There is a task that needs to get done.  It has a deadline; yet I find myself working on everything else EXCEPT for what I know I should really be working on.  I have to ask myself:

What am I resisting?

“Think Cold” reads the title of Marilyn Singer’s poem about Humboldt Penguins, creatures who inhabit the hot, dry coastal deserts of Peru and Chile in her 2012 collection: A Strange Place To Call Home: The World’s Most Dangerous Habitats& The Animals That Call Them Home.  Although, “newly published poetry collection” and “State Standards” seem to be phrases at odds, bright teachers and children show how creativity lives among the standards.  Are you a parent or teacher worried that newly adopted public school learning standards will crush our children’s spirit as much

I was recently asked a question about meal planning and diabetes. This is important, because food affects blood sugar and it’s essential that diabetics manage their blood sugar. If they don’t, they put themselves at potential risk of complications such as heart problems, kidney issues, nerve damage, vision problems, amputations and more.

I get so many nutrition- and health-related questions through my Facebook page (Lisa Tillinger Johansen) and from my web site (

I’m a dietitian. I’m a nutrition expert and I use this knowledge to help thousands of people every year on a variety of health issues. I know what I’m talking about and I’ve helped people make changes and achieve great results. But I’m also human. I also walk the talk. But while I make the healthiest food choices most of the time, sometimes I don’t.

I tuned in to the Golden Globes tonight and I’m sure that I was like so many of us who enjoy watching the Hollywood elite work the red c

The holiday season, from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, is one that is often filled with food, food and more food. We all know that it can be a calorie minefield. There are parties, family meals, and the seemingly all-day dessert and high calorie snack buffets camped out on many a kitchen table or counter.

A reader or writer, which would I rather be? What a question that is! I love both so much and to choose one or the other is difficult. It’s the perfect conundrum.

Change can be hard. Many of us, including myself, go kicking and screaming into it. It’s just not always that easy to do. Why? Because we’re creatures of habit. We like we what we like and we want to do what we always do. But sometimes life gets in the way and we discover that our habits won’t work for us anymore.

Well, here goes. I spoke with my nutritionist today and got the download—much of which I’ve heard before. (Yes, not surprisingly, this is not my first get-healthy rodeo!) But even so, I loved how Elizabeth DeRobertis, RD, director of The Nutrition Center at The Scarsdale Medical Group in Scarsdale, NY, got me thinking about how to fit my health into my busy weeks.