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Lean Cuisine’s Feed Your PhenomenalTM Campaign: The Time I Was Accepted Into My Dietetic Internship

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Lean Cuisine (check ’em out here), but as always, all opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make C it Nutritionally possible!

50 Scientifically-Proven Ways to Bite Into a Healthy Lifestyle | C it Nutritionally

Hi friends! I’m excited to have been selected as one of Lean Cuisine’s Phenomenal Ambassadors. I’ll be working with the brand all summer to help share great stories of accomplishments and great food. As part of Lean Cuisine’s Phenomenal Ambassadors program, I was asked to share a story about one of my accomplishments that I am most proud of, so today I want to share the story of getting accepted into my dietetic internship!

Ever since I made the decision to leave medical school in order to pursue my true love, nutrition, I knew I would one day apply for a dietetic internship. Unlike many other internships I’ve had in my life, this is the make it or break it point for my career. I spent hours completing my academic requirements, getting to know professors and mentors so they could write letters of recommendations, volunteering at a highly esteemed New York City hospital to gather experience, and writing (and re-writing) my personal statement. I fussed over the perfect interview outfit to wear, how to rank my match list, and debate with myself over whether or not I was willing to leave New York for my training (I was, but then I hoped I wouldn’t!).

go after what you want



In case you don’t know, a dietetic internship is the last step of the training required to sit for your RD exam, which officially makes you a Registered Dietitian (cue angels singing). It’s been a looong journey, with blood, sweat, and tears, but I did it (a la Elle Woods in Legally Blonde)!

During the year-long dietetic internship you complete rotations in hospital and community settings, as well as food service production, learning so much about how to properly, nutritionally, treat patients with everything from advanced stage renal disease (watch those electrolytes and protein) to a baby in the ICU (make sure they’re getting enough calories!). I will further learn how to properly calculate the nutrients required for tube feedings, how to advise a patient with several chronic diseases, and how to order enough food to feed a hospital full of patients ((Maybe this will help for hosting parties later on in life?? hmmmm)).

On a blissful Sunday evening in April, match results were available. I anxiously waited by my computer to see whether I matched or not. After all, national match rates are just 40%! (Not sure of what I mean about “the match?” Click here.) I logged in and found out that I got my first choice… NYU!! Wooo!

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I will admit that seeing this decision was anti-climactic — I was confident! — but I was still very proud of myself, and excited to embark on this next stage in my career. I worked really hard to get to this point in my life. I completed countless hours of pre-med coursework, completed two years of medical school (a story for another time), and in just two short years was accepted to an incredible dietetic internship program!

From giving recipes healthy makeovers in high school to experimenting with my own body about how I would lose the freshman 15, errr 25, I fell in love with nutrition long before I ever knew it could be an actual career. The vast depth and opportunities available in the field of dietetics makes it so exciting to me. One day I can help a patient learn a new way of eating to better their health, the next day I can be playing around in my kitchen to create my newest culinary masterpiece, and the next I’m writing all about why chia seeds are great.

Herb Roasted Carrots with Avocado Dill Dipping Sauce | C it Nutritionally

My nutrition philosophy is simple: We should eat real food, with recognizable ingredients, that’s easy to prepare and nourishes our body from the inside out. If we eat to feel our best, we will be able to accomplish our personal best! This is one of the reasons I’m excited to partner with Lean Cuisine!

Lean Cuisine is completely overhauling its brand. The brand is reintroducing itself as a brand focused on modern eating; with it, comes new bold, ethnic flavors, new attributes, contemporary packaging – which I’ll be writing about later – as well as a new brand campaign that I’m thrilled to share with you today. Lean Cuisine’s new brand campaign Feed Your PhenomenalTM reflects its new brand purpose: to feed the greatness in every woman. To kick things off, Lean Cuisine is releasing a video featuring real women “weighing” themselves to help start a social conversation with a message that reinforces that the most important thing we should weigh is our accomplishments.

Please check out Lean Cuisine‘s #WeighThis video! And then answer this question in the comments to enter the SheKnows sweepstakes for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card: What do you wish people would weigh you on?

