I've met many famous people during my years of reporting.

And especially, many noted names from the world of food, from Julia Child, Martha Stewart and Galloping Gourmet Graham Kerr to Emeril Lagasse, Tyler Florence and Rachael Ray.

But somewhere along the way, I've never crossed paths with registered nurse turned sensible eating expert Seattle Sutton.

I've certainly heard her on the radio doing advertisements many times and watched her television commercials.

I think the closest I ever came to chatting with her was in 2004, when I received a voicemail message from her on my desk phone when she was promoting her then-new book "The Seattle Sutton Solution: No Gimmicks" (2004 Amicus Creative Press $24.95).

And even then, after some phone-tag, we still never connected.

Tomorrow, I will finally meet this famed menu maven.

And this time, the only thing coming between us, and our long overdue meeting, is a weigh-in scale, and my growing gut.

As today's Lifestyles features section cover story explains, Monday marks a three-month adventure into healthy eating and losing weight, with Sutton leading the way for myself, and nine Chicagoland contestants competing to lose the most weight (based on body ratio).

So here's the backstory on Seattle Sutton and her healthy eating practice.

Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating (SSHE), a family-owned, Illinois-based healthy meal replacement company, bills itself as a "no-gimmick approach to convenient, healthy eating with a meal program scientifically designed and taste-tested."

Founded by Seattle Sutton, RN, BSN in 1985, the plan was designed to help address patients' needs to lose weight or address other health issues, such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and obesity. Sutton's dedication to health seems natural. She emphasizes that all SSHE menus are analyzed on an ongoing basis to adhere to recommended dietary guidelines.  

Each day, SSHE prepares thousands of meals, which she describes as "healthy and delicious," while eliminating the need for customers to have to plan, shop or cook for themselves. The cost of weekly meals (a total of 21 meals, amounting to three a day) is around $130 a week. There are both 1,200 calorie and 2,000 calorie meal plans available.

Sutton, who hails from tiny Marseilles, Ill., just south of Joliet, Ill., says she founded the company to help improve people's eating habits. She received a bachelor's of science degree in nursing from Jamestown College, N.D. in 1954. And she also earned her R.N. designation the same year.

Upon finishing her studies at Jamestown College, Sutton married her husband, H.K. Sutton, who became the town's physician in Marseilles, where they raised five children and still reside today.

For 22 years, Sutton raised her children and also worked as a registered nurse in her husband's medical practice, until he retired in 1991. She says her idea to start SSHE was born from her work with patients in her husband's medical practice.

When given menus or brochures for certain dietary restrictions to follow, Sutton found patients would often underplay the likelihood that they could ever follow such a rigid diet menu, telling her they could, IF and ONLY IF, "she'd be willing to plan, shop, cook and deliver the meals to them."

Presto!

An idea for what would become today's multi-million dollar company was born.

To date, Sutton's most famous spokesperson/celebrity client has been Cubs baseball star Ron Santo, who uses the program to stay slim while managing his diabetes. According to his commercials for the menu program, Santo praises the convenience factor that the fresh prepared meals can be shipped to him anywhere as he travels, in addition to his fondness for a particular dish called Acapulco Taco Pie?

I have no idea what this is, but I'm sure I will soon find out.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at philip.potempa@nwi.com or 219.852.4327.

Today's Celebrity Birthdays

Record producer Sir George Martin is 84. Actor Robert Loggia is 80. Actor Dabney Coleman is 78. Journalist-author Betty Rollin is 74. Singer-songwriter-producer Van Dyke Parks is 67. Musician Stephen Stills is 65. Rock musician John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) is 64. Actress Victoria Principal is 60. Actor-director Mel Gibson is 54. Actress Shannon Sturges is 42. Jazz musician James Carter is 41. Contemporary Christian singer Nichole Nordeman is 38. Actor Jason Marsden and actress Danica McKellar are 35. Actor Nicholas Gonzalez is 34. Singer Kimberley Locke ("American Idol") is 32. R&B singer Lloyd is 24. Actor Alex D. Linz is 21.