When you are looking for trusted nutrition advice online, we recommend reading these 10 great nutrition blogs. All of the bloggers are Registered Dietitians (RDs) and provide inspirational blog posts to help you make better choices. Be sure to also follow them on Twitter, so you don’t miss any of their helpful tips! What are your favorite blogs by Registered Dietitians?

Our Recommended List in Random Order:

Real Life Nutrition WebMD bloggers: Carolyn Brown @onesmartbrownie, David Grotto @davidgrotto, Janet Helm @JanetHelm, and Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen @mtjacobsen

Eat + Run USNews.com @eatandrunUSN
Many well known RD bloggers, including Keri Glassman @KeriGlassman, Bonnie Taub-Dix @eatsmatbd, Keri Gans @kerigans, Elisa Zied @elisazied, and Tamara Duker Freuman @tamaraduker

Nutrition and You! by Joan Salge Blake @joansalgeblake

Health.com News and Views by Cynthia Sass @cynthiasass

Joy Bauer @joybauer

Nutrition Twins by Lyssie Lakatos and Tammy Lakatos Shames @nutritiontwins

URockGirl by Erin Macdonald and Tiffani Bachus @urockgirl

Gluten-Free Goodness by Cheryl Harris (No gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, or corn)  @CherylHarrisRD

The Gluten-Free RD by Rachel Begun @RachelBegunRD

The Spicy RD (gluten-free) by EA Stewart @TheSpicyRD

March 13 is National Registered Dietitian Day and a great time to share how seeing an RD can help you and your community! This marks the day that dietitians across the country are recognized for all their hard work in helping people to get healthier and happier. We feel so fortunate that we chose this profession—we love helping our clients to enjoy eating healthier and to reap the rewards of it. After witnessing first-hand how much we could positively affect the lives of others as registered dietitians, we set out to reach a larger audience by writing our books, Fire Up Your Metabolism, The Secret to Skinny and The Nutrition Twins Veggie Cure:100 Tantalizing Recipes for Health, Energy and Beauty (January 2014).

As nutritionists and personal trainers, it’s important for us to incorporate all aspects of nutrition to help everyone whether it is obesity, diabetes or sports enhancement. We agree with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics top 10 reasons you should be talking to an RD today!

1. Registered Dietitians can help you plan a balanced diet if you are diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes. It can greatly affect your diet if you aren’t careful so get the proper advice from an RD!

2. With each community hurting for more wellness programs with the obesity epidemic in America, dietitians can help get those programs started. They can help fight for backing by the government to make a difference in eating healthy and help communities become physically fit!

3. Registered dietitians can work with food scientists on new healthy foods for the local grocery stores and markets. They can phase out the bad foods or at least make them healthier for consumers to make healthier choices.

4. Dietitians specializing in sports nutrition can help you to become fit – the healthy way! You’ll see results when following and setting healthier goals!

5. Registered dietitians can help you manage meals and create a plan for you, whether you want to lose weight, become more physically fit or just had a major surgery that curbs your appetite! They are the best to talk to about this.

6. If you’re a Mom or even a Dad that just doesn’t cook and has no cooking skills, RD’s can help you find the basic culinary skills to get healthier and simple foods on your table, homemade!

7. If you’re suspecting a family member or maybe even yourself of having an eating disorder, an RD can help you overcome this challenge and help you to eat healthier again!

8. Registered dietitians can help create healthier food choices in the community whether it be a food drive or even a farmers market, they can help get the resources you need to create a large impact!

9. New moms can benefit greatly with making sure their babies are getting the adequate nutrition they need for a normal and healthy weight gain.

10. Registered dietitians can help with the elderly to make sure they are also getting the adequate nutrition they need to stay healthy, such as Meals on Wheels programs.

Now you know the many benefits to seeing an RD! There are obviously so many different ways an RD can make an impact on you personally or in the community. Don’t be afraid to find one in your local area and start asking questions to make a healthier and happier you!

