Watch what she eats

Blogging dietitian invites people to follow her example

By Jennifer LaRue Huget
The Washington Post

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On June 2, Cristin Dillon-Jones had Kashi Heart to Heart cereal mixed with Total Cinnamon Crunch, skim milk and blueberries for breakfast, canned vegetarian black-bean chili and a mozzarella/tomato/basil salad for lunch, and grilled salmon and potatoes with steamed broccoli for dinner. And she has the pictures to prove it.

For two years, Dillon- Jones has taken photos of every meal she has eaten (at first just on weekdays, but recently on weekends, too) and posted them, with nutrition information and commentary, on her blog on Self magazine's Web site.

Dillon-Jones, a 27-year-old registered dietitian, was working as a nutritionist and running a meal-planning, grocery-shopping and food-preparation business when Self asked her to start the "Eat Like Me" blog as part of a package of new online health and fitness offerings. The idea was simple: Show readers what a registered dietitian eats every day.

(SELF.COM) - Cristin Dillon-Jones� meal includes salmon, potatoes, broccoli.

Rarely does her diet venture outside the ordinary. Yet for those of us who have never learned — or have managed to forget — how a human being should eat to stay healthy, the blog is oddly riveting — and useful.

"Journaling," or keeping a food log, is often recommended for weight loss and control. Though Dillon-Jones' focus is not specifically on weight loss, she joins others who have brought journaling to another level by taking pictures of what they eat; many suggest using cell-phone cameras because they're always handy.

Dillon-Jones, who lives in Boston, also takes her camera along to the grocery store so that readers can see what she puts into her cart. Although she doesn't expect readers to eat exactly as she does, her example offers something solid and sensible to grasp. We who have struggled with our weight might be both baffled and relieved to see that Dillon-Jones, a trim, athletic young woman, eats regular food, sometimes enjoying a restaurant burrito or a takeout pizza (with a glass of red wine). On other evenings, though, it's leftover lasagna and a salad for her and Chinese takeout for her husband. Daytime meals often feature a turkey sandwich and a latte, a baggie of Goldfish crackers and a peach for a snack.

With her blog attracting 65,000 unique visitors and 367,000 page views per month, Dillon-Jones has won a following with her down-to-earth approach, one that doesn't insist on perfection or rely on calorie-counting. Instead, she tries to eat according to the federal government's food pyramid, which suggests the number of servings from each of six major food groups that we should eat every day.

But she doesn't obsess over those numbers; if, say, her vegetable consumption falls short one day, she makes note of the fact and pledges to compensate the next day.

"Long-term health" — not quibbling over daily details — "should be the first priority," she says.