said on their chart, and so when I went in with this sort of notion of what I was going to talk to her about, and in there, I found out she was basically a 20-year-old, homeless woman.
And I couldn't talk to her about spacing out her carbohydrates. It was completely inappropriate. I had a little bit, but I had to find out if she had a way of getting food in a regular way. So suddenly, it's like you have to throw your plan out the window, and talk to the human being and find it what they need.
And these are all extreme examples, but it comes up in subtle ways too. So also social resources-- do they have the support? Is their spouse or are their friends sabotaging them in some way? Or are they in favor of these changes, and so on? So you want that financial and social resource sort of net.
Their skills and abilities, their beliefs, attitudes, and values. And I think this can't be-- we cannot assume that people want the same thing as us. So in some cultures, being overweight is highly valued. So we can't just assume that if someone comes in our office and they are obese, that they don't want to be obese.
So there are lots of things that we need to address, in terms of finding out, again, about that person's cultural values. And all it comes from just listening and asking the right questions, which I'll get into. Food preferences-- I feel like that's a really key thing to find out what food-- everyone gets excited about food.
Anyway, if you don't love food, you're not supposed to trust people that don't love food. I heard that somewhere. It's kind of true, you know? But finding out what food-- that's sort of a common link, is people break bread together. So if you can link with people on that level-- and I that's one reason why I love what I do, because people get excited about food.
And if you can connect with them on that level, then you can really bring nutrition to their plate, literally. And then, their readiness to change. But I just wanted to-- before I get into a little bit more about their readiness to change, so one-on-one, I gave a certain sense.
You can get their food diary. You can interview the person. Usually, in a first session that I would spend with someone in my private practice, it would be about an hour and a half long, and I would really-- they would do most of the talking. In groups, you can-- I talked to Emily Greer quite extensively at ADA about this population, plus I feel like I've been part of it, so I know what that's about.
In the media, if you want to write an article in a magazine, you want to find out who that audience is, who is that magazine? Who's reading it? What is their socioeconomic level? What is their general knowledge level? Before you submit any kind of query, you want to find out the voice of that magazine and who's reading it.
So you can find out a lot about your audience, even if it's a wide-- if you're casting a wide net and you're reaching a lot of people, there are research articles also that break down what different groups of people want, what adolescents care about, what inspires them to change.
These things are in the literature, and you can also reach into the literature to find that out, and then, adjust your messages accordingly. But the readiness to change is very important. And I'm going to get into that a little bit here. Is anyone familiar with these Prochaska's stages of change? Great.
Well, this is really key. Prochaska-- here I am-- identified change as a process with six stages that a person goes through on their path to change. So first, there's precontemplation, and at this stage-- and this is really a continuum.
But at this stage, the person who is on it, doesn't even know-- doesn't even know there's an issue. Maybe, doesn't even know that they're overweight-- doesn't even think of it. It's on their radar at all. So they're not aware of the problem or any need for change.
The contemplation stage is when they're aware of the problem. So the doctor says, you have high cholesterol. You need to do something about it. But they sort of say, ah, life is short. This is where they're aware that there's a problem, but they have no intention whatsoever to change.
Preparation is where you're-- then you're moving along in this process. Now, you realize that there's a need to change. You're starting to take it seriously. And you plan, you know, I'm going to actually-- I need to change. I'm going to make a resolution in January. I need to do something.
And that's where you're looking for a plan. These are the people who are buying the diet books, kind of thing. They want a plan. They want a change. They're not sure how to go about it. And they're doing a little ambivalent.
The action phase is where you're doing it. You're changing your behavior, and you're taking action. And this is the phase that most dietitians go in, assuming everyone's at. Here-- here's the plan. And they might be in contemplation. They might be so far from ready for that plan, and then, you wonder why you didn't reach them.
So I think, the key message that I would like to transmit to you, is that don't assume everyone's at this action phase. That in-- you're just talking with them. In your listening phase, find out where they are in their stage of change.
Then there's maintenance, where you've made the changes and you've been successful and you're continually doing them. And the key about this Prochaska's plan, too, is that you can kind of relapse and go for maintenance back to preparation. I know we've all made changes, and then slipped back into our habits, and then gone again. And that's sort of a normal part of the process.
And then termination is sort of like brushing your teeth. Every day, your mom says to brush your teeth, right Bella? And eventually, it become such a habit that it doesn't feel normal to not brush your teeth, that it feels absolutely unnatural for you to not have brushed your teeth. So that the termination phase, and we're working on that in our house a little bit.
So when you're one-on-one, as I mentioned, you can do assessment questionnaires. You have medical charts, food diaries. And then, the way you ask questions, the way you talk with someone, this whole hour that I would spend, you really want spend most of your time in your first session with someone, listening.
