| |
Many health problems and their
symptoms can be prevented, controlled, or relieved by learning how
to eat well. We work with clients
with eating disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood
pressure, gastrointestinal disturbances and more.
Fighting with these health problems
greatly compromises the quality of anyone’s life. Working
with us is a move in the right direction toward taking control of
your health. Most insurance providers will reimburse patients for
medical nutrition therapy.
To find out more about specific health
problems, click on the links below.
Diabetes
and Metabolic Syndrome >
High Blood Pressure >
Cardiovascular Disease >
Osteoporosis >
Auto Immune Diseases >
Eating Disorders >
Bariatric Surgery >
Gestational Diabetes >
Metabolic syndrome is the state a
person’s body is in before reaching the stage of diabetes.
Symptoms include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides,
low HDL, abdominal obesity, and insulin resistance.
Research shows that losing weight is the most effective way of decreasing
risk or symptoms associated with diabetes. As a registered dietitian
and health consultant, I can teach you how to change your diet to
control your blood sugar levels, blood pressure, cholesterol and
triglyceride levels while reducing fat deposits in the abdomen.
When fat deposits are reduced in the abdomen, insulin resistance
is reduced.
I will educate you about carbohydrates
and how to incorporate them into your diet to control your blood
glucose. I will present you with an optimal control plan that you
can easily incorporate into your every day life. Exercise is as
important as food choice to control diabetes, so as your personal
trainer I can help you create a physical activity program that increases
activity throughout your day while adding structured, achievable
exercise activities that you will enjoy.
I will review your medications and food records, monitor your blood
glucose levels and closely follow your progress so we know how your
body responds to different types and amounts of carbohydrates. My
goal as a nutritionist and personal trainer is to give you the confidence
you need to make the right food choices for your body – in
the hope to fend off diabetes and keep your body healthy.
The National Heart Lung and Blood
Institute has determined that the DASH diet. (Dietary Approaches
to Stopping Hypertension) is an effective means of lowering blood
pressure.
The diet has been proven to significantly lower blood pressure in
as little as two weeks. DASH focuses on weight loss, if necessary,
and adding complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and low fat
dairy products to increase magnesium, calcium and potassium in your
diet. Losing as little as 3% to 9% of your body weight can lower
blood pressure significantly (3mm Hg). Dropping your blood pressure
by as little as 3% reduces your risk of stroke and heart attack
8% and 5% respectively.
Moreover, lowering your sodium intake
dramatically improves your blood pressure and the way your blood
pressure medications work. These recommendations can easily be worked
into your everyday diet. Lifestyle modifications should be considered
before medications to reduce blood pressure levels and Stage 1 Hypertension
(140-159 mm Hg systolic and 90-99 mm Hg diastolic).
I will work with you to create a meal plan, based on your preferences
and lifestyle, that incorporates the principle set in the DASH diet.
I will provide you with the information and resources to find hidden
sources of sodium in your current diet. We will work together to
determine and set realistic weight loss goals that are achievable
and sustainable. I will measure your blood pressure and track changes.
I will provide exercise targeted at weight loss that fits your individual
needs and physical capabilities. I will assess your progress and
restructure your physical activity program based on your new capabilities.
Most people can lower elevated
levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and raise their HDL without
the use of prescription medication. It’s all about choice
and lifestyle changes that will positively affect your health and
well-being. As a registered dietitian, I can help teach you to make
the right food choices and ultimately live a healthier, longer life.
The American Heart Association
recommends diets that contain healthy, low fat foods with limited
total fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol. The recommended AHA
diet helps lower cholesterol in an effort to promote a better HDL/LDL
ratio (or “good cholesterol” being higher than the “bad
cholesterol”). In addition, exercise and being within a healthy
weight range are key to good heart health.
I will work to incorporate your favorite flavors in your new diet.
It’s all about moderation and modification! We will work together
to create a diet low in saturated fat and trans fats and high in
mono and omega 3 fats to reduce inflammation that contributes to
fatty deposits that clog your coronary arteries and lead to heart
disease and possibly a heart attack.
Equally important is getting
started on a cardiovascular workout program. Cardiovascular exercise
is the most important factor in reducing the risk of a heart attack
– even more significant than weight loss. As your personal
trainer, I will help you develop an aerobic activity based on your
interests and capabilities. Gradually, we can progress in intensity
to improve cardiovascular fitness.
As you become more consistent with your physical activity program
you will start to lose weight and your cardiac profile will improve.
Diet will be assessed and foods will be added that are rich in soluble
fiber, mono and omega 3 fats, plant stanol and sterol esters –
all foods that lower cholesterol as effectively as medications.
