A Registered Dietitian is a “food and nutrition expert”. Making nutritional changes with a dietitian is more than just a “diet”. It is a lifestyle change created specifically for you and your dietary needs. There are lots of things that influence what you eat, including your health, stress, family, work, budget, time, and psychological well-being. As an expert, a dietitian gathers information on all of these things for each patient by doing several assessments. The first assessment consists of a body assessment which generally includes height and weight and often includes obtaining body fat, waist circumference, blood pressure, and recent labs from your physician. The next assessment is a medical and lifestyle assessment
which includes looking at your medical history, medications, individual lifestyle practices like work schedule, sleep schedule, daily activity and exercise, hobbies, and social life. And of course, we do a nutritional assessment to see what you are currently eating. We have the opportunity to learn your eating patterns (ex. a frequent grazer or a light eater with a heavy dinner). We listen to see which types of healthy foods you enjoy and which ones you have challenges fitting into your daily routine. Once we gather all of this information; we talk about your goals. Sometimes you may leave your appointment with target goals or you may leave with a more specific portioned meal plan. The joy of working with a dietitian is that they are there to support you in making these changes at a pace that matches your needs. Your diet is written specifically for you, taking into account your schedule, your budget, your family dynamics, and most importantly your goals for health and nutritional success. Your goal may be weight management, health concerns, or peak performance. Our goal is to help you find the best strategies for you to reach your objective. As dietitians, we’ve completed years of college and continuing education along with years of experience with patients. If we give you a meal plan, we can tell you the science behind why a food item is a healthy choice. We can help you with determining the best portion size for you by using food models, teach label reading using actual items found in the store, and we can teach you how to reduce fat, reduce carbohydrates, and choose healthy recipes. Making changes in your life require time and determination. When working with a dietitian, we are here to support you through challenges as they may occur and to celebrate every success. Each step in the right direction is success because each visit builds on the visit before developing a healthy nutrition habit that will last a lifetime.