Or most of your time preparing for a talk, listening to what they need. And I wanted to just mentioned quickly, motivational interviewing, because it's a way of getting information from someone, and there's a lot of research on this now coming out, but basically it includes these four basic steps.
And one is establishing rapport and expressing empathy, so showing that you are a caring person and you care what this person is going through who walks in your door. Asking open-ended questions, so instead of saying did you meet your goals, you say, so how did it go this week? And get them going into a conversation. You don't ask a yes or no question. You start a conversation.
Paraphrasing-- the person is-- you're basically reflecting back what the person just told you. Oh, so you're having-- so I see you had a really difficult time at that party. And shows that you're listening and it gets them to talk more about that party.
Or reflective listening is the last one. And that's when the person is going on and on about something and you might reflectively sort of explain what you perceive is going on with them. So sounds like you're really anxious about starting your exercise. So you're not judging it, you're just sort of getting them to explain more in detail about how they really feel.
So in groups, as I mentioned, things like surveys, talking to the people in charge, talking to administrators, having informal conversations with people in the group. Maybe, if you're in a hospital, and you're going to give a talk to the nurses, you might want to pull some of them aside, or at lunch and say, oh, what do you need? What do you think you guys would like to hear about?
And in the media, there's focus groups now. And also, I think eavesdropping is the best. I love eavesdropping. You're in a restaurant, and I'm like my ears are this big, literally the size of a megaphone, because people are talking-- just last night, we were at dinner and somebody was talking about that they were diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency.
And they were talking about oh, and because-- they were just really talking about it. And you can get a sense of what the average person's talking about, what they need, what they understand. And the more you keep your ears open, the more information you're going to gather. And then, you can see who your focus group is as well.
So I love that. But I also, in terms of focus groups, I want to share with you another little Food Network tidbit. When we did a pilot for my show, they test-- they have this extensive focus group work, and they put everyone in a room. And they isolate people. They pick people specifically who they think is their target audience.
And they have them watch the show, watch the pilot, with their hand on this knob. And the whole entire time, their hand's on this knob, and they can turn it this way for positive, this way for negative. People in a control room are graphing the whole thing. They graph it, as a group, and they graph everyone individually.
So they'll say, oh, I don't like oatmeal. That's errgh. Oh, that looks kind of good. Oh, that girl's annoying. And you'll get this like graph of what their feedback is. And then they go back and they interview each person and try to get a sense of what they liked, what they didn't like.
And so it's a really fascinating way of gathering information. So I was not able to-- I was not privy to-- actually, maybe it would be too honest. Maybe you don't want to be in the room when people are talking about you. But fortunately, the show was a go. But that is something that I think is so fascinating, in terms of the executives listening to their audience.
So step one, you've listened. You've gathered all your information. And then you need to create your message and transmit it. So I created this mnemonic of CPASS of what you should look for in all your messages. It's a little bit of a checklist.
After you've written something, or you've done a handout, or you decided what to talk to your client about, make sure that it has these things. It's customized. It's positive. It's attainable, simple, and specific.
So the first one, c, customize it. So personalize the message, so that-- so you've done all this research. You've done all this listening. Now make it so that it's about the people that you're communicating with. So once you have this information, use it.
So for example, the message should be really specific, say, culturally. I had a student who did a talk and a presentation of food to a group of Hispanic women about breakfasts. And she did this oatmeal demo. And after-- she talked about different things you could put in oatmeal, and so on. And I guess, she really felt like it bombed.
She felt like they didn't connect with the oatmeal. And we talked about it some more. And she felt like, maybe, doing a mango smoothie, or more like tropical flavors, or something more that they could connect with right away, would have been more successful. So that's an example of how you can customize these things, customize recipes for a persons likes.
If you find out what food they like, and they feel like they have to give it up, you can give them specific recipes-- and I know just the place where you can get those recipes-- you can give them specific recipes with those ingredients that they like, so they feel like they're walking away with something that's for them, that they can do.
Speak their language. Consider using alternate forms of information. Maybe, if you're working with a group of teenagers, maybe you want to be texting them to remind them to do something. I had a client who-- actually, this was on a special that I did for Food Network.
I considered him my client, because we wound up-- we did this thing 10 days to a new you. And I worked with him for 10 days. And he was-- his total motivation was his family, and he didn't spend enough time with them. And he was distressed about his health because he felt like he wasn't going to be there for his sons to grow up.
And the reality of that was that it was very likely if he didn't change his habits. So I had him do two bursts, 10 minute bursts, of exercise, one for each of his sons. And his sons would call him and say, dad, did you do that for me today? And so, talk about motivating. I mean, this got the guy going.
And so, if you make a customized, if you don't just say, OK, do 20 minutes of exercise every day-- that doesn't mean anything to me. Make it about what I want and what's important to me.
