Promoting total health more important than weight loss: 1/25

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Promoting total health more important than weight loss

by Angela Fish
Dietetic Intern

For the past 10 weeks, I have been involved with the Healthy Charleston Challenge, a weight loss competition at MUSC's Wellness Center. While attending the MUSC dietetic internship open house last December, this program caught my attention as it was a unique experience that is not offered by any other internship.

During the challenge, participants were divided into teams and paired with a personal trainer and dietetic intern. My job as the dietetic intern was to review the participants' food logs, making comments and suggestions for improvement as needed. I also spent time with the participants at their weekly meetings discussing recipes and menus.

It wasn't until a few weeks into the program that I realized we were not involved in the program just to review food logs or to teach the participants about a healthy diet. We were there to build relationships with the participants and learn just how difficult making healthy lifestyle changes can be.

Before I became involved, I would become frustrated while spending hours attempting to educate patients on the complications of chronic disease associated with obesity or poor dietary choices. After getting the patient perspective from my challenge participants on how much courage it takes to actually change one's lifestyle, I became a better professional.

While most entry-level registered dietetian positions are acute-care based, I worry that I will be unable to foster behavior change and prevention with my future patients. Many people think nutrition only involves formula calculations, weight loss advice or general healthy eating tips. In reality, it involves getting to know the patient and their struggles, and tailoring our approach to their individual needs and life challenges.

During the finale of the program, I was able to see how far both the participants and the staff had come. Although not all participants looked noticeably slimmer, they were certainly all healthier and happy to have completed such a challenging task.

The final message of the program was that weight loss is not about image or finding an easy way to drop a few pounds, but about small changes in becoming healthier and creating a better quality of life.

Friday, Jan. 25, 2013

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