Hi everyone! My name is Janelle and I am very excited to be a part of The Rite Bite Nutrition team. My interest in health and nutrition started soon after graduating high school, but my love for food started much earlier. As a kid I loved spreading joy through food. I spent a lot of time baking in the kitchen with my mom and eventually got my own easy bake oven to experiment with. Little did I realize I would find my way back to spreading that joy by helping people find ways to include their favorite foods into a healthful lifestyle, since we can and should be able to enjoy the foods we love!
My college journey began as a biology major on a pre-med track, but I did not find excitement in where my future career would be in this field during my studies. While outside of my course work I was always searching for information related to nutrition to support my fitness goals at the time. A few years later, I discovered the role of a dietitian and immediately felt that excitement I always felt was missing. I soon transferred to Queens College where I was able to obtain my undergraduate degree in dietetics.
Following my bachelors, I completed my dietetic internship at stony brook university. My internship allowed me to gain hands-on experience in various settings such as inpatient, outpatient, long term care, food service, community nutrition, and nutrition research. This experience gave me the confidence and skills to help me provide guidance to my patients.
One of the main reasons why I found excitement in being a dietitian was the realization that a one-size fits all approach to nutrition does NOT work. I remember how confusing and often discouraging it was for me to read contradictory information about nutrition online. Ultimately, this led me down the wrong path to cutting out all of my favorite foods. I later realized not all nutritionists are the same and an individualized approach to nutrition is so important to making healthful habits last a lifetime!
During my journey to my professional career I found love in my yoga practice, raised my first puppy, and recently welcomed a second puppy into my family! I do still love to bake during my free time as I find it very therapeutic and sometimes work on creating my own recipes. I am now also working towards obtaining my Master degree in Advanced Nutrition Therapy and Critical Care at Stony Brook University.
As your dietitian, I am here to help you make realistic changes personalized to your needs, medical history, lifestyle and more with the use of evidence-based guidelines. I am so happy to be a part of the rite bite nutrition team and I look forward to supporting you on your journey to adding balance to your own life, because you deserve to live a healthful lifestyle you enjoy!
Until Next Time,
Janelle Polanco, RDN
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