And I remember, also, I was once in this exercise class on the Upper West Side-- on the Upper East Side. I forget why I was taking it. But the instructor, during the leg lifts, was saying size four, Valentino, size four, Valentino. And it was ingenious. It motivated me not at all. This was not part of what I care about. But I think the people that were there, that was motivating.
And also, when you're customizing, think of where they're at in their stage of change. And there are different ways that you can send a message, different methodologies you can use that are particularly effective at different stages of change. So if someone's not even aware of their issue, you want to do-- you can do an intervention perhaps. That might be an appropriate thing, in terms of consciousness raising.
In the contemplation stage, you want to get them, somehow, to emotionally realize how important this is. And it's amazing, because a lot of people, like my father, just had a stint put in. And he has known-- he's been in contemplation stage his whole life. Suddenly, he's emotionally aroused, because the doctor is like you're not going to be around if you don't do something.
So that can be emotionally what they need. Also films-- I feel like emotional arousal-- how many people saw the movie Supersize Me? Probably everyone.
That was very emotionally arousing, with all the potential inaccuracies or hyperbole around it, I feel that it was very emotionally arousing and got people to think about food and where it comes from, and got them to start changing, and put them at least into the next stage of preparation.
So I feel like a film and media can really help do that. I think it can be very motivating. Photographs can arouse you emotionally. Showing that big-- has anyone seen that fat model-- five pound of fat thing? That's an emotional-- it's disgusting looking. You don't want that on you.
If a client lost some weight-- let's say they lost 15 pounds, I would have him get a 15-pound turkey and carry it around the store a little bit. It's really emotionally motivating to do stuff like that. So employing these kinds of things can really help and applying them in an appropriate way to that person's stage of change.
In the action phase, you really want to start building-- maybe, you have them sign a contract where they're committing to these changes. And so, to help push that forward into maintenance. And also environmental controls of the person-- so helping them deal with the barriers that they're facing to the change, on a day-to-day basis.
So if they walk past that donut shop every day on their way to work, maybe find an alternate route, or something like that. And maintenance, basically, continues along those lines.
So the p is to keep it positive. And there's an organization called IFIC, The International Food and Information Council. They actually have a lot of good information. I have a reference on my last slide about this. And they have a lot of good information about communication and effective communication.
They do a lot of research, in terms of trends and surveys of different populations. So you can glean a lot of information from them. But one of the things they found, is that people love to talk about food, and they get excited about talking about food.
But the minute you mention nutrition, it's a negative. And this is something that I personally feel is important to me to try to help change. I mean, maybe I'm making a couple drops in the bucket, but whatever I can do, because I feel like nutrition is not a negative word.
And there's something wrong. I think people think of dietitians and nutrition as like what they shouldn't do, or what they should do. And it's not about joy. And it's not about exciting food. But it should be, and it can be, and it is. And so, that's my whole paradigm of what I really try to bring to the table, is that it's delicious and wonderful and it's joie de vivre.
And it should be all of that good stuff. And we need to communicate that. And that's about being positive, and saying yes. Tell me what I can have. Don't tell me what I can't have. When I was pregnant, I was so-- it was amazing to me, because you can't eat like all these things.
And I was working with a lot of-- I had a OB/GYN doctor who referred a lot of clients to me when I was in private practice. And I would write the perfect plan. And I would say you shouldn't have this. When I was pregnant, I was so bummed and bitter about what I couldn't have. I really was.
I think focusing on the yeses. It was amazing to me how much it affected me to not be able to eat goat's cheese and stuff. I really wanted that. And a glass of wine, too. But also to say things in a positive, empowering way.
So one example is a lot of times our messages are eat a diet low in saturated fat. Meanwhile, we could say, food with fat can fit. Enjoy healthy fats from foods like nuts, and avocado, and olive oil. So making a positive, instead of this sort of negative, avoidance thing.
Sure, there's some things you're going to have to say to avoid. But I think the overall messages can be framed-- whenever I write a tip for a magazine, I say, can frame it in a positive, feeling-good way?
Then, make it attainable. Ultimately, people need to feel like they can do it, or they're not even going to bother at all. So you can just ask someone straight out, on a scale of one to five, what is the level that you think, how hard is this for you to do? And if they say five, then say, what can we do to change the goal to make it a three?
Maybe it needs to be a little push, but not a super impossible push. So on one-on-one, you can just-- that's what I would just-- leave it up to them. That's part of the listening. Let them help create the goals. So I feel like that's really an important thing to do, one-on-one.
And also, in the media-- my assistant was just writing, helping write some tips for me, and she's and RD. And she wrote something like, craving salad? Plant a garden. Or something like that. If I'm craving salad, I'm not going to start digging my garden. I'm going to go buy a salad.
