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Nutrition, NYC, Registered Dietitian

Day in the Life of an Entrepreneur Dietitian

May 12, 2017 By Robyn 7 Comments

When I first met Robyn IRL a few months ago it didn’t click right away that she was THE Robyn from The Real Life RD. She and I met at a food and nutrition blogger event and connected on our walk to the subway, chatting about ditching diets, mindful eating, and more. It’s always awesome to meet other like-minded dietitians who share a similar food philosophy. We got to know each other better over a (bitter bitter cold) walk in Central Park a few weeks later, and when she asked if I wanted to guest blog while she is away on her honeymoon, I said HECK YES!

Business + food + everything in between. | The Real Life RD

Today I’m sharing with you a day in my life. As an entrepreneur, every day is different. Some days I’m talking with clients, others I run around the city from meeting to meeting, and other days I sit in my office all day and work on my writing, media, or consulting work. While the days vary, I thrive on consistency, so I try to stick to a fairly similar schedule as much as I possibly can.

Today I woke up at 7:15am to squeeze in a run before my first meeting. I’m a morning person, but now that I work for myself I tend to stay up later, so anything before 8am can be a struggle. I was proud of myself for not snoozing today (something I’m working on!). I try to follow the same morning routine every day. It feels so much better to start my day off this way, compared to when I used to just reach for my phone (which still happens sometimes, but much less often).  After my alarm went off today I sat up in bed and did a 10 minute Headspace meditation. I’ve meditated on and off for the past few years and am trying to make it more of a consistent habit. I always feel so much better and centered when I meditate on a regular basis. I love the Headspace app and typically do a 10 or 20 minute meditation depending on how much time I have.

After I meditated, I wrote in my Five Minute Journal. I got this a few months ago and love starting (and ending) my day with it.  The journal prompts me to reflect on three things I’m grateful for, three things that would make my day great, and then come up with a positive affirmation for the day.

It was a drizzly morning, but not raining too hard, so I stuck to my planned run along the East River. I have a fitness background as well, so it surprises people when they find out that I haven’t belonged to a gym in over three years. When I decided to start my own business I had to cut back on expenses, so I let go of my gym membership. For awhile I relied on friends with gyms in their apartment buildings (shout out to Christi for letting me work out with her for over a year!) but over the past few years I’ve gotten creative and have been able to work out regularly without paying much money. It helps that there are SO many free fitness opportunities in New York.

My friend Kate wrote an awesome blog post all about the free fitness stuff going on in NYC – you can check it out here. I often take advantage of the free classes at Athleta in Flatiron as well as the Ironstrength classes that take place all over the city. When I’m not doing classes (or tagging along on friend’s gym pass) I use the Nike Training Club app. They have dozens of workouts you can do anywhere. That plus the occasional run or interval sprint session (these are three of my favorites) has kept me going over the past few years. I also never say no to the offer of a free fitness class or training session, so that fills in some gaps too 🙂 Lesson here, you can find movement you love without a gym membership or workout schedule.

On my way home from my run I swung by Irving Farm Coffee Roasters and grabbed a whole milk latte. I drink one of these almost every single day and I credit it for helping curb my sweets cravings. It is such a satisfying thing for me and I enjoy it while I shower and get ready for the day. After my run I showered and then whipped up breakfast. People never believe me when I say this, but I never cooked eggs until a year ago! I was a picky eater as a kid, so I didn’t start eating eggs until college; even then it was only egg white omelets. I now eat eggs (with the yolk) frequently but had never tried making them myself until last year (the abundance of brunch restaurants + seamless made this easy!). Now I’m obsessed with eggs and cook them at least four or five times per week for breakfast. Today I made an omelet using some leftover lettuce from a cooking demo and some parmesan cheese that a friend left in my fridge. I ate that (cooked in butter of course) over a slice of Dave’s Killer Bread and some fresh pineapple.

Once I finished breakfast I had a quick client call and answered a few emails. Then I headed out to my once (sometimes twice) a year treat: getting my hair done at Brush Salon. I decided to splurge today and get my hair colored and blown out since I am working at a media event tomorrow. My appointment was at 11am and didn’t get over until after 2, so I packed a makeshift lunch of Greek yogurt, walnuts and dried cranberries, plus carrots and hummus. I had plenty of time to eat it since most of that time was spent just sitting in a chair under a heat lamp with my head wrapped in saran wrap.

