"Food is pleasurable and...will always be everywhere, so it is time to live with it and enjoy it." With those spot-on words in the opening pages of Nutrition Map, we are greeted with Yvonne Quiñones Syto's* appreciation of the power of food--food not only satisfies us, it plays an unavoidable role in our social interaction. Nutrition Map is just that: a week-by-week guide educating us on how to eat this, not that. Don't get enough fiber? Read Syto's chapter on vegetables, titled "Let the Roughage Begin." Need to revamp your stance on fruit? Read: "Fruit: Nature's Dessert." Syto's candor in recounting her own struggle with weight disarms the reader, allowing us to admit our hot topic weight issues, insecurities aside. Besides the author's infectious wit peppered throughout the book, you will all but shout, "Speak to me, sistah!" when she refers to "diet" as a four-letter word! Nutrition Map starts us off on our path to better nutrition simply enough: start exercising a couple of days a week, increase our water intake and keep a food journal. With that manageable kick-off, Syto provides sample food journals, a body measurement table and a valuable definition grid of look-alike terms such as "reduced", "light" and "low fat". This isn't a starvation plan. This is a a step-by-step guide on how to incorporate a better nutrition choice this week, another the following week, etc., while acknowledging the reality that you will slip up here and there and have no intention of bidding adieu to desserts forever. The tone of this book is informative yet conversational. In fact, while reading Nutrition Map, I couldn't help but feel like I was in Syto's office, having an uninhibited conversation about food and eating habits, (low fat) hot chocolate in hand. The author doesn't treat you like a guilt-ridden victim of your food choices; she just wants you to face them and improve them sensibly. If you're a size 18, Syto warns that lusting after transforming into a size 2 is tantamount to a "nose dive into a pint of ice cream." Setting your sights on a size 16 within a three-month period, instead, is a more attainable initial goal for most people. Description from book review done by Janette Dolores (http: //janettedolores.blogspot.com/)
Yvonne Quiñones Syto, MA, RD, CDE, IBCLC Syto is a registered dietitian certified as a diabetes educator and lactation consultant. Currently, Syto is the owner of Nutrition Map, a private practice in Stanhope, NJ. In early 2010, Syto published "Nutrition Map: Your Guide to Eating Healthy in the Real World" as well as a Spanish language edition titled "Mapa de Nutrición: Tu Guía para una Alimentación Saludable en la Vida Real". Both copies became available for electronic readers later that same year. Formerly, Syto worked in an ambulatory care setting collaborating with patients in community-based clinics. Syto spent the majority of her career prior to going into private practice providing nutrition assessments and education for high-risk pregnancies for low-income women. Each year Syto volunteers her time to provide lectures for non-profit organizations in the community. Syto is a member of the American Dietetic Association and the American Association of Diabetes Educators. Syto is a graduate of the College of Saint Elizabeth (Morristown, NJ) where she earned her bachelor's degree in food and nutrition. She holds master's degree in Lactation Consulting from Union Institute and University (Vermont College Campus). Syto is married and a mother of two.
