March 11 is National Registered Dietitian’s Day! This day marks the unity and solidarity of the Registered Dietitian community and celebrates its efforts for the crucial role they place in making and keeping people well, healthy, and independent.
As the nation’s food and nutrition experts, Registered Dietitians are committed to improving the health of their patients and community. Registered Dietitian Day commemorates the dedication of RDs as advocates for advancing the nutritional status of Americans and people around the world.
Celebrate with RD Blogfest!
In honor of National Registered Dietitian (RD) Day, welcome to the first annual Registered Dietitian Blogfest. A blogfest, also known as a synchroblog or blog carnival, is an event in which a group of likeminded bloggers blog on the same topic or theme on a particular day.
This year’s theme is, “RD Showcase” which showcases the many diverse services and benefits dietitians provide. In support of such an inspirational cause, I’ve joined with other RD bloggers to share some of what makes being an RD personally important in my life. Check out the links below to see what other great RD’s are up to!
No More Diets! 9 Secrets to Lasting Weight Loss
By Dr. Annette Colby, RD
To achieve the complete fulfillment of your dreams, you need skills and tools beyond motivation. You also need precise techniques that provide a dynamic alternative to willpower when “just do it” is not enough.
If you set the same weight loss goals year after year, this time is your turn to succeed! My mission a Registered Dietitian is to impart a growing sense of inspiration and self-love, and to ignite hope so that you will hear a new inner voice that says, “I can reinvent my life and move through this ‘impossible’ situation.”
Follow these tips to help you set yourself up for positive outcomes and make your lasting weight loss dreams a reality.
1. Change is a Process
True change is never effortless! There is no secret formula, and no instant weight-dissolving pill. There may be people out there who promise these things but I have yet to see one that lasts for the long-term. Of course, there is liposuction and various gastric surgery processes, but even then you still have to adjust your lifestyle to maintain your results. Weight loss is a process that you learn. You make mistakes and you learn from those mistakes. In the process, you learn to believe in yourself, you gain confidence, and you decide to give yourself success. The key is this – the process you go through is even more important than the end goal itself: Who you become during the journey is your most important reward.
2. Know What You are Moving Toward
After counseling thousands of people of over 20 years, I have learned that everything we do is an attempt to solve a problem. Everything makes sense in the context of our lives. Focusing on food and weight, going on a strict diet, or putting on the pressure to create change isn’t a permanent solution for difficult food behaviors. What you want is not just to end a behavior, but to cultivate a new relationship with reality.
Many weight loss declarations are made out of frustration and in response to wanting to end a negative habit. Examples include, “I don’t want to be fat” or “I don’t want to be thinking about food all the time.” However, it is difficult to develop momentum from a negative desire. Successful goals need drive and passion! Define what you want in positive tangible terms, and allow yourself to engage in habits that help you live those positive feelings a little more each day.
3. Develop a Relationship with Food
The return to healthy, peaceful, and successful eating starts by replacing the strict rules of dieting with the goal of developing an intimate relationship with food. A good relationship with food involves choosing foods that make you feel more alive and vibrant. This means selecting foods that increase your levels of energy, health, pleasure, and motivation. This is not about being “good” or eating “the right” foods, but about eating foods that make you feel satisfied on both the physical and the joy levels. Your goal is to feel fulfilled and content after eating in a holistic mind, body, and spirit manner, not sick, uncomfortable, deprived, or guilt ridden.
4. Food Is an Extension of Self-Love
Eating in relationship to hunger, fullness, satisfaction, and joy is about beginning to know yourself on an intimate level. It is about feeling entitled to take listen to your physical body and assume responsibility for your emotional well-being. Before eating ask yourself, “Is this really what I want?” Feel into the question and then decide. By treating your mind, body, and spirit with respect, you eat less not because you are following rigid rules, but because you have made a decision that it’s important to feel good. Connect with your body and eat foods that satisfy on many levels, including health, energy, taste, and contentment. Eat in a manner that allows a sense of feeling good, both now and later.
