Wellness Wednesday is sponsored by Intermountain Health
Which of these situations would you least like to experience this month?
An account watching you shop, a decorator watching you wrap gifts and hang lights, or a dietitian watching you at parties and family meals?
Let’s see if we can make that dietitian a little less scary.
“My job is to establish a nice rapport with them, get to know them as a person, understand their lifestyle, and then kind of see like why are you here? I didn't tell you to come here, so was it from your doctor? Are you interested in talking to me? Are you wanting to gain some advice and just kind of go from there and honestly just have a conversation and see where it goes,” said dietitian Alyssa Skordo.
Skordo works with employees and their families at Intermountain Health, and she's not some drill sergeant of a dietitian yelling at clients to lose weight.
“A lot of us dietitians, I probably could speak for all of us, like we really like to emphasize away from weight status and focus what are you wanting to get out of this…Maybe it's play with my kids more often and have more energy or I want to sleep better. So, there's often things that we can come up with with patients, and they get more excited about those things because they're immediate versus when you focus on the weight component of it you can stress yourself out,” said Skordo.
With a goal related to your personal health, one key is starting with the positive - what you will do rather than what you won't.
“The provider, let's talk about other outlets, you know, because those outlets will provide more of a long term satisfaction versus the food we get that comfort and that's amazing, but maybe I can go for a walk or read a book or call a friend, you know, just some examples, but those set people up for more success too when they have more options to choose from,” said Skordo.
A time of celebration could let you flip the script on health motivation. Going for a walk between dinner and dessert could be a gift to the people around you. They might join you for the healthy activity, and your improved mood and energy will make the whole event better.
Positive motivation can be about thinking ahead, fast forwarding. How will you feel in an hour if you have that extra slice of pie, or B, take the kids or grandkids or the dog outside to play.
Saying B doesn't mean saying no to the pie. You could decide later how much you really want it.
“So, we'll work with patients on being a little bit more in tune with their hunger cues and feeling their fullness, and just kind of having nutrition be a little bit more prioritized. I think nutrition can often be put on the back burner behind a lot of things and if you're not fueling your body, it's really difficult to do any other tasks,” said Skordo.
Getting help from a dietitian is one of those secret benefits you might have without knowing. A lot of insurance covers it, because the best thing for their bottom line is for you to stay healthy.
