What you can expect from a consultation with an Essence of Eating dietitian
I am often asked what a dietitian consultation and subsequent management plan involves.
As a non-diet dietitian, the consults run by myself or my colleague may be different to those dietitians who prescribe to a different way of thinking.
So I wanted to give you an idea of what we would look at if you were to make an appointment with an Essence of Eating dietitian…
We conduct a thorough nutrition assessment looking at your medical history, diet history, eating behaviours and eating habits, likes and dislikes
By taking all of these aspects into account, we can build a good foundation upon which to base our recommendations moving forward. It can also be a useful exercise for you e.g. you might identify “triggers” for certain eating behaviours that hadn’t occurred to you before.
We help you identify the main problem areas related to your recent medical diagnosis or for the main reason you have come in to see us
It’s our job as dietitians to identify the main problem areas in your diet/areas for improvement/ unhelpful habits that are related to your medical condition (e.g. diabetes ) – or the reason that you sought help (e.g. managing emotional eating).
For example, if you have come in to see us for help with diabetes management, we help identify certain areas of the diet that could be contributing to your high blood glucose levels.
We develop realistic and achievable nutrition goals with you, related to the problem areas
Obviously, we are trained professionals and you are coming to see us because our areas of expertise lie in the area where you are seeking help, but we don’t want to just sit there and tell you what to do. It’s a collaborative effort and we really want you to feel like you have active involvement in achieving your goals.
We provide dietary education and information on your medical condition and evidence-based advice to improve and optimise health outcomes
We don’t just want to send you away with a list of things to do in order to help combat a medical condition. We want you to understand what’s going on with your body and how our professional advice and programs are tailored specifically to address your ailments and improve your health. Knowledge is key: if you have a good understanding of something, you’ll be more likely to stick to it i.e.tailored advice for diabetes management.
We can provide advice on meal structure and planning, healthy recipe and meal inspiration
Having a more structured approach to eating can make the world of difference to some people. Meal planning for example can remove anxiety/stress around what you’re going to have for dinner each night.
We show you how to incorporate more variety into your diet to prevent boredom and relapse
We LOVE introducing our clients to new foods, recipes and cooking methods! Variety is so important. We take in your current eating habits as a whole picture and work with you to shake things up a bit.
We provide practical strategies to help improve eating behaviours and habits
This could involve, for example, diarising food intake and emotional triggers to eating, or providing tips for keeping organised with food shopping and cooking.
We provide you with skills for life time self-care
We can help you develop skills to better look after yourself and put yourself first more often. For example, putting some time aside for one hour (or 20 min or two hours – depends on the individual!) each week to do something you enjoy.
We can also help to identify any unhelpful/negative comments you make towards yourself and encourage you to speak more kindly to yourself.
There are different strategies that work for different people here which we can work through – we’ll find the ones which work best for you.
We can provide you with accountability with achieving your set nutrition goals
Self-care and looking after your body is a long-term game. There is no “quick fix”, and sometimes you’ll find that you want to come back for a bit more help. And that’s FINE! But we can also help you be accountable when it comes to achieving your set nutrition goals as that extra bit of motivation.
We show you how you can incorporate balance, flexibility and enjoyment of food into your lifestyle
It makes us really sad when we see people living half a life and missing out on social events because they’re so stressed about their food intake. Life really is too short! We’ll guide you through achieving a balance when it comes to food and lifestyle.
We show you how to take a ‘big picture approach’ with nutrition and healthy eating
This is particularly important to us. The last thing we want you to do is to get caught up counting calories, tracking what you eat to the last bite and being stressed out at parties over how many glasses of wine you’ve had. We want you to feel that you can enjoy everything in moderation, accept that you can’t (and shouldn’t) eat “perfectly” all the time, and that you can enjoy good nutrition and healthy eating alongside a busy social life, not instead of one.
To make your booking with an Essence of Eating dietitian, click here.
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