5. Give up Guilt
Believing that you have “cheated” on your diet and then telling yourself that you have ruined any chance of success produces guilt and feelings of failure. If you overeat, acknowledge your behaviors with truth and compassion. Become curious about why you do what you do, and leave your criticism and judgment behind. Accept the choice that you made, learn from your experience, and then tell yourself you are capable of making news choices. Refocus on your goal immediately, and don’t wait until Monday or next week to take action.
6. Think “Management” Instead Of “Control”
Control implies an adversarial relationship with food. Control tends to mean that you are in a constant battle to have power over weight, eating, or your body. Instead of using force to have power over something, consider using a more loving style of management. When you manage something, you work with it to achieve your desired results. You unite with your desire or goal. Rather than forbidding yourself to eat certain foods, manage the situation. If what you love happens to be cake or cheeseburgers, then consider creative ways to eat what you want.
7. Avoid Getting Too Hungry
Skipping meals and snacks is a set up to binge or overeat. When most people get too hungry, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating fly out the window. The problem with ignoring feelings of hunger is that you also start ignoring feelings of fullness. Soon your body isn’t in charge of eating – your diet plan is. Try to tune into hunger and eat shortly after noticing hunger. Provide all of the foods the body craves for health and pleasure.
8. Put Your Mind In Touch With Your Body
Regular physical movement – whether gardening, walking, yoga, or Pilates, – helps you connect with your body. Physical movement provides a sense of well-being, confidence, and body awareness. Include regular movement in a way that feels positive. Healthy, beautiful bodies come in all shapes and sizes.
9. Make Your Food Taste Good
If you need to add some sugar, fat, salt, herbs, or seasonings to make your foods taste better, then do it. Also, be sure to keep an abundance of good food around and plenty of variety. Reward yourself with nutritious food choices that leave you feeling energized and alive. Fill your house with all sorts of enjoyable fresh foods – fruits and vegetables, beans, whole grains, lean meats, poultry, fish and dairy products. Being able to choose the foods you want to eat is the beginning of a new, healthy relationship with food.
Making peace with food and creating a life that does not revolve around eating, dieting, or obsessing about food is absolutely possible. If you have set weight loss as your goal once again, congratulate yourself for holding tight to your dream! Start fresh, focus on the positive aspects of your courage, and give yourself credit for your determination. In your journey toward successful lasting weight loss, utilize the tips above to build enthusiasm, confidence, and steady momentum. Never give up on your dream!
RD Blogfest: Links to other RD’s stories:
Beyond Prenatals – Food vs. Supplements and Real Advice vs. Fake Advice
Ashley Colpaart – Dietitians working in food policy, a new frontier
Diana Dyer – There and Back Again: Celebration of National Dietitian Day 2009
Marjorie Geiser – RD Showcase for National Registered Dietitian Day – What we do
Cheryl Harris – Me, a Gluten Free RD!
Marilyn Jess – National Registered Dietitian Day–RD Blogfest
Julie Lanford – Antioxidants for Cancer Prevention
Renata Mangrum – What I’m doing as I grow up…
Liz Marr – Fruits and Veggies for Registered Dietian Day: Two Poems
Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen – Family Nutrition … It’s our “Beat”
Jill Nussinow – The Registered Dietitian Lens I Look Through
Wendy Jo Petersen – March 11 is our day to shine!
Diane Preves – Registered Dietitians and the White House Forum on Health Reform
Andy Sarjahani – Dr. Seuss Tribute continued: Green Eggs and Ham and a Sustainable Food System
Rebecca Scritchfield – Big Tips from a “Big Loser”
Anthony Sepe – RD Showcase: Registered Dietitian Day, March 11, 2009
Kathy Shattler – RD Showcase for Nutri-Care Consultation
UNL-Extension, Douglas/Sarpy County – Nutrition Know How – Making Your Life Easier
Monika Woolsey – Dietitians–Can’t Do PCOS Without Them!
Monika Woolsey – In Honor of National Registered Dietitian Day
Jen Zingaro – My life as a Registered Dietitian
And, whether you are a registered dietitian or a engaged in a your own weight loss journey, please share your comments also!
