About

Who is Karen Diaz?

Professionally I have been a registered dietitian for 8 years. Personally, I am a mom of two amazing children, Claire and Lucas, and a wife to my supportive, loving husband Julio.

My entire life I never felt truly 100% happy. I grew up in a loving family and was given all the opportunities in life you hope for. I heard the message, “As long as you are happy”, but I felt happiness needed to be in a box that involved college, job, married, kids, retire. After college, I completed my internship to become a registered dietitian and remained in NYC working at a local hospital. On the surface, I seemed like a happy, carefree twenty-something. I was not. Some days I would barely make it into my apartment before collapsing in hysterics. I felt lost. I fled the city for home in search of comfort, but felt like a stranger in my hometown. Upon moving to Hoboken, I met my now husband and was engaged after four months. We were living together in the city and started planning a wedding. Now everything would be fine, I thought. Wrong! I knew little about the complications involved in creating a life with someone. I think to some degree I always managed to get my way and for the first time I was challenged by this man I was marrying. I got upset. I threw tantrums. Then wait, this was a good thing! I felt more alive than I had in years. He challenged me. If I wanted this to work, love was not enough. I had to look inside and think what part I played in our communication difficulties, new ground for both of us.

Fast forward five years later, we have two kids, moved to the suburbs of NJ, and began specializing in eating disorders and intuitive eating. That was all I wanted growing up and I had it. Again I found myself crying in my Cheerios, all too familiar territory for me. Was I destined to never be satisfied? I came to Julio in tears, something was missing. I did not want to wake up one day and have regrets. My current regrets and fears:

1. Starting my own business

2. Traveling more. I still cannot let go of the fact I never went abroad in college.

He gets it. Julio says, stop talking and do it. You want support, here it is, but prepare to be questioned and challenged. I am learning it is not all puppies and rainbows. So here I am. I launched an online nutrition counseling site in 2010 called youronlinedietitian.com and began blogging. It worked, I felt proud. I changed jobs, we are looking to sell the house, traveling is in the plans, and I am learning Spanish. I know I will have failures along the way, but now I look at them as a positive thing. I will learn how to be better from them but they will not stop me. At the end of the day, I want to be happy with my reflection in the mirror and show my kids they can try anything with hard work and integrity.

What is Healthy Living for Life?

The name reflects my theme, my goal for the rest of my life. I want all my clients to embrace healthy living not just healthy eating because spiritual, emotional, and physical health are all intertwined together. After working with chronic dieters and eating disorders, I see how hard people are on themselves. I see how attempted failures at weight loss and health goals bring people down. They cycle through the ups and downs of dieting feeling helpless and hopeless. Healthy living for life is about looking at the whole picture and defining goals and fears to help you find what works for you and keeps you healthy. Healthy living defies a single definition and can be tailored to fit your needs. Healthy living will look at meal planning for the week, time management, fears about letting go of dieting or looking at food differently, understanding the different diet approaches to choose which suits you best, and challenges faced everyday in meeting our goals. Not everyone can afford a dietitian visit so my goal is to share my personal goals and lessons I use in session to help anyone who wants to change!

Who should subscribe?

Anyone who thinks their relationship with food is unhealthy and is tired of yo-yo dieting or emotional eating. People wanting change who need support and guidance along the way. By subscribing, you have access to a registered dietitian who can answer questions you have about dieting, nutrition, cooking, or eating disorders.

When can I expect a blog entry?

Meal ideas for the week will be posted by Sunday nights. This will enable followers who want to use my ideas to add to their weekly meal plans. See the Tips page for suggestions on food shopping. Monday will be theme day where I focus on a word to define my week. Wednesday will be a hump day blog to challenge the way dieting makes us think about food and weight. Friday will be focused on weekend challenges. A look at diets and various approaches to health will be sporadic throughout the month.