So you're considering seeing a dietitian? That's great! There's probably been a journey to get you to contemplating nutrition counseling!
Now you're probably poking around looking at the different options and noticing our standard pricing. Registered Dietitians charge a similar rate as clinical psychologist counselors because... well... Registered Dietitians are also counselors. Except instead of specializing in the brain (and everything that comes with it), we specialize in food and the body. *inhaled pause* and behaviour change, and coaching, and motivational interviewing, and body composition, and metabolism and the digestive tract and hemodynamics, and swallowing, and fertility, and pregnancy, and weight loss, and the list goes on -all as it relates to food consumption of course. Then the other side of the coin is RDs intimately understand food composition to the point where we pretty much see the matrix as we walk down the grocery aisle.
Who would benefit from seeing a dietitian: People profit the most from seeing a dietitian when they need accountability in their nutrition journey, have a specific health goal, or a specific problem they are seeking to overcome through nutrition and lifestyle. The main problems I solve are improving sports performance for team sports or race times, increasing muscle mass, helping people on their weight loss or gain journey, lowering cholesterol levels and gastrointestinal problems like IBS through nutrition. I also know nutrition principles to help manage POTS and help support and cope with ME/CFS.
So you might be thinking I need someone smart in this field to help me with my problem, or you may be thinking I can do my own research and figure this out! Which takes you down the journey of massive amounts of information and misinformation all mixed up in a landscape of muddy snow. Some parts are crystal clear and truthful like vegetables are good for you, and then you notice there's actually some flecks of dirt in that snow like "potatoes are bad for you". This might bring you full circle to reconsider seeing a dietitian.
At the end of the day, you want to have the best results with the least amount of resources (or at least resources you have readily available) - we all do! That's where my job gets interesting, because a lot of the time people come to me wanting an alternative method to achieve their goals, a magic bullet if you like. The hardest part of my job is that for the most part, there is no magic bullet. Talking about the fundamentals, can be anti-climactic but pivotal to your success. For instance, with someone who wants to lose weight talking about the steps and strategies to eat vegetables will likely come up because they are a key to success. Not just any strategies but ones that will work for you. It's also where my job gets cool because I can add more depth into the fundamentals like the WHY behind the action, like they will keep you full longer and have a very low calorie cost which will trick your brain into losing weight easier. Having an RD explain the why behind the action can be the difference between you being motivated to take action or saying it's not worth it.
Since dietitian counselors are dealing with behaviour changes you will get the most success by committing to seeing a dietitian for 3 months-1 year depending on the amount of problems you are addressing and the time frame it takes to deal with the problems. For instance, weight loss counseling is most successful with 6months-1 year, but someone who simply is dealing with an allergy or lactose intolerance may only need 2-3 sessions or 2-3months.
