Working with a dietitian for weight loss in Idaho is an excellent way to have guidance and support in making sustainable lifestyle changes. Registered dietitians are often covered by health insurance, especially when your healthcare provider suggests that losing weight is advised.
Are you hoping to lose weight? Are you looking for a dietitian in Idaho? Keep reading to learn more about how registered dietitians are helpful in weight loss journeys.
This article from Meraki Healthcare about dietitians and weight loss will explain ways that RDs assist their clients with weight loss goals. We’ll also offer some gentle cautions and things to look out for. At the end, we’ll also address some frequently asked questions on the topic.
Dietetics Counseling for Weight Loss in Idaho
Dietetics counseling for weight loss in Idaho is a medical service often covered by health insurance. Registered Dietitians (RDs) are certified in Idaho by the Idaho Board of Medicine. You can verify whether someone is currently licensed to provide diet and nutrition counseling in Idaho.
Registered dietitians will counsel together with you to make small and sustainable changes in habits over time to lead to big differences in weight and health. Finding the right suggestions and habits to change in your personal circumstances often starts with keeping a food diary or journal.
Making Small, Sustainable Changes
A good dietitian will counsel you to make small, sustainable changes in your lifestyle to lose weight and be able to keep it off. Your dietitian will work with you to shape your habits over time. Crash dieting may be effective in the short term, but yo-yo dieting is not healthy or sustainable.
For one small change, you may switch out a serving of high-calorie food for more nutritious vegetables. Once you have that habit established, your dietitian will help you form another habit that will lead to healthy weight maintenance.
Keeping a Food Journal with a Dietitian for Weight Loss in Idaho
Keeping a food journal is one request that a dietitian may ask clients to do. Keeping a food journal allows a dietitian to work with you where you are at. Often, a dietitian may ask you to document not only what you are eating but also how you are feeling at the time you decide to eat.
Mapping trends in what you eat, when you eat, and how you feel will help a dietitian guide you. If emotional eating plays a role in weight gain, a dietitian will make suggestions on small and sustainable ways to reduce emotional eating. These suggestions are meant to be lifestyle changes.
Emotional eating is not something you should be ashamed of. In fact, shame often exacerbates emotional eating. Trust that your dietitian understands you and the appeal of food during difficult or celebratory times. It’s relatable to most people, your dietitian included!
For example:
Perhaps your food diary notes that you ate a bag of potato chips at 8 pm on Monday, and you felt stressed before deciding to eat the chips. Tuesday’s food journal entry notes that you had a brownie at 7:45 pm and you were feeling bored before deciding to eat the brownie.
This process will help you and your dietitian identify common times and triggers of emotional eating. Together, you can create a plan to change habits to healthier ones.
It’s also helpful to see a licensed mental health counselor to process trauma and emotion in healthy and productive ways. A prescriber can also help you find appropriate medications to improve your mental health.
Be Wary of Dieting Trends
Be wary of dieting trends. These diets may lead to short-term weight loss without being sustainable. Many trendy diets lack all of the nutrition your body needs. Consult with a dietitian to learn more about whether a particular diet plan is right for your body and situation.
Many registered dietitians are careful to suggest lifestyle and dietary changes that have long-term studies supporting their efficacy. Many trendy diets lack studies showing their efficacy or safety over a long period of time.
Some trendy diets may damage organs by providing too much of one nutrient or too little of another. These dangers may not be immediately obvious because the damage can happen slowly over time. A registered dietitian is a helpful resource to make sure all of your body’s needs are met.
Be Wary of “Diet Experts” Without Proper Education and Credentials
A health coach or diet coach is not the same as a registered dietitian. A registered dietitian has a college education and proper state certifications to offer safe dietary advice. Many health coaches are employed by a company that advertises a certain product or plan for profit.
A health coach may be a powerful resource for weight loss journeys, but consulting with a registered dietitian can help you ensure that a plan or product is safe. An independent registered dietitian will offer impartial advice about the safety and efficacy of what a health coach is offering.
It’s especially important for individuals with health conditions to consult a registered dietitian with the proper education and credentials about the safety of commercial weight loss plans and products.
Working with a Doctor for Weight Loss
Working with a doctor for weight loss is always a good idea. A doctor can order laboratory tests or prescribe medications, which are things a dietitian cannot do in Idaho. However, dietitians have more training and education about diet and nutrition than medical doctor programs provide.
Counseling with a registered dietitian adds an expert to your medical team. A registered dietitian can offer invaluable insights and guidance that your medical doctor may not be able to offer.
Conclusion
Working with a dietitian for weight loss in Idaho adds a strong ally to your care team. A registered dietitian is a great addition to your primary care doctor and mental health counselor, who are also essential members of a weight loss journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worthwhile to see a dietitian for weight loss?
Dietitians help you set reasonable weight loss goals, provide accountability, and suggest sustainable changes. These services are worthwhile for anyone trying to lose weight.
Can dietitians prescribe weight loss medications?
Dietitians (RDs) cannot prescribe weight loss medications. Medications can only be prescribed by certain medical professionals such as doctors (MD or DO), nurse practitioners, and physician assistants (PAs).
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