Being Married to a Registered Dietitian

Today marks the third anniversary for Ted and I. THREE YEARS = 2 babies, a move across the country, 4 new jobs, a new house, this list could go on. We don’t half-a$$ much folks. While there are plenty of things I could and want to write about being married to Ted for 3 years, I decided to give him the chance to dish what it’s like being married to a registered dietitian. The reason this is in a Q&A format is simple: I’m married to an engineer. And if you are married to an engineer you’d understand that they need directions like this to follow…

I eat substantially more fruits and veggies now. I can’t tell you the number of times Katie’s told me “the more colorful your plate, the healthier your meal is.” Yes, it’s cute, but nerdy. So I’m conscious about having a plate full of “color” — no more just whites, tans, browns and blacks (e.g., potatoes, bread, pasta) but greens, yellows, oranges. I think I even saw magenta once (she roasted some radishes and they were tasty, who knew!?).

Usually a bit of surprise and then a remark about how I must eat so healthy (which we do- but we have our “fun” with food too). Then they go on to tell me about their poor diet and ask if my wife can help. Or they say “what would your wife think if she knew we were eating ______ .” I usually say “she’d join us!” Which is true.

BEER! I was amazed at the first time Katie said she’d meet me at a beer bar for our first date. Little did I know she’d hold it against me that I had offered to pick a beer off the menu for her…. she can “hang” with the beer snobs!

Pizza! Every Friday, homemade pizza. Because it’s homemade, Katie can control the ingredients and toppings. Who would have thought homemade sauce, fig spread, prosciutto, and arugula could taste so good on pizza? She’s also not opposed to making pizza more than once a week. But that only happened towards the end of her pregnancies when she was craving lots of cheese melted on bread.

The problem with Katie is that she is good at being sneaky. I’ve eaten food she’s cooked before and she was like “did you know I put white beans in that?” Nope. I had no clue because it usually tastes so good! Half the time I don’t recognize the food either.  But if I had to pick, I would say bleu cheese, goat cheese, or mayonnaise. Thankfully for the latter she’ll substitute Greek yogurt.

Pizza! I wish we could have it every night or eat it three meals a day. I also like grilling up hot dogs [with a beer in hand]. She swaps burgers for the hot dogs… but we still get to have the beer!