Keep it simple. Make your plate colorful. Don’t eat what you can’t pronounce. Drink water every day.

Tell me about it. As your dietitian, I am unable to optimize your experience and health if I don’t have the whole picture. If you ate 3 bags of chips, don’t be embarrassed or feel judged; I am not the food police or your parent. If something isn’t working, tell me about it. The more I know, the better we can work together to achieve your personal goals.

Choose your battles. While it seems exciting to change everything about your diet, it is also where people tend to fall short and become overwhelmed. Change is the result of building new habits, two or three at a time, and then repeating them until they are part of your routine. During a counseling session you can make an educated decision about what to change to maximize your health outcome.

Food is more than what is on your plate. Food is part of our culture. We use food to celebrate. We use food to socialize. We even use food to soothe ourselves. During your counseling session we will create strategies that will allow you to do all of these things, only a little differently. You will learn how to achieve your goals by making food selections, focusing on good, better, and best choices for each situation you encounter.

I don’t want to give up foods I love. Often we hear, “we can eat anything in moderation,” but this doesn’t work for everyone. It is important to remember that processed food flavors and preservatives are created in a laboratory, designed to make us want more. Certain foods can act as triggers for overeating or cause us to make less than optimal food choices. Together, we can figure out if moderation is your best strategy, and also identify any food triggers that may be causing you to fail.

I can’t afford to eat organic. While organic foods reduce pesticides and prevent GMOs from entering your diet, it is not a required part of your treatment plan. Together we can come up with strategies to reduce your risk, while honoring your budget.

I’ve done this before and failed. If you are worried about failing, relax, you will. You are human. What is important is that you don’t quit. Health is an endurance activity and each day is a new day. If you fall, get back on your bike, the journey isn’t over yet. You can do it!