Nutrition can have a huge effect on our health. And not just for weight management.
It affects our energy levels, our mental health, our immune systems the risk of life-threatening conditions, and much more.
There’s a massive amount of nutritional information available. A lot of it is confusing and complicated, and much of it is inaccurate.
And nutrition can be even more challenging in rural Alaska.
So how can you find accurate nutrition information appropriate for you and your lifestyle?
Nutrition needs to be personal to be effective. It needs to be tailored specifically to your body, your health, your environment, and your goals.
That’s why Cama’i Community Health Center has specialized dietician services – to make sure you get the right plan for your best health.
Our registered dietitians are here to help you meet your goals with personalized, expert meal planning, nutritional interventions, and guidance. With professional dietician services, Cama’i Community Health Center can help you promote wellness with a healthy diet.
Here, we’ll explore the professional dietician services available at Cama’i CHC, what you can expect from them, and how they improve your health and vitality.
Looking for dietician services or primary healthcare? Contact Cama’i Community Health Center today to schedule an appointment.
Dietician Services Available in Bristol Bay
Personalized Meal Plans
A personalized plan considers your unique factors like age, weight, height, activity level, and health condition. They’ll factor in food allergies, food habits, food intolerances, dietary restrictions, and diet preferences (vegetarian, vegan, etc.). Your plan will include guidance on the appropriate portion sizes for your body, to help you avoid overeating or being undernourished.
Your dietician can create plans to help you manage diabetes, heart disease, or other health conditions through food choices.
Your nutrition plan will ensure you get all the essential vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients your body needs.
Your personalized meal plan will develop long-term, sustainable dietary patterns that you can maintain for life, instead of short-term quick fixes. It will incorporate your preferences to make your plan enjoyable while making sure you eat healthy and balanced meals. This reduces the feeling of being deprived and develops a positive relationship with food.
To help you stay on track, your dietician will provide ongoing support and help you stay accountable. They’ll also make adjustments to your plan if needed, so you get the best results.
Weight Loss Support
Losing weight is hard. Which foods will best help you reach your goals? How many calories should you eat every day? Which foods should you eat more of, eat less of?
A dietician can be incredibly helpful for people trying to lose weight safely and healthily.
They’ll assess your needs based on weight, height, activity level, and goals. They’ll use that data to determine realistic, and maintainable daily calorie goals.
They’ll show you how to measure portions and develop eating habits that don’t leave you feeling starved or deprived.
A dietician can introduce you to mindful eating practices. Awareness of cues for hunger and fullness can help you make healthier food choices and avoid overeating.
They can help you identify the emotional triggers that lead to overeating. They’ll help you develop healthier coping mechanisms, so you can handle emotional stress without turning to food.
Your dietician provides a built-in support system. They’ll help you stay motivated and track your progress.
Nutrition & Lifestyle Counseling
Dietary guidance isn’t just about meals. It also involves guidance about the lifestyle choices and patterns that lead us to unhealthy nutritional habits.
For example, your dietician may ask you to keep a food journal for a few days to track your eating patterns and triggers. This will help your dietician identify the barriers between you and your health goals.
They might suggest lifestyle changes to support your goals. Those might include increased physical activity, stress management techniques, and techniques for improving sleep.
Regular check-ins with our dietician will provide support, motivation, accountability, and guidance on your health journey. They’ll be there to help you troubleshoot challenges, and celebrate your successes.
Body Composition Analysis
When starting a new journey towards health, you have to know where you’re starting from.
That’s why your dietician might conduct a Body Composition Analysis (BCA). It’s one of the best tools for measuring the various components of your body weight.
A body composition analysis shows the relative bodily proportions of fat, lean muscle mass, and water mass. This gives your dietician a deeper understanding of your body and dietary needs.
Someone with higher muscle mass will have different dietary needs than someone with lower muscle mass, even though their body weight is the same.
In rare cases, an abnormal body composition can indicate an underlying health condition affecting your weight and health. Your dietician will inform you of any unusual results from a BCA. And advise you on any next steps.
Behavior Modification
People often have automatic behaviors around food that work against their nutritional goals. Disordered eating, food addictions, poor eating habits, and similar behavioral patterns can be a barrier to proper nutrition.
Your dietician can provide behavior modification insights to help you reach your goals and create lasting, sustainable change.
They’ll help you identify current eating triggers, habits, and routines. They’ll work with you to understand your specific challenges to healthy nutritional behaviors, like certain social situations, time pressure, or food cravings. They might teach you mindful eating practices, which help you tune into your body’s hunger and fullness cues, and reduce overeating.
Your dietician can help you create SMART goals for nutrition (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). Goals like incorporating more vegetables into your diet, or cooking at home 4 times per week.
They can also help develop the habit of prepping meals in advance. So you avoid unhealthy choices when you’re hungry and short on time.
New habits aren’t developed instantly. They take time, and you’ll make mistakes as you develop them. Your dietician will help you focus on gradual progress, rather than perfection. They’ll help you celebrate small wins, and overcome setbacks so you stay motivated.
Food Allergy Care
Food allergies trigger harmful reactions in your body when you eat certain things. Those reactions can range from unpleasant and uncomfortable to life-threatening.
Gluten, eggs, lactose, nuts, soy, and sunflower are common food allergies.
Your dietician will help you identify any allergies you may not know about. Or review previously diagnosed allergies. They’ll show you how to adjust your diet to avoid problematic foods, without sacrificing proper nutrition or enjoying what you eat. In some cases, your dietician might recommend supplements to address any nutritional deficiencies caused by food allergies.
They’ll show you safe food shopping practices, like properly identifying allergen warnings on food labels, choosing trusted brands, and avoiding cross-contamination risks from allergens.
They’ll provide tips for safe meal preparation at home, like using separate utensils and cookware for allergenic and non-allergenic foods.
And they’ll give you strategies for safe dining out, like communicating your allergies to restaurant staff and choosing menu items with low cross-contamination risk.
Cama’i CHC – Supporting Your Nutritional Wellness
Nutrition plays a huge role in your health. But finding accurate, proven, helpful nutritional guidance is difficult. Creating plans that meet your goals and sticking to them is even harder.
Cama’i CHC wants to make it easier by providing professional dietician services. We’ll take the mystery out of nutrition, provide you with the right information for you and your goals, and support you on your journey.
Learn how our dietician services can help you. Contact Cama’i Community Health Center.