So make it something they can actually do. And maybe there's a plant a garden message somewhere that's framed a little bit differently. So you want to just make sure, would I do this? Ask yourself that. Would I do this? Can this person actually do it? So also, again, making it specific, but making it attainable.
Then keeping it simple, using everyday language. Its almost one of the dangers of being in a place like this, we say a lot of therefores and stuff. People don't talk like that. People don't write like that. And so, unless you're writing for a scientific paper where, of course, you want to use the appropriate format, please, just write a little more like you talk. Break the rules. shh. Break the rules.
Really. And I think the more you can practice writing in an everyday language, because I think when we are writing in an academic way, it's one of the things we get accustomed to this way of talking and this way of writing that isn't really very conversational. And so, if you want to write for the public, or if you're going to be writing handouts for individuals or groups, you want to really practice writing in an everyday kind of way.
And give people the bottom line. I remember a client asking me in the beginning of my private practice, how much vitamin C should I take? And so, I told her, you know, it depends on the study. And some people say this. And then, maybe, some studies indicate that 500, three times a day. Others-- and I gave her the whole thing. And she looked at me, and she says, but how much should I take?
And it just makes you realize, people-- you need to know all the background information. People don't want it. Their lives are busy. They want to know what should I have for lunch? And so, you have to be able to break it down to that super simple, attainable thing for them and the bottom line, and explaining things in a real-world way.
In this idea of also keeping it simple, it's focusing your message and not overloading people with information. I think that's another danger of coming out of an institution of higher learning is we know so much. It happens to me all the time. Someone will ask me to write a 300-word tip on something, or for TV-- forget it.
I mean, if you can write out all the tips-- you have to write everything and figure out how to say it in two sentences. And meanwhile, there's reams of research about this stuff. So you have to really figure out how to boil it down, without hopefully-- inevitably, you're going to sacrifice some accuracy, because it's not possible.
And that's one of the, for me, the frustration points, or the challenges, in a good way I guess, what I consider one of my challenges in terms of the media, is keeping it simple, but making it true to the science. And it's always a little bit of a push me, pull you, there. But not overloading with information is critical.
And there's this simple equation that I learned from this media trainer, named Dan Boroden, and he's a friend as well, and he calls it communications math. So in communications math, these are the two equations. Three times three equals three.
So if you give three messages, and you see them three times, in three different ways, people will remember three things. If you give nine messages, and say nine different things, nine facts, one time each, people will remember zero. So that's the key thing.
You need to think of your three messages. I almost always do that. What are the three most important things that this person needs to know. Or what are the three most important aspects of this that I want to communicate.
And then, lastly, make it specific. So pinpoint specific measurable actions that a person can take to achieve the goal. So I feel like instead of eat more fruits and vegetables, maybe eat one serving of fruits and vegetables at every meal. Or have a peach with your lunch instead of chips.
So make it really specific for that person's meal. Or if they have a cereal everyday, put strawberries in your oatmeal and use low-fat milk. So it's making it super specific that it's measurable. They can actually check it off their list, if they need to. And it helps them track whether they're being successful on a day-to-day basis, not just the scale.
So then the last thing is transmitting the message. And there are many, many ways to actually communicate your message and get it out there. And I feel like that's really such an exciting aspect now of our world today, is that it's totally democratized, that you don't have to have a TV show to be on TV.
You can put a camera in your face and start talking and put it up on YouTube, and you can-- you, too, can be famous. But I love that about it, that anyone can do that, and can practice and the risks are low, as long as you keep your top on. I hear these things that teenagers are doing-- slightly scary.
And then, of course, step three is repeat. Going back to that loop, where you're going back, and you're doing, you send your message out, then you wait for feedback. Did the person get it? Did they do it? Did they feel it was attainable? Do you need to adjust it? Do you need to tweak it?
Do you need to make your article-- your editor's going to give you feedback, and you're going to go and you're going to cry on your bed for a little while, and then you're going to get up and fix your article. And so, you're going to get feedback from things, and you need to listen to that, and work it into your next message.
So the three things to remember-- talk with people, not to them, listen to gather information initially, so always listen first, and then craft messages that are customized, positive, attainable, simple, and specific. Here are the references. And I'm sure we can find a way to just-- these will be online as well if people want the references.
And then just lastly, I wanted to leave you with this wonderful quote that really has affected me from one of the greatest men I know. "God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason." And that was from Burton Golden, who was my grandpa. So thank you very much for having me here today.
[APPLAUSE]
RONNI CHERNOFF: We're going to take some questions, and I think there are people with microphones. If you have a microphone-- they're there. There's one. And there's one over there. They're going-- if you want to ask the question, if you have a question, raise your hand, and we will bring the mic to you. She has a question-- there.
AUDIENCE: Hello.
ELLIE KRIEGER: Oh, good!
