FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT DOES WORKING WITH YOU INDIVIDUALLY ENTAIL?

There are so many facets of our lives that can influence our food choices and food behaviors, so our approach to each individual is unique. Our goal is to work with your daily realities and create the perfect short-term health goals and systems to reach those goals that will help you develop sustainable healthy habits.

At our first appointment, we will talk about your health history and your relationship with food and move on to exploring what is currently going on with you and your eating. Then, we will discuss where you are trying to go with your eating goals, body image, relationship with food and what you're overall looking for in terms of quality of life

Together we will decide what the next right step for you is while taking into account your mental and physical health. We hope to reframe your relationship with food to see how you can leverage it to improve your quality of life. We aim to help you find the right balance that will support all facets of health - physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Developing healthy lifestyle habits is a mix of:

• Building Knowledge - understanding metabolism, macronutrients, meal timing, label reading, etc,

• Navigating Motivation - understanding that at different times in life we have ups and downs in eagerness to maintain healthy habits

• Developing Ability - strategizing when we may not have access to resources, the skills (cooking), time to make healthy changes

Our approach considers the support and the direction that you may need. Some times we need to have a sounding board and accountability to make healthy changes and sometimes we need to be given specific instruction. We work with you and your needs to develop a converstation that will work best for your needs. You may feel like you have the knowledge and skills, but have a hard time making those habits stick. Whatever your circumstances our aim is to help you navigate your unique relationship with food and guide you through to feel more confident, build more self-efficacy and build the knowledge and skills to make healthy decisions for you that are sustainable and realistic.

WHAT IS YOUR NUTRITION PHILOSOPHY?

We believe that all foods can fit in a healthy eating pattern. We don't like to contribute to anyone's food fears and will encourage clients to try to see all food as just food, not necessarily good or bad (that idea is called food neutrality). Some foods we eat more of, some foods we eat less of.

Nutrition is an important part of our health but it's not the entire picture. We have to balance mental health, exercise and physical activity, spiritual well-being, personal development, relationships, sleep, etc. in order to truly be "healthy". We incorporate each of the aspects of health that are important to you into our conversations and goals about nutrition.

Any changes we make with eating need to be realistic, sustainable, mentally healthy and tasty.

Food should taste good and shouldn't run our lives! It's important to understand nutrition and to make healthy choices, but there's always a balance between a healthy concern for nutrition and becoming extreme. We like to help people realize they can be moderate, enjoy life and be healthy all at the same time.

WHAT DO YOU SPECIALIZE IN?

We spend the majority of our time working with the following conditions:

1. Weight concerns

2. Prenatal/postnatal nutrition

Overall, we work to help people sustainable and healthfully heal their relationship with food.

DO YOU PROVIDE MEAL PLANS?

In general, we shy away from meal plans. They are often gimmicky, short-lived and not helpful long-term. Rather than dictate every morsel of food you put in your mouth, we'd prefer to help you work through deeper reasons eating and food have gotten off track in your life. We'd rather you leave our office feeling confident in your ability to make decisions about food instead of feeling dependent and reliant on an outside force to tell you exactly what to do.

We hope to instill a sense of confidence and self-reliance in each of our clients to be able to trust their own inner guide as to what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat and to understand why they're eating. When necessary, we may outline ideas for meals and structure for eating, but don't give a one-size-fits-all meal plan to our clients.

HOW LONG SHOULD I EXPECT TO WORK WITH YOU?

We don’t want anyone to feel pressure to commit to more appointments than they are comfortable with. When you book an initial consult, that's all you will be committing to. After our first appointment we will decide together if/when to make another appointment.

We offer 45 minutes follow up appointments. Together, we decide how often to meet. Some folks need weekly appointments and others see us monthly or as needed. We work with you to come up with a plan for follow ups that works with your schedule, your budget and your goals.

 VIRTUAL COUNSELING

Virtual nutrition counseling provides benefits similar to those of traditional nutrition counseling except that it is conducted from one computer screen to another or via telephone rather than in person.  While such a format is not necessarily for everyone, it has a number of distinct advantages:

• It can eliminate drive time and time in traffic.

• It can make it easier to work around tight schedules.

• It can be done from multiple locations.

• It is not effected by weather issues that can make driving difficult.

• It reduces exposure to germs and various viruses.

• It is much easier for those without transportation or who have mobility challenges.

• It provides nutrition counseling access to people living in rural areas or other locations where access to dietitian is unavailable or difficult.

These advantages can save money, maximize personal time, increase flexibility and provide a more convenient form of nutrition counseling.

Q&A

Q: Is our appointment private and secure?

A: Yes, Licensed and Registered Dietitians are ethically and legally bound to privacy protection called HIPAA. Our sessions are held through HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Platform.

Q: Can I meet over the phone instead of a video call?

A: Yes, Our session can be held over the phone if you prefer.

Q: Will you offer in person services?

A: I will be providing services virtually through 2021 due to ongoing Covid uncertainties and to protect all parties.

VIRTUAL COUNSELING DOES IT WORK?

YES! Research has shown that Virtual and telephone-based interventions effectively boost nutritional health, prevent relapses and communicate clinical advice, especially for clients with limited access to medical services. It has emerged as a means for Registered Dietitians to deliver ‘Relevant and Credible Nutrition Education and Counseling’.

• Specifically, virtual and telephone-based counseling encourages significantly greater improvements in fruit and vegetable consumption and lowered dietary fat/salt intake.

• Clinically, virtual and telephone-based counseling is associated with improvements in blood lipids and weight management.