After my hair appointment I had 45 minutes until my next meeting so I snuck in a quick manicure. I don’t get these often, but given that I’ll be in front of so many people tomorrow, I decided my nails should look presentable. The flexibility to do this stuff during the day (especially in NYC where places are crazy busy in the after work hours) is definitely one of my favorite things about working for myself. Of course I will end up working much later tonight since I took so much time out of my day to do stuff for myself, but it is always worth it 🙂

Next, I grabbed latte #2 and met with the people I’ll be working the event with tomorrow. I usually don’t have caffeine after 12pm, but since I know I have to work late tonight I figure it will be ok.

By the time I got to my office to actually begin “work”, it was already 4:30pm. Since my lunch was pretty light I was already getting hungry. I had planned to cook dinner at home but I knew I had a few hours of work ahead of me, so I got food from Dig Inn. Their Union Square location is only three blocks from my office but it was down pouring at this point so I ordered delivery. I’m obsessed with their lemon chicken and roasted sweet potatoes, and paired it with a salad made from broccoli leaves (sounds weird but it was yummy!).

I called it quits at my office around 7:30pm, mostly because I was craving chocolate and knew that I had homemade brownies at my apartment. My last few hours of work were accompanied by brownies and a glass of red wine.

I shut things down around 11pm so that I could get as close to eight hours of sleep as possible. Before I fell asleep I filled out my journal with a quick recap of the good stuff that happened that day, along with one thing I could have done to make today better (my answer: call my dad to catch up).

Alissa Rumsey, MS, RD, CDN, CSCS, is a registered dietitian, certified strength and conditioning specialist, and the owner of Alissa Rumsey Nutrition & Wellness. She helps people who are frustrated with dieting rediscover the joy of eating and develop long-term, sustainable lifestyle habits. As a freelance writer, speaker and spokesperson, she consults with a variety of companies and frequently appears in national media including NBC Nightly News, ABC News, Prevention, Health, SELF and Women’s Health. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter, or visit her blog.

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Filed Under: Nutrition, NYC, Registered Dietitian

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Comments

  1. emily vardy says

    May 12, 2017 at 6:23 am

    i LOVE journals with prompts like that! I’ve been working on one of those five-year journals where you answer the same question every May 12 (or whatever day) for five years…it’s really cool to see how you change over time.
    Also LOVE that you called it quits from work because you were craving chocolate – thats such a good part of working for yourself! hahaha, lovelovelove.

    Reply
    • Alissa Rumsey says

      May 15, 2017 at 5:21 pm

      Hi Emily! I love that idea of a 5-year journal, I will have to check it out 🙂 Thanks so much for the love!

      Reply
  2. Sarah @ BucketListTummy says

    May 12, 2017 at 9:11 am

    Hi Alissa!! Love hearing about entreprenour’s days and how each is different. One of the best qualities of being an entreprenour!

    Reply
    • Alissa Rumsey says

      May 15, 2017 at 5:21 pm

      Thanks Sarah!! Definitely one of the biggest perks in my opinion 🙂

      Reply
  3. Emily says

    May 12, 2017 at 11:58 pm

    That journal is so cool; I love journaling in the evening. I don’t usually do it in the morning. But . . . your day sounds so full; I love following along entrepreneurs. They are so energizing, exciting, and go getters. You and Robyn are both inspiring.

    Reply
    • Alissa Rumsey says

      May 15, 2017 at 5:22 pm

      Thanks for following along Emily 🙂

      Reply
  4. Beth says

    May 15, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    You pack a lot into your day; your organization skills allow you flexibility plus productivity. Great description of what you do on a typical or atypical day!

    Reply

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A non-diet dietitian and nurse practitioner helping women find peace with food, accept their natural body size and heal from hormonal issues and period problems.

