Dietitians Helps With Weight Loss

By Rebecca Bitzer, MS, RD

Rebecca Bitzer & Assoc

. https://rbitzer.com/

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Dietitians Helps With Weight Loss

During your first appointment, your dietitian will discuss your typical eating pattern and your lifestyle. Relax, dietians have counseled literally thousands of clients. They are ready to help you, no matter how overwhelmed, overworked, or overstressed you are.
Your dietitian will discuss your current situation and past medical history in depth. She will get an idea about what you have done in the past to help you understand what has led to your current situation. She will advise you on the relationship between your current eating/exercise patterns and your health.
Dietitians know how difficult it is to improve eating habits and that the most successful clients have changed their eating habits gradually over a long period of time. They help clients prioritize the eating habits needed to be changed first and, naturally, will seek input from you. A one-visit nutrition counseling session is not effective for most people. Anyone can follow a strict diet for a short period of time, but strict dieting generally does not work in the long run. It often leads to binging, which for some people leads to guilt, depression and further binging. What you are eating six months from now or two years from now is very important to long-term success.

Generally, you are not expected to follow a strict diet unless it is medically necessary. Instead the goal is to help you adjust to healthier eating and exercise habits throughout all kinds of situations including, eating out, travel, family meals, holidays, stressful times, etc.
Dietitians are not the “diet police.” In fact, a wide variety of foods are included in a healthy diet and there is even room for “junk” food and “comfort” food in moderation. Labeling food as good/bad often sets one up for failure.
You will work with your nutritionist to set up individualized goals and to develop a strategic plan or an eating plan consistent with your needs. You will be encouraged to keep a food and activity log to help promote awareness and help the nutritionist fine tune an effective intervention. You will even be encouraged to e-mail your food diaries to your nutritionist on a daily or weekly basis.
During the second, and subsequent appointments, you and your dietitian will meet to discuss which things worked well for you and which things presented roadblocks for you. This starts the fine-tuning phase, which helps assure you of a successful outcome. What works for one client may not work for you. The key is the team approach taken to help you achieve your goals.