About the Author: Want to learn more about how to live consciously, love deeply, and laugh often? Come along with Dr. Annette Colby and learn the secrets to creating the life you’ve always wanted to live! Subscribe to her blog Divine Self! today.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Annette, this is good stuff. My favorite is this one:
“2. Know What You are Moving Toward”
I am a lucky person in that I don’t have trouble with weight and when I do put on some extra pounds, it is easy to take them off. However, for me it wasn’t about fat. It was about a horrifically unhealthy diet, that my naturally lean tendency allowed me to maintain without obvious consequences. For decades (you read that correctly), I told myself I was going to start eating healthier and I never did.
However, I did suffer the consequences in other ways. My energy was in the pitts. It got to the point where I felt bad all day every day. I got depressed and lost motivation. Over the last year I have suffered through some terrible health issues. What turned it around for me was to stop focusing on the “diet” and start focusing on the bigger picture. What motivated me to eat healthier were the following:
1) I want to be alive.
2) I want to have the energy to thrive. I don’t want to be tired and depressed anymore.
3) I want to be here for my wife, daughter, and I hope someday some grandchildren.
4) I want to live to be 100 and be a fully functional, happy, and active person all the way to 100.
There are actually some more, but those are the most important motivations for me personally. So the bottom line thing that changed my dietary habits was to have a serious conversation with myself about what I wanted out of life that required me to change. Focusing on the diet itself for 20 years did nothing but cause me to break a commitment to myself repeatedly.
One other thing I made it easy. I changed my diet very gradually. I didn’t panic. I realized I had eaten like this for so many years that I didn’t have to change in one day. Whenever I dreaded a change, I would make a tiny change instead. Instead of stopping my candy cold turkey, I first cut down on the number of times per day. Very slowly I got to the point where it was eliminated. Over a period of several months (I am still making changes), I changed my diet dramatically, but I barely noticed. This was due to the commitment to gradual changes.
Also early on commitment to the new habit is more important than the content of the habit. In other words practicing a “healthier” diet for a period of time builds a mindset habit that focuses on “healthier” instead of “healthy”. This way it doesn’t require massive change in a short period of time. A tiny change is still “healthier” and it is still a success! A continual path down the road of “healthier” will one day take you all the way to achieving that ultimate goal of a healthy diet.
I’m sorry I rattled on for so long, but I hope this will help some of your readers. Very destructive habits that are burned into your neural pathways can be changed with the right motivation and process.
Thanks again!
Hapyy RD Day to you.
Enjoyed your site.
http://fromadietitianspecptive.blogspot.com
Anthony Sepe
Hi. I came here from the link on Renata’s blog Nurturing Notes. Renata and others have taught us that “dieting” is not beneficial. We’ve changed the way that we eat, and we have greatly benefitted from this.
-Alan
Hello Stephen,
The story of your journey and your commitment to self is one of heartfelt courage, inspiration, and joy. You discoverd for yourself the secrets that make a difference between “wanting” to have something and deciding to actually go through whatever it takes to give it to yourself.
Your words apply not only to weight loss, but to any dream or goal we have for ourselves. You outline the most important factors for success:
1. Know what you want to move toward
2. Discover the underlying personal compelling reasons of why you want what you want
3. Make a decision to follow through no matter what
4. Have meaningful conversations with yourself
5. Stop focusing on the symptom (food and weight) and start focusing on feeling a little better each day.
5. Make small changes to avoid feelings of overwhelm.
6. Make a commitment to honor your word to yourself.
7. Celebrate your choices each and every day!
It’s never “easy” and “simple” to have what we most want, but you are living proof that anyone can lift themselves up and out into a new reality!
Congratulations!!!
And THANK YOU for sharing your inspiration with all of us.
With love,
Annette
From the moment we are born, Eating becomes a necessity in order to live. However, what we are fed is out of our control until the high chair stage and we are beginning to see that we have choices. Green peas were definitely not on my daughter’s list of something she wanted……she dropped them on the floor. As she got older and I tried vegetable soup, she picked out the peas and put them on her tray! She is nearly 30 years old now and Still does not like peas!
