Let’s do this: Secret stash doesn’t stop good living Published April 25, 2014 By Brian Shreve Robins Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- She's no stranger to her favorite fast-food joints, eats chocolate just about every day and even keeps a "secret stash" drawer filled with assorted sugary goodies. And, she doesn't plan to change any of that any time soon. In other words, Dani Lebovitz, base registered dietitian, is a lot like the rest of us and here to remind everyone that maintaining a nutritious diet isn't as complicated as we often make it out to be. Lebovitz, 29, acknowledges that most nutritionists or dietitians are known to be more regimented - sometimes fanatical - in their approach, but her philosophy is not based on self-depravation. As her new video series found on the official Robins Facebook page proves, Lebovitz is more than equipped to help make us all a little healthier. "I'm a food lover, so I eat pretty much anything and everything I like," she said. "There's nothing I say that I won't have. I think if someone says you can't have something, that's all you think about, that's all you want." According to Lebovitz, there are other options to nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle. For instance, she said rather than depriving oneself of a guilty pleasure all together, it's possible to modify other areas of your diet and prioritizing while taking moderation and exercise into consideration. She said many times students come into one of her classes, saying they "fell off the wagon," a remark she's quick to dismiss. "It's not about all or nothing," said Lebovitz. "Let's forget the wagon. If you splurge a little bit extra, that's fine. Next meal, let's try to do better, maybe look at your portions or add in another vegetable. Don't give up but look at the whole picture and try again." Lebovitz - raised in Colorado - and her husband, an Air Force captain, arrived at Robins in 2009. She began working as a health and fitness specialist at the Health and Wellness Center the next year, launching a variety of fitness programs while teaching numerous health classes. In her current position as base dietitian, she teaches everything from performance nutrition to healthy pregnancy and diabetes courses. Even before starting her professional career, Lebovitz's academic resume represents the makings of a food virtuoso. After receiving a bachelor's degree in food science and human nutrition from Colorado State University, she went on to intern at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center before earning a master's in health communication from Boston University. She has worked several different positions in various hospitals and is a certified diabetes educator and one of only about 550 certified sports dietetics specialists in the world. When she began college, she initially majored in pre-med with aspirations to help others. "I'd never really considered being a dietitian, and I hadn't thought about the field of nutrition until my freshman year," she said. "But after taking a nutrition course, I learned how food is medicine, and how I could use that to make a difference." One question frequently tossed Lebovitz's way is how to feed a family a nutritious diet on a budget given the commonly held belief that healthier means more expensive. "It's true, with high-fat, high-sugar foods, you get more calories for your money," she said. "But when we compare and look at food options, it's easy to make healthy choices on a budget. It doesn't have to be more expensive." In one of her upcoming videos, Lebovitz plans to tackle the subject of getting nutrition for less cost. As for her primary mission of teaching healthier habits to active duty airmen, Lebovitz said the biggest issue is that of personnel trying hard to slim down for physical training and other physical demands. "They're working really hard to get that weight down and not necessarily in a healthy way," she said. Among other motivating factors, Lebovitz lost her grandfather during her freshman year of college following his battle with diabetes, an event that brought even more passion to her career path. "I would say that definitely had an impact on me," she said. "I thought, why not be an expert on something that can help so many people? So that's what I'm trying to do here."