In 1962, my culinary world revolved around peanut butter and jelly on Wonder Bread, washed down with a tall glass of whole milk. The result? A childhood spent in husky pants at a time when obesity was almost non-existent.
That curiosity about food and weight led me to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist in 1980. Early in my career I taught medically supervised weight loss programs in hospitals. The science was solid, the results impressive. But once real life returned, so did the weight. It became clear that losing weight was only half the battle. Keeping it off was the real challenge.
Then life gave me my own lesson.
In my 50s my activity slowed but my appetite didn’t. One morning the scale read 202 pounds. As a dietitian, that number stung. But it also became the most valuable moment of my professional life. I started teaching free weight management classes at my local hospital, for my colleagues and for myself. I lost 34 pounds and have kept them off for more than 15 years.
Gaining that weight was the best unintentional research project I could have asked for. It helped me understand the emotional and behavioral challenges that calorie charts simply can’t explain.
That experience shaped everything.
It started with Skippy, Welch’s, and a pair of husky pants.
RICHARD
MEET
46+
POUNDS LOST AND KEPT OFF FOR 15 YEARS
34
REGISTERED DIETITIAN NUTRITIONIST SINCE
1980
YEARS AS A REGISTERED DIETITIAN NUTRITIONIST
Former Director of Food & Nutrition Services
Member, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Bachelor of Science in Food and Nutrition
1978
Dietetic Internship at Harper-Grace Hospitals