AUDIENCE: Hi, Ellie. I'm Sonya Islam from Cornell Cooperative Extension.
ELLIE KRIEGER: I remember you, yes.
AUDIENCE: Hi, it's great to see you again. So I have two questions. One is professional and one is a little more personal. My professional question is whether you have any upcoming plans to release another cookbook? And then the second question is I love how we're talking about making tortillas for the first time, making a cheese souffle in your toaster oven for the first time. What are some of your food adventures that you still have left to conquer?
ELLIE KRIEGER: Oh boy, those are great questions. How fun. My next book's coming out in November. It's called, So Easy-- Luscious Healthy Meals for Every Day of the Week. And I'm really excited about it, because it's sort of what I think I need, which is a bunch of really easy options.
And I lay it out. Instead of-- I did it how I did it with my first book, where it's appetizers, entrees, sides. I lay everything out, in terms of a complete meal, what I perceive as a complete meal that's balanced nutritionally, as well as, flavor component wise, and texturally. So I'm real excited about that coming out. And it's fun to see it take shape now.
And then, I think food is a wonderful adventure all the time. And the thing that I love to do is not have a plan, at this point, because I am so often cooking with a plan. I need to make a healthier brownie recipe for-- you know, I'll have Food Network. I have a column in the Food Network magazine now.
So oftentimes, I'm cooking in a very specific-- for a reason, for a specific reason. So I love to just go to the market and say, oh, those asparagus look great, and tomatoes, and hmm, what can I make? And see what looks freshest and most beautiful, and then, just come up with something. That's my favorite way to cook that I don't get to do as much as I would like.
I feel like there's always some kind of great adventure with food. And I love to explore different cultures, different cultural cuisines. And I feel like there's a lot more that I have to learn, say, about Korean food. That's one great thing about living in New York, is you can pretty much-- you have an adventure on every turn. Thank you.
RONNI CHERNOFF: I think we have a question over here.
AUDIENCE: Hi.
ELLIE KRIEGER: Hi.
AUDIENCE: Can you talk about your experience, how you feel about being on the show the Food Network. And also, I do watch the Food Network, and one thing I noticed is they don't have enough shows on either a vegan diet or vegetarian diet, because I find those diets very, very difficult.
Even brown rice is so hard sometimes, because either it comes out mushy, or not mushy. And I just feel like legumes are very difficult for me. And I just was wondering, since you're a part of the Food Network, why don't they incorporate more shows like that? It's very heavy-- and I'm not even a vegetarian. Everything's sort of meat oriented, and I was just wondering if you had any kind of inside scoop on that?
ELLIE KRIEGER: I do have an inside scoop on that. It's a little frustrating, frankly. They're casting a wide net. So they want to appeal to as many people as possible. They're not going for a niche population. They want to affect and try to communicate to as many people as possible in each show.
And what they find, in their listening, is that people will watch when there's meat on. People want to see that. And it's interesting, for me, because I made this beautiful emerald stir fry and everything was green, funnily enough-- snow peas, and broccoli, and I used edamame as the protein. And it was just wonderful.
And I submit the recipe, and I wasn't-- and the thing is, I didn't talk about it like this is a vegetarian thing. It's just a food. And they said, this is a beautiful recipe, can you please put some beef in it? I mean it. And it's going to appeal to the audience more if it has some beef in it.
So to me, I said, of course, I'm a team player. It didn't, to me, it's like if somebody will use and have two ounces of beef in their meal, instead of an eight ounce steak, then I've done something, frankly. Whereas, if they would just turn the channel, then I haven't done something.
So I think the people who watch that channel, by and large, want to see two sticks of butter put in a thing, they want to see a lot of meat. And it's a little bit frustrating. I mean, it's frustrating, in general, but what you see is, in fact, you know--
I think there's like 1% of the population of this country that is vegan-- not even 1% that's vegan. They're not going for-- they're going for the rest of the 99%. So that's why. So there may be other channels that will have that. I don't know offhand. Because it's expensive to produce a TV show.
But then again, that's where it maybe going online and finding video there, or certainly there are some great books, actually.
RONNI CHERNOFF: There used to be some great books. A lot of them are going out of print.
ELLIE KRIEGER: Actually, a friend of mine, Mark Reinfeld, is coming out with a book called The 30-Minute Vegan. And he owns a great restaurant, Blossom, something-- Blossoming Lotus, that's really popular in Hawaii. And he's written a couple books. He has some really nice-- it may be more going for books, instead of TV, really.
AUDIENCE: Well, I think, for me-- I'm not a good cook at all. And I actually like watching somebody cook, because that's easiest for me. And there's always little secrets in cooking that I've learned that's not in a cookbook. But you know, all I was just sharing with asking you, is since you're on the network, maybe you can bring that back to them, because I'm not saying they shouldn't have the shows that they do, I mean, having meat or whatever.
