MAND Board Member December Spotlight: Emily Niswanger

Your Job Title and Employer: Function Nutrition Dietitian – Anywhere Nutrition

Briefly tell us about your day-to-day work: I run a virtual meal plan membership called the Real Food Prep Club. I provide my members with a new seasonal menu each week and teach them tips for how to meal prep the recipes.

Tell us about things you do that you find particularly interesting or motivating: I love learning and teaching about habit / routine creation. Making any health or life change in general requires a shift in habits. This is why habit creation is the foundation of my meal plan membership.

What has surprised you about your work? I knew group programs were powerful, but I wasn’t sure that I could make the same impact on my clients’ health that I did with 1:1 work and I was wrong. I have seen so many incredible health transformations by simply getting people cooking more at home with seasonal and anti-inflammatory ingredients. I see dietitians bash meal plans all the time and I think this is a big, missed opportunity in our field. Meal plans are extremely effective at improving health when paired with the right support and they remove a huge mental load for clients.

What trends are you seeing in your work? Consumers are interested in buying direct from farmers and they want dietitians to help them with this process. Meat and vegetable CSAs are on the rise because people care how their food is grown/raised and where it’s coming from. More people are realizing the benefits of eating seasonal and they’re seeking out ways to try new things.