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A little way I’m learning to enjoy these years o A little way I’m learning to enjoy these years of getting to spend so much time with my kids: aka another way I’m discovering some pockets of peace so my heart & mind & soul don’t crumble under the reality of dependent & emotionally dysregulated tiny humans.  About once a week we go somewhere for baked goods. We drive or walk, buy something buttery & then find a beautiful, relatively quiet outdoor spot where the boys can romp and I can sit and think my thoughts while I watch them play. This past week we were found ourselves at the Wool Factory where the boys threw rocks & whatever else off the bridge while I ate 90% of this almond 🥐 from @coucourachou that will blow your mind. Boys ate the other 10% bc they were busy playing and didn’t ask for more quickly enough 😜  I’m finding *for me* playgrounds have a time & place but they aren’t where I enjoy motherhood & my two toddlers the most. Baked goods & a pretty outdoor spot without high drops my 15 month old could launch himself off of…I’m here for it.
I brought this bag of snacks along when I took the I brought this bag of snacks along when I took the boys to hike out at one of our favorite spots last week and when I ripped it open I was regretting my choice to share them with my kids. @baresnacks randomly sent me a box of snacks and I usually eat free food we receive or give it to a friend/neighbor and move on. But I felt it my duty to tell you about these bc they are THAT GOOD. I’m not getting paid and this isn’t sponsored - I was just shocked at how tasty these were and felt you needed to know. We ate them with some buttery roasted nuts and the combo was 👌🏻 but they are good just on their own.  The boys climbed rocks and swam in the reservoir - leave it to my almost 3 year old to want to strip down naked and fully submerge himself in chilly water on a sixty degree morning. “Mama can I get super nakey?” Sure baby. Sure. This is your childhood.
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a girlfriend brought me a 🍪 the size of my face a girlfriend brought me a 🍪 the size of my face from @mariebettecafe this morning when she came to get her toddler who played with us all morning and it is v good. even better when paired with an iced latte 😍
#AlignPartner I left off a few weeks ago sharing a #AlignPartner I left off a few weeks ago sharing about how taking @alignprobiotic regularly has improved my digestive regularity.  And I’m still taking them! I’ve permanently added Align 24/7 Digestive Support* into the roundup of supplements I take before bed (prenatal, vitamin D, choline & DHA - all which help keep me healthy while breastfeeding) so I can keep seeing the benefits.  Just because you see benefits, doesn’t mean you should stop taking your probiotic. Keep taking Align daily (under the supervision and recommendation of your health care provider of course) to keep seeing the benefits!  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - one of my favorite parts of Align probiotics is that they don’t need refrigeration AND they come in a convenient little blister pack that has the days labeled. It’s the little things people! #MyAlignGuutJourney #guthealth  *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
I realized it was going to be a long, hot afternoo I realized it was going to be a long, hot afternoon (91 and muggy in MAY 🤯) when a toddler nap was refused and a baby nap was cut wildly short ....so my tired mom brain pulled out two plastic storage bins, filled them up with soap & hose water and striped ‘em down naked in the yard. Two hours later, it was almost time for an early dinner and I had magically been able to sit for most of that time and we already had baths checked off the list. 👍🏻 I’m archiving this idea for my future self, hope it helps another tired mama out.
#AlignPartner I left off a month ago sharing about #AlignPartner I left off a month ago sharing about getting better at doing the basics to care for myself which included taking my supplements and @alignprobiotic regularly.  Probiotics take time to work so I wanted to give it a full month to see the full effects of @alignprobiotic. So here are my honest thoughts: it took a few weeks to notice any differences, but near the end of the month I did notice some changes in my digestive balance - even while traveling! I’m not someone who experiences occasional gas, bloating or abdominal discomfort frequently enough to notice a difference, so I don’t feel like I can comment on how well Align works for those benefits.  All in all though, taking @alignprobiotic was a positive experience and I really appreciated how the capsules don’t need to be stored in the fridge, making it convenient to take them with me anywhere #MyAlignGuutJourney #guthealth  *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Where we will spend a good majority of our summer. Where we will spend a good majority of our summer. Because the swampy VA summer has already begun (it’s in the low 90s today 🥵 lord help) and creeks are our retreat - not only from the heat but also from the noisy world. I need this just (if not more) than they do! We’ll be at the splash pads and pools too, but the quietness of the creek...my mental health is so about it. And it’s hours of play for them! Win win.  A couple things to note: this scene also included a few toddler reminders on finding another direction to throw rocks instead of at his brother - so not all is serene 🤪 and also, yes I am now that mom who buys the same clothing for both kids bc it keeps things simple & i think i kinda like it too 🤷🏻‍♀️
Things I love about midwifery among many: the appo Things I love about midwifery among many: the appointments, no matter how long, feel so unhurried. 
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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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