But I think that they should really broaden it, because there is tofu, there is tempeh. Those, for me, are very difficult to achieve. And I think it would be nice. And also, in terms of sustainability and since we're dealing with that here a lot in Ithaca, really lessening our meat intake would be great.
And knowing what kind of fish is better to eat. We're depleting the oceans. So I feel like it would be a great avenue for the Food Network to do that, and if you could pass it down.
ELLIE KRIEGER: I'm on your side. I completely agree. And--
AUDIENCE: You can tell them--
ELLIE KRIEGER: I can try on it, but my guess is it's not going to happen though, just for whatever it's worth.
RONNI CHERNOFF: There are resources. There's Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group.
ELLIE KRIEGER: Yeah, that's true, and they might have video. It's-- wait. There's a--
RONNI CHERNOFF: Vegetarian--
ELLIE KRIEGER: There's a website, a really great vegetarian website-- Vegetarian Research Group, VRG.org, has a lot of recipes. They might even have videos that they've done that might be for sale that you can just purchase.
AUDIENCE: Hi. My name is Samantha, and I'm a senior dietetic student here. And my question for you, since you're a registered dietitian and a chef, I wanted to know what would you say are the best things to keep in either your refrigerator or your pantry for quick meals, healthy, quick meals, and maybe you have a few that you always keep on hand?
ELLIE KRIEGER: Yeah, my list is pretty long, actually. I think it's really important to have a stocked pantry, so that you-- it just takes the stress out of it, kind of thing. Oh, gosh, I love, personally, to have canned beans on hand, whole wheat pasta.
And they make a really nice-- if you're not into full whole wheat, there's a nice blend now, as well. There are 50-50 blends. I always keep frozen vegetables, actually. I find frozen peas. I always prefer fresh, but sometimes I'm traveling, and then I come home, and I may have loading in my refrigerator, but if I have frozen peas and some pasta and some beans, I can make a pretty decent dinner without much stress.
Canned tomatoes-- I always have-- low-sodium, though, I buy. So I feel like those are some of the basics. Canned fish, like salmon, is always in there. So already, I'm thinking of a fettuccine with peas and salmon-- yum. A little tarragon, maybe. Those are some highlights.
RONNI CHERNOFF: Are there other questions? We've got one up there, and then we're over here.
AUDIENCE: Hi. My name is Emily. I'm a PhD student in nutritional sciences. And I was wondering if you could say a couple more words about this issue of this conflict between accuracy in the scientific information and simplifying the messages? And if you could give an example of a specific time that you confronted that when working with a client and what your conclusion was from that?
ELLIE KRIEGER: Well, working with a client-- when you're one-on-one with someone, you have time to-- or you have the ability to get into a little more detail and nuance. Explain the nuance, but help them reach the bottom line for themselves.
It's more on the show, where-- I'm trying to think of an example-- say it's with fish. You really can't, unless it's a whole show about fish, I might have only one or two sentences to say about this particular fish. I am trying to think of a good example. Oh gosh, what's a controversial thing?
Potatoes-- I might have like one or two sentences to say about potatoes. And so, it's hard to choose. Do you bring up the glycemic index? Do you bring up a reverse starch-- wait. What's that called again? Resistant starch. It's sort of like, there's so many issues around it, but what's the one sentence that I'm going to say about potatoes. What do I want people to walk away with?
And so, sometimes it's hard, because I think potatoes are good for you, but there's like little buts, kind of thing. And you don't always get to say them. So it's a struggle for me, sometimes, to decide what to say. And very often, it might be, potatoes-- most people don't realize they're loaded with potassium and fiber and vitamin C, and just keep your portion-- I might talk about keeping portions about the size of your-- of the computer mouse, or something like that.
But I didn't get to say all the other issues that I know are there. So oftentimes, on TV, you literally have two sentences. On The Today Show, you'll have a whole segment on bone health, and foods to eat for bone health, and you have four minutes. Four minutes, and that's if you're lucky. Four minutes is our long segment.
So you have to figure out very bottom line stuff, and you can't really get into the nuances. And as a science person, you know that science is nuanced. So it's really interesting. And also can't say, according to-- about half the studies, indicate this. You can't say that. People will turn the channel. It's just not-- it doesn't work like that.
But you, in your heart, you know that there are some studies that say this. But there's this many studies that refute that. You can say oh, it's not-- that's why you have to say may, could, possibly does. No matter what, you have to have a pocketful of those words, basically, in order to be accurate.
So it's interesting, because nothing's ever for sure. One of my professors at Columbia was a member of the-- a founding member of something called the Tentative Society, which I love. It's that everything we know to be true is essentially tentative knowledge.