Entry Instructions: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

  1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
  2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
  3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
  4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

  This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from July 20, 2015 – September 30, 2015. Be sure to visit the Lean Cuisine brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Share Your Thoughts

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  1. I wish that people wouldn’t judge me at all but that is never going to happen. So, if you are going to judge me, do so based on my heart and mind and actions and words and not on stereotypes and bigotry.

  2. I want to be weighed on my devotion to our family. I work hard to provide for them and to ensure we stay active, healthy and well nourished.

  3. I’d like to be weighed on my empathetic nature, my intuitive intellect and the integrity of my character.
    sazzyfrazz at gmail dot com

  4. I would like to be weighed on my job as a parent. It’s no easy job but I gotta give myself a pat on the back. I think I am doing great!

  5. I wish they would weigh me on what they don’t see- like staying in a marriage when most people would have left over what has happened in it, or the work of getting my associate degree with two little kids at home, or getting up every day when I’m especially depressed. A heavy answer, but that’s what I wish they could see.

    chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com

    1. Thank you for your honesty Erika…that’s what this campaign is all about! I wish you only the best!

  6. I would like to be weighed on my good intentions and positive attitude and the effort I put into being the best person I can be not only to my family but to others each and every day.

  7. I wish I was weighed on the kind hearted person I am and that I raised 4 kids on my own and they are all on a good path in life.
    cshell090869 at aol dot com

  8. What a wonderful campaign. I wish others would weigh me on how I treat them and other people. I try to be kind and treat others how I would like to be treated.
    Thanks so much.

  9. I wish I could be measured by my faith. I could weigh as little as a mustard seed and still move mountains!

  10. I’d like to be weighed on how well I take care of my family, and also on how I make mistakes but always try to be humble and apologize for them, and keep trying to improve.

    1. We all make mistakes, but knowing when and how to apologize is the most important part! Thanks for your honesty Madeline!

  11. I would like to be weighed on who I am , who I can be and who I will become. To grow emotionally, physically, and spiritually and to be weighed as an individual who encourages learning and believes that everyone is a work in progress.

    1. Being able to laugh, I think, is one of the most important qualities to have in life! It gets you through the tough stuff!

  12. Pingback: Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Hydrate, STAT! - C it Nutritionally
  13. Amazing story!!! XOXO
    These moments are the ones that we should be remembered and valued for!

  14. I wish people would weigh me on my passion to be a good mother and to work hard at everything I do!

    1. Two of the most important traits in life!!! I know I still thank my mom everyday for how she raised me!

  15. I watched the entire video and it made me cry. Bravo to Lean Cuisine for this commercial this is what really matters in life! I wish people would weigh me on my support of our troops, people in need and my love of animals.

  16. I look young for my age and I wish people would weigh me based on my intelligence, kindness, innocence, work ethic and compassion. I may be small and have the body of a 12 year old, but I wish people would look past my weight and size and judge me on the above qualities.

  17. I would like to be weighed on the quality time I spend with my children, the effort I put into going to school and the time I spend helping others.

  18. I’d love to see people weigh in on promoting a healthy environment in the workplace – there’s always too much junk and not enough fruit around!

    PS congrats on NYU. You will be an RD superstar!

  19. I wish people would weigh on me how good I am in being a wife and mother and managing our household.

  20. I wish I would be weighed by the wife and mother I am. Having been raised by parents who were each married 3 times, I am really proud of the fact that I’ve been married for 17 years to the same man, and we’re expecting our 4th child together.

  21. I wish people would weigh on me how hard it was to raise my son and daughter in my own after their Father died. I did a great job and they are both in college, and very good kids. I made mistakes, but I persevered and did it!

  22. love the history behind the face, recipes and healthy tips!!
    your parents must be so proud of all your accomplishments !!!
    keep up the ‘tude and nutrition on…………..

  23. I loved that video! <3 I can completely relate to you (just replace dietetic internship with medical school)!

    I wish people would weigh me on my passion and my desire to help others and to teach and inspire them to take charge of their own health to make the dietary + lifestyle changes to lead healthier lives. :]

    1. I’m totally with you Farrah! I understand the grind all too well (from medical school & my DI!). Good luck with everything!