I have been a registered dietitian for almost a year working within the community setting. When I tell people this some look at me with a confused look. Working as a dietitian in community I am involved with primarily people who are unable to leave their homes for a variety of medical reasons, elderly population in care homes and undertaking one-to-one clinic consultation sessions a couple times a week.
As a dietitian I am trained to treat a range of medical conditions with dietary therapy, specially tailored to each individual, which is one aspect of one-to-one clinic consultations and the other part is advising on healthy eating by translating nutrition science into practical information allowing people to make informed lifestyle and food choices.
One of the most common piece of advice I am giving is to stop overcomplicating eating and to actually start eating regularly. I have lost count of how many people have said they are trying to lose weight so they are eating 1 meal a day, counting exactly 1200 calories a day, even counting the number of blueberries they’re having and can’t understand why they’re not losing weight. More often than not they are snacking regularly without realising or managing on 1 meal a day with severely low energy which they will then supplement with copious amounts of caffeine.
Here comes the dietitian who says can you please start eating 3 balanced meals a day, can you please hydrate yourself with 2 litres of water a day, and can we talk about methods to improve your sleep. This doesn’t mean you have to spend loads of money on buying organic, having full bowls of beans (if you’ve never had beans before please don’t do this), kale, quinoa, chia seeds, spirulina or any gadgets. This means beginning simply by shaping your meals to include a source of carbohydrates (preferably wholegrain), protein, and vegetables in their main meals.
The reason I advise 3 regular meals a day to shape breakfast, lunch and dinner is to ensure they are fuelling our bodies regularly. Usually the response I get is that don’t I have to eat less in order to lose weight. The common misconception is that they only need to increase protein to build muscle when there is much more to it then that. Any bodybuilder is able to tell you that.
The information I translate to individuals is primarily around food as I am the dietitian and I ensure to work within my scope of practice, however ‘how we nourish our bodies’ is only one factor. Stress, sleep, movement, hydration, smoking and alcohol, genetic predispositions and other environmental factors that also play a big part in how we do that. Therefore during my consultations I find that these factors are what the individual needs to improve to them in turn change how they are nourishing their bodies.
How can we create positive views around food?
My tips:
- Get rid of the numbers – stop counting calories, checking your weight daily/weekly unless medically necessary, stop weighing your portion sizes
- Choose a wholegrain carbohydrate most of the time
- Choose various sources of protein
- More colour on the plate
- Never say no to cake or cookies just because you’re being ‘good’ or ‘healthy’ today or ‘oh that’s naughty’
- You can have your cake and it eat too
Eat For You Dietitian 
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