And I feel like I go through my life with this assumption. Because when I was in college, you saw that picture of me in Jane Fonda clothes. It was all about carbs and fat was bad. And science moves slowly, but science changed. And we have to be open-minded enough to be able to not be dogmatic and change with that.
And the media wants-- that happened over the course of 20 years. The media wants it now, every day something change. And it's a really interesting-- you have to make something exciting-- like the moderation plan does not sell. It just doesn't. You're not going to sell a single book. You're not going to then reach anybody.
So how do you create an excitement, a hype, a reason for someone to pick up a magazine and spend three to four of their hard-earned dollars to read your article? How are you going to do that and stay true to the science? And I feel like that's sort of the fun part and also the hard part. I hope I answered your question.
AUDIENCE: Hi. I have two questions. My first question is how did you first become interested in nutrition? My second question is how did you transition your career from private practice to the Food Network in food rating?
ELLIE KRIEGER: So I was born a food lover. My mother says that me becoming a nutritionist is like a pyromaniac becoming a fireman. It is very true. I found a way to love food in a healthy way. And I really was interested in nutrition as a young teen. And I came to Cornell pre-med majoring in-- and I love science.
So I love food and I love science. It's like a perfect marriage. So I came pre-med and sort of realizing how much depth and breadth there is to the field, I knew then, after understanding that, that I really wanted to be a nutritionist, be a dietitian.
And then, to me, they weren't necessarily separate segues. I was in private practice. And while I was in-- I knew I wanted to write my minor in my-- I sort of had a self-created minor in my master's, which was mass media. So I did internships at CNN, at CBS, in my local affiliate.
I was writing query letters like crazy to try to get some articles published. So all the while doing that, and starting a private practice. So it was sort of concurrent. And I felt like it complemented each other really well, in terms of the things that I love to do. And it helped me write articles and it helped my media practice more because I understood what people really were struggling with.
So by being in practice, I understood that people didn't really know what carbs were. They think that that's just starch. They don't know that that's in vegetables, or whatever. It helped me understand what people were really struggling with and what their issues really were. And that helped me write articles-- it gave me article ideas, frankly.
So it all kind of works together. And I don't feel that they're separate at all. I stopped my private practice after 10 years, after-- it just became-- the media stuff became-- I actually got a TV show that-- not this one, but a different one-- called Living Better, and it was a magazine-style show.
And once I started shooting that, I realized something had to give. It just became a breaking point. So I decided to stop the private practice. But I did them together, and I thought it worked out really well. And a lot of people that I know have private practice and do writing and media work, and it promotes their private practice. So that can work very well together. It doesn't have to be either or.
SPEAKER 1: We have a question down here, please.
ELLIE KRIEGER: From Marcey.
AUDIENCE: Hi. So sometimes, I feel like eating in college is very difficult. Do you have any advice, in terms of quick, healthy meals that college students can prepare, that don't necessarily have all the cooking skills, and also in terms of late-night eating, when you're coming back on a weekend, or you're studying, you're hungry-- what should I do? It's like 2:00-3:00 in the morning, I still have a paper. Do you have any advice?
ELLIE KRIEGER: Hot truck. No, just kidding. Just kidding, just kidding. This is one of the things about my new book, and I'm not plugging my book, but it is so easy. That's what I have, is these really quick, easy meals in there, that you can just put together and not have a lot of skills.
But one thing that I've been loving doing at home when I'm so busy, just take a little bit of honey and a little bit of mustard and mix it together in a bowl and spread it on a piece of salmon and bake at 375 for about 10 minutes per inch thickness. And it's delicious. And you just need some broccolinI or something, with a little lemon zest, and lemon juice, and olive oil. It's delightful.
It doesn't have to be complicated to be delicious. And I think that's one thing that's really true, too. Or I've been buying ravioli, and then you can chop up a lot of arugula, prewashed-- you don't even have to wash it. Cut up tomatoes and put a little red wine vinegar and olive oil and toss that together. I call it a ravioli toss. That's one of the recipes in my new book.
In terms of late night, I think planning for that snack-- you've eaten dinner at 7 o'clock, and then it's midnight, you're going to be hungry. But I think planning a snack at that point. And personally, I always have cereal for some-- I have cereal in a cup at night.
Or just a piece of fruit and some peanut butter, almond butter, or something. But planning a snack at that point, I think is really important, because I think, a lot of times, you eat because you're hungry, but then it can get out of control because of stress.
The mixture of stress and exhaustion doesn't help. As you probably know, not getting enough sleep makes you more hungry, affects your hunger hormones. So all that doesn't work in your favor. So having, I think, a planned snack at that point, would be helpful.
AUDIENCE: I probably don't need the microphone, but could you give us an idea of what getting one of your shows on TV is like, from the idea stage all the way till we see it on TV?