About the Authors:

Tammy and Lyssie Lakatos, a.k.a. The Nutrition Twins®, are twin sisters, registered dietitians and personal trainers with over a decade of experience helping thousands of clients boost their energy naturally, get healthier, happier and in tip-top shape. They have been featured as experts on major TV shows/ networks and popular press ranging from The Doctors, Good Morning America Health, Fox and Friends and Discovery Health to USA Today, Health Magazine and Vogue. They are experts and bloggers for msn’s health site, Fitbie and for the host of Dancing with the Stars Brooke Burke’s site, ModernMom.com. They are authors of Fire Up Your Metabolism (Simon and Schuster), The Secret To Skinny: How Salt Makes You Fat (HCI Books) and The Nutrition Twins’ Veggie Cure: 100 Tantalizing Recipes for Health, Energy and Beauty, due out in January 2014. They live in New York City where they enjoy running and biking to keep fit as well as chasing after Tammy’s twin daughters. Follow the Nutrition Twins on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

You’ve heard it before – one of the easiest things you can do to overhaul your diet, without giving up everything you love, is to scale back on the portions. Kind of like having your cake and eating it too, just that the piece of cake has become a sliver that won’t wreck your waistline.

For anyone that has ever followed a diet program where you have to purchase and eat their food, you’ve experienced portion control. Precise amounts of food are plated so that you eat just that amount and nothing more, allowing you stay within your calorie goal and achieve the desired weight loss. Yes, this method does work (for a period of time). The downsides of this type of weight control program are that they are expensive and they teach you nothing about shopping, cooking, and portioning out your food for yourself. Once you stop following the program, the old habits return, including larger portion sizes, and the weight creeps back on.

Let’s talk about how you can successfully master portion control without feeling like you have to weigh and measure everything.

1. Divide the Plate. Draw an imaginary line down the center of your plate. Fill one half with fruits and/or veggies. Divide the other half of the plate in half again and fill 1/4 with whole grains and the other 1/4 with a lean protein.

2. Pre-portion high-calorie foods. The bigger the package, the more you’ll eat. From this finding, the 100-calorie snack pack was born. Rather than fill up on these store-bought calorie-controlled packs (which are usually just junk food), make your own homemade 100-calorie packs using snack-sized zip top bags and 1/2 cup plastic containers. Keep nuts to around 100 calories by fitting them into an Altoids tin.

3. When you eat, just eat. Turn off the TV, put away the book, close the newspaper, shut down the computer, and stick the cell phone in the other room. Meal time should be devoted to enjoying your meal, uninterrupted. Use the time to notice the taste, texture, temperature, aroma, and visual appeal of your meal. Not only will you enjoy your meal more than usual, but you’ll also be more in tune with your fullness cues. If your brain gets the signal from your stomach to slow down or stop before you’ve polished off everything (this takes 20 minutes), then heed the message and wrap the rest of it up for later. Your waist will thank you.

4. Downsize your plates and cups. Rather than continue to eat off of the typical 12-inch dinner plates, which encourage larger portions, try plating your meal onto 8-inch plates. Same goes for bowls (use 1 cup ramekins) and glasses. Did you know that people drink less out of tall, skinny glasses than short, wide ones?

5. Limit choices. They say that variety is the spice of life, but it also encourages overeating and results in higher calorie intake. This doesn’t mean that your meal has to be Johnny-one-note, rather choose 3 items to feature on your plate, make sure they have lots of great flavor, and enjoy every bite.

6. Out of sight, out of mind. Office workers who kept candy in a clear jar on their desks sampled 71% more often than those who kept the candy in a desk drawer. So, keep the junk out of sight and replace the desk-top candy dish with a bowl of fresh fruit so that everyone can benefit.

7. Don’t drink your calories. If you’re watching your calories in the quest to drop some pounds, skip the juices, smoothies, and coffee drinks that pack in hundreds of calories. Even worse, these liquids empty out of your system quicker than food, leaving you hungrier, sooner. Then you’re left to search of something else to eat, which can result in a higher calorie intake for the day than expected.

8. Super-size good-for-you foods. This is the ultimate in reverse portion control. Think salads (watch the dressing), cooked vegetables, broth-based soups, crudité and healthy dips. Fill up on generous amounts of these foods at the beginning of every meal, which leaves less room for the rest of the food being offered. A few bites of your protein and whole grain and you realize you’re too full to continue.

