When you’re studying nutritional therapy, you’ll be taught what the best foods are for individuals who are obese, diabetic, or recovering from cancer. You’ll be taught almost everything you need to know how to help people become healthier through their diet. Except, you have to figure out on your own how to convince them to maintain a healthy diet. If you want to be an effective nutritionist, take the following steps.
Talk to them about their diet
Most people who are advised to eat healthy immediately rebel against the idea because they feel that they’re being commanded to do something that they don’t want to do. For those who’ve had a steady diet of hamburgers, hotdogs, and pancakes, instructing them to restrict their food choices to vegetables and fish could sound like a punishment.
So, if you’re about to tell patients to change their eating habits, then the least you can do is to listen to them about their struggles to eat right. Keep in mind that most obese individuals do know that what they’re doing to their bodies is bad. It’s just that they find it harder to walk the path to eating the right kinds of foods.
Ask your patients what makes it so hard for them to eat vegetables and other nutritious foods. From there, you can gauge what kind of adjustments you need to make in order for them to finally change their lifestyle.
Join in their journey
Going on a strict diet can be a lonely trip, especially if your family and friends don’t have the same problem as you. It can be disheartening to see other people gorge on pasta and pastries while you have to make do with leafy vegetables and some wheat bread.
So, when you’re working with patients, assure them that you know what they’re about to go through. Then, tell them that they don’t have to be alone. What you can do is to go on a diet too, and share notes on your journey every now and then. Or, have patients motivate each other to stick to their diets.
Let them know the immediate results
One of the things that can deter a person from eating properly is that it’s hard to see the results right away. It’s hard enough to stay away from the foods you really love, so it’s no easy feat to stay on track if you can’t see any changes to your body.
So, find ways to show your patients immediate results to keep them moving forward with their diet. One thing you can do to prove that their initial efforts are already making an improvement to their health is to show their blood test results, which are now clearer compared to before when they had a cholesterol-heavy diet.
These simple tips can help any person stick with their diet long enough to make a difference. So, if you’re working with patients, try taking these steps and you’ll soon see them motivated to follow through with their diet plan and lifestyle change