ELLIE KRIEGER: Yeah, it's a much more intense process than I think most people realize. We shoot 13 episodes in a month. And each one is slated for one and a half days of shooting. And days are very loosely defined, because I think if production teams could define a day of work, they would define it as 24 hours.
But it's about 14 hours--it's scheduled for 14 hours, and a lot of times, we run over, so it's like, generally, my whole family just buckles down and I go into the shooting cave and come out a month later, with my eyes all squinty, like I just got out of the movies.
It's really intense. It takes a full month of working insane hours. But before that, it takes about three months of recipe development-- three months of working full time around the clock with a team of people-- not around the clock. I sleep-- with a production team and recipe developers who are helping me in the kitchen, developing the recipes for the show, coming up with themes.
So we'll have like-- the Food Network will have certain themes, like romance, or chocolate, and they're sort of loosely defined, because they have these theme weeks, or budget. And so we'll say, OK, how are we going to do budget? A party-- two parties for six people $25.
So then I'll come up with menus-- chili, or make-your-own tacos, or something like that. So we'll just brainstorm together the recipes. I'll make the recipes and develop them, which is a lot of physical work, and I love that part, though. And then, then we'll come up with a script, because there's always tips and everything.
So then we'll have to loosely write the scripts, and write the tips. And that takes, for the 13 shows, takes about three months before. So 13 shows, altogether, is about six months of work for a lot of people. And then, there's post-production, I'm not even considering.
Then after we're done shooting, they bring the tapes back and edit them and do all that kind of stuff. So it's a lot. It's pretty intense. I think, it's really hard to keep your energy up for that much time. It's just not natural. I don't care what you're doing, if you're playing the guitar, or at a party, you don't really always, usually want to be there. After 14 hours, you want to go home and go to bed.
But you have to get up and do it again the next day. So it's really energy intense. The thing that keeps me going is that I love the food. And I literally say I get to share this with people, and that's what really keeps me motivated. So I have to tell myself that a lot. I get to share this with people, on my 19th cup of coffee.
RONNI CHERNOFF: Is there any other questions? Yes, there's one all the way in the back. You get to ask one while you're taking the microphone.
ELLIE KRIEGER: Oh, yeah, there you go.
AUDIENCE: My question is, so much of our coursework here is science-based, but based on the change model and just from the actuality of getting people to do nutrition education and getting people to change, it seems so psychologically based. Do you see a discrepancy there, or can you comment on that?
ELLIE KRIEGER: You need both.
AUDIENCE: You need both.
ELLIE KRIEGER: They support each other. So you need to know how it works. You need to know the science behind it, in order to be a credible expert. But you also need to then, once you have that base, which is essential, then you need to know how to communicate that to people. So they both support-- the science-- they support each other, really, because you can't communicate and--
You need the foundation of the science, in order to understand, even what you're talking about, and to be a credible resource. A lot of times, I would come into a session with someone and say we're a team. You're the expert on your life, and I have my expertise of this science and this knowledge base. Together, we're going to work to make change, help you make change.
So if you let that person help guide the process, it's not all on you to figure out-- that's using the psychology in your favor to let them help make the change. But you need all that science. It's not a contradiction to the psychology part of it. It works together really.
RONNI CHERNOFF: One last question.
AUDIENCE: Can you give me any advice on how to balance your professional life and your private life, as a female professional, because I worry-- because I want to go to grad school or med school, and I worry like, when am I going to have kids? When am I going to get married, and things like that. So if you have any advice, I'd appreciate it a lot.
ELLIE KRIEGER: Get a great husband who is willing to do all these things. No, really, my husband, really-- we're really a team team, in terms of making this all happen. And I couldn't do all that I do without him doing his part, which is more than the average guy, by far, in the household. And we balance it. It's a lot of give and take, and juggling.
And a lot of the home stuff falls on him, especially when we're shooting. It's sort of like, I do nothing at home. He literally picks up the slack completely. And makes sure everything's running smoothly. So I think you have to find a partner that's willing to work with you on that level.
And I happen to know a little insider thing. I don't know if any of you watch The Next Food Network Star, but there was a woman who won that. And they gave her-- when you get-- if you win this contest, you get your own TV show. And she was great.
And she got her own TV show. She did six episodes. And they were ready to give her more shows, but her husband was like, I'm not doing this. And so she couldn't. She turned them down. And it really is essential to have a partner that's willing to make a lot of sacrifices, as well. So, thanks, Tom. Sorry to embarrass you.
[APPLAUSE]
Best-selling author and TV personality Ellie Krieger '88 delivered the 2009 Dorothy M. Proud Lecture on April 24 in Call Auditorium.
Krieger is a registered dietitian specializing in nutrition and health communications, and host of the show, "Healthy Appetite," on Food Network.
