Well hello there. Welcome to my about me page.
My official name is Jessica Jones. But my friends (and actually most people) call me Jess. I’m a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator (and Zumba Instructor!) with a Master’s of Science in Nutrition. These days, I work at an outpatient clinic in San Francisco. My job consists of providing nutritional counseling to patients on general wellness and healthy eating, disordered eating, GI issues, hypertension, high cholesterol, and more.
If I had to describe my 3 biggest joys in life, I’d say 1. eating fresh foods, 2. helping people improve their relationship with food and their health, and 3. getting 8 hours of sleep every night. I’m also really into making things (I used to sew lot of my own clothes in high school and college and I’m currently taking a wood-working series). Home decorating, painting, writing, science, budgeting and finance… or “crunching numbers” as I like to call it, traveling (on my 30th birthday I left NYC and took a 9-month tripsy around the world) and fitness are some of my other passions. Spending time with friends and family are up there, too.
For most of my life, I have been a vegetarian. This started when I was about 12-years-old. As a girl, I never liked the way meat tasted. I always used to pick it apart until there really wasn’t anything left to eat. It wasn’t until I went to visit my big brother and his girlfriend in their northern CA cabin that I realized, not eating meat was a “thing.” My brother’s girlfriend was a vegetarian, and it was on that trip that I had my very first veggie burger. Love at first bite, as I like to call it. On the ride home, I declared that I was going to be a vegetarian. And just like that, I never ate meat again.
I want to be clear about one thing, though. Just because I stopped eating meat, doesn’t mean I automatically started eating in a balanced way. My favorite go-to foods in High School were a cheeseburger with “no meat” from McDonald’s and a small fries. I would also frequently binge on sugar and sweets. I was that kid who added two tablespoons of sugar to sugary cereal, ate a pack of candy a day, and snacked on sugar cubes (meant for tea) at restaurants.
In my late twenties, I went back to school to become a Registered Dietitian. Throughout the process, Wendy and I created Food Heaven Made Easy, a resource for nutrition education and healthy recipes that taste great but won’t break the bank. Some of my favorite recipes include this vegetarian kale taco salad and these DIY reduced fat blueberry oat bars. If you want to learn more about what I eat in a typical day, check out my Buzzfeed article here.
Food Heaven has been a way to merge both my geeky and creative sides. Thanks so much for your continued support along the way. xo! J
- Favorite thing to do: Go to open houses on the weekends
- Favorite book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (I know, that’s two.)
- Favorite item of clothing: Anything flowing and free
- Favorite food: Creme Brulee
- Favorite season: Depends on where I’m at but, generally Summer
PS I AM NOW OFFERING ONE-ON-ONE NUTRITION COUNSELING. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.
Amber
December 9, 2015 at 8:59 pm (4 years ago)Blessings to you! I send you positive energy and hope for nothing but prosperity in all of your ventures. Food Haven is doing great work within the wellness. Its an inspiration to those seeking a healthy way of living. I grew up right around the corner from where you are employed. I understand the struggles of not being educated and aware of what “food” really is. It is life and information. You are a light in a dark place. Cheers to you!
Wendy
December 11, 2015 at 11:35 pm (4 years ago)thank you for your beautiful words!!
Janelle Manzano
January 12, 2016 at 12:21 am (4 years ago)Hi!!
I am study nutrition in my undergrad right now! Just wondering what school you went to for you DI and Masters?
Thanks! & love your blog 😀
Best,
J.M
Wendy
January 12, 2016 at 1:40 am (4 years ago)hi! we just did a post about this. check the main page! it’s the first post on there
Ashlynn Duval
April 15, 2016 at 8:15 pm (4 years ago)YOOOO ! This is so dope. I am a black girl, child of south african immigrant, pursuing a BS in Dietetics and Nutrition and I’ll go on to receive my masters. Y’all can probably only imagine the encouragement it is to see 2 black women in the same field lol, there aren’t many of us ! Came across your page doing some research, as I am looking to start up a blog/website of my own to help “us” out. This has been SO awesome. Maybe I’ll meet y’all one day at a conference or something.
Wendy
April 16, 2016 at 2:08 pm (4 years ago)yasssss hope to meet you one of these days! thanks for your lovely words
Mia
April 19, 2017 at 2:47 am (3 years ago)Oh my goodness! What a treasure you all are and your site! Currently working on pre-reqs to become an RD. Know that your bios have touched and inspired me to keep going! Thank you, so glad I stumbled upon you all!
Wendy
April 19, 2017 at 12:42 pm (3 years ago)That makes us so happy! Thanks for stopping by, and congrats on an awesome career path!
Rod B.
July 23, 2017 at 3:22 pm (2 years ago)I’m officially inspired, as a black man from the south. Healthy eating is salad or anything green next to
my favorite fried food. I too have an unhealthy love of sugar so I will be ready any articles that you about kicking the sugar habit
Wendy
July 24, 2017 at 8:31 pm (2 years ago)Thanks for stopping by! We actually have a mini-podcast on sugar addictions here: https://soundcloud.com/food-heaven-podcast/qa-minisode-how-to-fight-sugar-cravings