About the Author:

Erin Macdonald, R.D. is a Nutrition, Fitness, and Wellness Coach in southern California where she has a private practice and teaches cooking classes. She is the co-founder of U Rock Girl, a web site full of nutrition, fitness, and wellness information and recipes to nourish the mind, body, and spirit. She also writes a regular column for Oxygen Magazine, called “Easy Does It” and will have a new column in Clean Eating magazine called, “Ask the dietitians.” Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Diabetes Weight Loss – Week by Week, a new book by Jill Weisenberger, will take the anxiety and confusion out of weight loss. You will develop a personalized weight loss plan that works for you and your diabetes.

• Prepare to be successful by learning the keys to goal setting and maintaining motivation.

• Choose from dozens of positive habits to build on.

• Work at a reasonable pace with chapters that are set up week by week and month by month.

• Be inspired by the success stories of real people who have lost weight.

• Chart your progress.

• Eat healthy using a week of wholesome sample menus and 21 delicious recipes.

• Diabetes or not, this book is for you. Those with diabetes will learn about managing blood glucose while losing weight and other diabetes-specific concerns. Those without diabetes still learn the weight loss principles and will develop the skills to lose weight and keep it off.

Jill posts nutrition and diabetes tips on her website. In this video, she explains why it is important to eat white fruits and vegetables and remember that they are part of the whole rainbow of fruits and vegetables.

Visit Jill’s website for more great diabetes resources.

About the Author:

Jill Weisenberger is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator in SE Virginia. She is the author of Diabetes Weight Loss – Week by Week. Follow Jill on Twitter @nutritionjill.

All over the world, people are looking for ways every day to get that extra burst of energy. And why not? Increasingly, life means maintaining a balance between life and work that leaves little time for rest or relaxation. We rush from one task to the next trying to check another item off the to-do list. Then, to fuel all the activities, many are willing to pay for artificial energy in the form of caffeinated sodas, Red Bull, and 5-hour energy shots. These sources, however, are full of sugar that causes short burst of energy followed by fatigue and sluggishness. Check out these astonishing pictures to see just how much sugar is in our drinks!

Fortunately, there are nutritious ways to get the energy boost you need to get through your day. Focusing on nutrition and diet might seem like another undertaking for which there just isn’t enough time in the day. In reality though, nutrition can work with your body to fuel everything else that we take on in our lives.

According to the website Web MD, different foods can boost energy through the calories they provide and also by allowing metabolism to work more efficiently. So what are some of these energy star foods?

1. Fiber: The fiber found in smart carbohydrates such as whole grains that are digested slowly and act as a steady source of energy. It is important to avoid sweet foods which actually lead to fatigue. Interested in incorporating more fiber into your diet? Check out the Whole Grains Council for tips on eating whole grains at every meal.

2. Nuts: Nuts are rich in protein, and they contain magnesium, which is an important mineral for converting sugar into energy.

3. Leafy Greens: Good examples are spinach, kale, and arugula. All of these contain vitamins C and A, which also help boost energy levels and contain folate which is proven to fight symptoms of depression.

4. Lean Meats: Chicken, turkey, and fish contain tyrosine an amino acid which fights fatigue throughout the day. They also have high amounts of iron and B-vitamins which strengthen muscles for long-term endurance.

5. Fresh Produce: Fruits and vegetables are great sources of the vitamins and minerals that increase metabolism efficiency. The fruit sugar glucose is turned into energy quickly providing a more immediate sense of alertness.

6. Dark Chocolate: Theobromine is a chemical compound found only in chocolate that is similar to caffeine, but provides a more stable energy boost. It lasts longer throughout the day, and won’t leave you with a crashed feeling afterwards.

Combining these elements can create a perfect snack for fueling a long day of work and other activities. NuGO Slim is great for an afternoon snack because it combines high protein, high fiber, and REAL dark chocolate that will keep you alert all day long.

For more energy-boosting tips and tricks, check out the rest of this article at Web MD.