Death of the dietitian android.

I am a dietitian. I never eat junk food. I never eat simply because I am bored or emotional. No matter how tired, I always cook a healthy meal for the family. I am always motivated to exercise and am fit like a race horse….

Well I have no idea who on earth that is because that person/android-of-perfection is definitely not me! The ideal image of health I have just described is what most people perceive dietitians to be. Many of my clients are often shocked when I mention that I am also too demotivated some days to exercise and simply have a weakness for chocolate. In fact, I have a T-shirt that has these words emblazoned across the front, “No room for healthy food. I just ate a pie, a chocolate bar and half an animal.”

Dietitians – food police…?
In the same way that many people often feel awkward speaking to a psychologist in a social setting, people shrink away from dietitians too. I see it. People hide their food under their serviettes, they move away from you at dinners, they immediately start making excuses for why they are eating that chocolate/ice-cream/sugar covered thing and they also casually slip into conversation how many times they go to the gym.
The general belief is that if we catch you eating something bad then we will try and slip green leafy stuff into your meal. However, the reality is that the days of dietitians and nutritionists beating you over the head with a carrot are gone. We don’t want to yell, kick or scream.

Instead, we want to be focused on you. Why? Well imagine you saying to your electrician, “My TV unit is broken, please fix it,” and for them to say back to you, “How about I change your power outlet for you?” Lovely, wonderful, irrelevant.
Now imagine again if your electrician explained it a little more…”How about I change your power outlet for you because that’s what’s causing a problem with the TV. That way, once it’s fixed it won’t break again.” Relevant, helpful, light-bulb moment.

This is what us dietitians aim to do for you through food. Rather than forcing 5 serves of vegetables down your throat for the sake of it, what we really we want to is to help relieve pressure off that bad knee of yours, help reduce the back pain you feel, reduce the sleep apnoea that’s interfering with your life and work on that allergy/intolerance that makes eating out difficult.

So no, not the food police. Perhaps the food nurse?

Dietitians – social noobs…?
The view is that a dietitian is this android creature sitting in the corner, beeping away and constantly analyzing what everyone is eating. Apparently if you make eye-contact with the dietitian android, it will start blurting healthy eating messages at you.

To be honest, I rarely even look at what people are eating (unless of course it’s either 1) yummy or 2) it’s a food eating contest). We don’t want to be working all the time so we switch off too. That’s what we teach our clients about work-life balance right? In fact, we would love to share a slice/scoop/tub/glass of cake/ice-cream/popcorn/wine and have a good gab about nothing…and yes, we do burn up the dance floor too. We are actually a lot of fun and many of us have amazing lives outside of food. I have met dietitians who are also photographers, musicians, extreme athletes, children’s clowns, actors and even one amazing contortionist.

So the next time you meet one of us, try to not run for the hills. Simply enjoy your food while we are enjoying ours.

Dietitian – we are real people
Many people will look a dietitian up and down and judge us based on body size. Many people think that we look them up and down and judge them based on their body size too! The common misconception is that good nutrition must be reflected by thinness or leanness and yet this is not the case.

We know from the research that it’s better to be larger sized and healthy than to be smaller and unhealthy. We are not in control of what our genes want us to look like so why judge or fear based on weight? Instead, we focus on health and wellbeing. It’s about having a healthy body at ANY size and this has always been my firm belief and I know many dietitians who share the same philosophy.

We are also parents / partners / married / single / divorced / working long hours / constantly travelling e.t.c. We do understand how tough life can get some times as we get tired and rundown too. So we can give advice that’s REAL, that’s life focused and that can help you overcome similar life challenges too. I know my clients really appreciate it when I tell them I struggle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) too. You might be surprised by just how empathetic your dietitian is being to you.

To adopt an Australian dietitian, please visit www.daa.asn.au (Dietitian’s Association of Australia).

To adopt an American dietitian, please visit www.eatright.org (American Dietetic Association).