Why “Beyond Broccoli”?
Several years ago I was ski touring on Teton Pass in northern Wyoming (just outside of Jackson Hole) trying to decide what to call my nutrition counseling practice. Jackson Hole is a very progressive community with respect to health and wellness and I was excited about providing a variety of nutritional services that are in sync with this special place. My formal nutrition education and credentials are traditional – I am a Registered Dietitian with a Master of Science degree in Foods & Nutrition. This keeps the roots of my practice in science. I also believe though, it is important to integrate alternative and complementary approaches to health if I believe they will help and do no harm.
So as I skied along the snow covered ridge admiring the town of Jackson sprawling below I thought about moving beyond the mainstream. Suddenly I pictured broccoli - what is more “mainstream” nutritionally than the heralded stalk of broccoli? Everyone knows that broccoli is a nutritional powerhouse. But there is so much more to nutrition. In fact, even “mainstream” nutrition goes way Beyond Broccoli. I personally love broccoli and the more we learn about it the more interesting it becomes but broccoli will never be the end all for nutrition. We cannot live on broccoli alone.
About Beyond Broccoli™
Mary (Howley) Ryan, MS, RD
Mary Ryan is a Registered Dietitian with a Master of Science degree in Foods & Nutrition and the founder of Beyond Broccoli Nutrition Counseling formerly based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and now in the process of re-settling in Seattle, Washington. She has turned her passion for healthy, whole foods towards helping people understand and use nutrition to achieve and maintain good health.
2008 was an exciting year for Mary and Beyond Broccoli with the publication of a backcountry nutrition book for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). The book NOLS Backcountry Nutrition – Eating Beyond the Basics is the culmination of several years of work with NOLS, including completion of an Absaroka Wilderness Course in 2000 and the publication of a nutrition field guide specifically for NOLS in 2002. The backcountry nutrition experience also led to a consulting position with a wilderness therapy program for at-risk adolescent girls from March – October of 2008.
Prior to establishing Beyond Broccoli™ in 2001, Mary completed her nutrition education and training through the University of Utah’s Division of Nutrition. Mary also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Saint Michael’s College, nearly twenty years of food and beverage experience, and a passion for good food. Her graduate work included developing and then evaluating a nutritional cooking class as a way of teaching sheltered homeless families about nutrition. Mary is a member of the American Dietetic Association and Slow Food in the Tetons.
Mary’s services through Beyond Broccoli include individual and small group counseling, a variety of programs and classes, a monthly nutrition newsletter, online nutrition coaching, and consulting for an integrative grocery and health food store. She has initiated programs focused on emotional eating and finding balance with food to help people explore their relationships with food and introduced an alternative to fasting and supplement-based detoxification with her “Whole Foods Detox Program.”
Mary is currently a nutrition consultant for the Jackson Whole Grocer, working to provide nutrition education materials for customers, improved nutritional choices in the deli department, and collaborating to participate in community events related to food, health and sustainability.
Mary lives with her husband Dave and black lab Abbey and balances her professional life with telemark and skate skiing, ice hockey, dog walks, cycling, rock climbing, cooking, and reading.
Beyond Broccoli’s Inspiration
I love to tell the story of why I chose a career in nutrition – or more accurately, how it chose me. It all started when my Dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was only 52 at the time and I was devastated. I was living here in Jackson (Wyoming), managing a bar and restaurant and he was living in a suburb of Boston. I went back to visit a few times but was basically 2,000 miles away feeling very helpless. So, I did what I’d done to comfort myself since childhood – I read. I wanted to know what was happening to my Dad, and secretly I hoped I’d find a way to help him.
The theme that cropped up in relation to cancer over and over was nutrition. Nutrition was linked to cancer prevention, an adjunct to conventional cancer therapies, and in some anecdotal cases even played a role in remission. The light bulb went off for me. I’d worked in food and beverage through college and to support my skiing habit for a decade after college and suddenly there it was – food as medicine.
Unfortunately my Dad and his oncologist didn’t share my enthusiasm. Dad’s insurance company wouldn’t pay for a single visit with a dietitian and the oncologist thought the supplement regimen he’d prescribed was the only nutritional support Dad needed. In fact Dad went to the emergency room three times for what he called “pancreatic attacks” before a nurse offhandedly suggested he cut back on the fat in his diet – that was the last of those “attacks.” Needless to say I was frustrated.
Dad died 8 months after his diagnosis and I was more determined than ever to pursue a career in nutrition. I couldn’t help my Dad manage his illness but I could learn how to help others. My undergraduate degree was in English so I faced my fear of chemistry classes and got to work. I chose to pursue a program that combined a Master’s degree with the courses and internships I needed to become a Registered Dietitian. I was very interested in alternative medicine but decided to go for the more traditional credentials first, and to stay open to learning in the alternative realm as I went along.
My dream was to establish a private practice that combined my passions for writing, teaching, and counseling as ways to educate people about food and nutrition. I also wanted to connect people with food – how to prepare and enjoy it. Oh yeah, I also wanted to make it fun whenever possible. I met too many dietitians who seemed out of touch with reality or who lacked a sense of humor. Beyond Broccoli is the realization of my dream.
I’m very sad that my Dad is not alive to see the career path he led me to. He used to tell me he thought I could do great things. After devoting 27 years of his life to public service with the Massachusetts State Police, I know that his idea of great things meant helping people. Thanks to my Dad I have discovered a career path I am passionate about and I strive always to do great things, one client at a time.
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