I’m sure that now that she has two small children of her own, she is facing similiar predictiments.
My point is that it all comes down to choices. As
parents, it is our responsibility to help our children learn to live healthy while they are under our care. However, once they reach a certain age, it becomes their choice. If we take our children to fast food outlets on a regular basis, then what message are we sending to our children?
I was informed on Sunday that my grandson ate his snowman’s nose( a raw carrot)! I must ask her if he likes peas. haha
Great feedback everyone…..keep it up.
Happy RD Day to all,
Kathleen
Hi Kathleen,
I agree with you! Parents can contribute greatly to the messages children recieve about food. A family that enjoys meals together, explores creative cooking together, and promotes fun and variety with food can leave a lasting positive impact.
My German parents instilled within me an eternal love of food, family, and cooking. But, I also remember Mom making me eat green beans. Yuck. I used to try feeding them to the dog, but even he wouldn’t eat them. To this day I won’t touch green beans. So, you’re absolutely right – parents can model healthy food habits, but we all have our individual likes and dislikes.
Enjoy food, enjoy life!
Annette
There is one more thing that really helped me with habits and I used it on food first.
Each time I started to take an action in my “bad” habit, I said this to myself: “This will weaken you Stephen”.
Each time I took an action in my new “good” habit, I said this to myself: “This will strengthen you Stephen”.
The power of this very simple practice should not underestimated. At least with myself, I found this to be incredibly motivating.
Dear Stephen,
You have definitely acknowledged your own powers of personal responsibility and choice! Those are difficult aspects to develop and I offer you my deepest respect.
In my own way, I also practice my ability to choose by talking with myself honestly. Typically, I go up to a mirror, look myself in the eyes, and have a self-affirming conversation about my ability to choose and take action.
Thanks for sharing such a powerful tool. Your choice to share your habit will strengthen us all.
Annette
Annette,
I love your blog and your inspiring status notes on Facebook. I hope this blogfest allowed people who didn’t know about them to connect with you!
Happy Registered Dietitian Day!
Monika
Annette,
You make some very important points. One in particular is the managing, not controlling. I think a lot of guilt can get caught up in the control frame of thinking, and can be counterproductive.
Hi Annette! What a great post! So many of us are passionate that this is the best approach to obesity and our National health problems. I love your 9 thoughts on this–it’s inspiring me for my next post!! Small changes and a healthy relationship (with and beyond food) are so important!!! Happy RD Day!
Annette,
Happy, happy RD Day to you! Thanks for all you are doing to help people have a healthy relationship with their food. When I made major changes in my diet, I combined my vision or goal (long-term cancer recovery) with all the technical and the emotional aspects of eating food by asking myself before I ate or drank anything, “How will this food or beverage nurture my recovery?” That “simple” question made all the difference for me, keeping me both focused and motivated. Now my changes are habits, healthy habits! Keep up your great work!
Diana Dyer, MS, RD
http://www.CancerRD.com
http://www.dianadyer.blogspot.com
http://www.365DaysofKale.blogspot.com
“4. Food Is an Extension of Self-Love”
When I focus on this fact, it makes it much easier to eat responsibly! Also, when I consider the consequences of binge eating by fast-forwarding to the bloated self-loathing that I’m left with, it makes wonder why I do it to myself. If I truly care about living in accordance with my spirit, I can’t short-circuit it with cheesecake. This post is half-feedback and half-telling-on-myself-so-I-don’t-eat-cheesecake-because-i-already-had-a-big-plate-of-pasta-tonight.
Thanks Annette,
Derek & NüHabits
Annette,
Happy (late) RD Day to you! Thanks for being such a shining role model for our profession. Your words of wisdom have helped many, and I just referred a friend to your blog for guidance toward more healthful living. Thanks again for sharing so much of your passion!
Diana Dyer, MS, RD
http://www.CancerRD.com
http://www.dianadyer.blogspot.com
http://www.365DaysofKale.blogspot.com
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