Cholesterol reduction supplements can be added to your diet as well.
So, let’s try to keep that medicine cabinet closed and get
working. There’s a lot to do!
Osteoporosis is called the silent disease because
you cannot feel your bones becoming weaker. It begins early in life
and progresses slowly over time with no symptoms until you experience
a fracture or break. It is a metabolic bone disease that results
in deterioration of bone tissue which is referred to as low bone
density or low bone mass. One of the first outward signs of osteoporosis
is a loss of inches in height. It also can be seen outwardly in
a rounding of the spine in the upper back called kyphosis.
Those at risk for osteoporosis are older Caucasian, Japanese and
Chinese women, women who weigh less than 127 pounds, smokers and
alcoholics. Moreover, certain medications and diseases can increase
your risk of osteoporosis: women who take tamoxifen for breast cancer;
people who take glucocorticoids (also called steroids or corticosteroids);
people on anti-seizure medications; people who take excessive thyroid
medication; and people who suffer from celiac disease, rheumatoid
arthritis, asthma, lupus and diseases of the lungs, kidney and liver.
Do you fit into any of the aforementioned categories?
Diet and exercise are important factors to preventing osteoporosis
as well as stopping it from progressing. Weight bearing exercise
is essential to prevent osteoporosis and also to maintain bone tissue
once osteoporosis has been diagnosed. Exercise programs differ for
those who have been diagnosed with osteoporosis and those who want
to prevent it. As a personal trainer and registered dietitian, I
will provide you with dietary guidelines and an appropriate exercise
program based on whether you have osteopenia (low bone mass) or
osteoporosis. I will train you and educate you to follow through
with your program on your own. It’s never too late to choose
health.
Many battle with autoimmune diseases and feel like they have no
control about personal wellness and health. My job is to teach you
to not only live with the disease but also find ways to feel better
and take control of your life. You are not your disease.
Most patients with autoimmune diseases suffer from chronic pain.
Chronic pain leads to increased risk of weight gain, depression,
heart disease, and many more physical and emotional symptoms. I
will work with you to help you learn how to improve the quality
of your life, boost your energy levels, morale, and self esteem
because, through diet and exercise, you will learn that you, too,
have control over your body. I will work with you to create an individualized
fitness program while analyzing your nutritional deficiencies and
excesses. Exercise and diet are crucial for those battling autoimmune
deficient diseases.
I work with my clients to not only give them lifestyle alternatives
but answer questions regarding supplements and their effectiveness.
Together, we will find a suitable exercise and diet program that
you enjoy to help you improve strength and stamina while preventing
muscle loss, bone loss and weight gain.
I will teach you to eat healthy, showing you the best foods to build
up your immune system and body. It’s imperative to begin an
anti-inflammatory diet. I will teach you to balance your diet primarily
using foods – not supplements – a diet that includes
fruits, vegetables, whole grains. All the diet changes we make will
incorporate your favorite flavors.
Regular exercise is crucial to healthy living. But many who suffer
from autoimmune deficiency problems are in constant pain. I will
work to teach you the best way to incorporate activity in your every
day life. The exercises I give you will be geared toward your limitations
and contraindications of your disease. Together we will find a suitable
exercise program – one you can do and enjoy. I understand
there will be days that you feel worse than others. Those days I
have appropriate exercises to keep you active while alleviating
the pain.
Diet has become a nasty four-letter word while the diet industry
has ballooned, taking in over $40 billion a year. “Thin is
in”, and our youth are paying a high price to get there.
Over five million Americans suffer from eating disorders. 50% of
9-year-old girls and 80% of 10-year-old girls have already been
on a “diet.” 2/3 of young women in Universities suffer
from eating disorders. These numbers are only going to get higher
if we don’t begin to tackle the problem early on. I work with
patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating
disorder. All of these patients suffer from the same base problem
– a sense of helplessness and need to control their lives
via food and body weight. They take this to the extreme, though,
and food, food consumption, and exercise become all consuming processes.
Professional treatment is vital for any person diagnosed with an
eating disorder. I recommend all my clients work with a psychologist
while they work with me to learn about how to view food as a tool,
not an enemy, friend, or something to control at all costs. Moreover,
I work with my clients on body image and body image distortion.
I work to help my clients analyze and reprogram the relationship
they have with food, nutrition, their bodies, and exercise.
As a dietitian, personal trainer, and
mother of two, eating disorders are of special concern to me. It’s
important as parents to pay attention to our children’s eating
habits, mood changes, and the relationships they have developed
with food. Certainly, all adolescents are moody. But there are signs,
and I urge all parents, spouses, teachers, coaches, and friends
to look out for them. (Visit www.somethingfishy.org – a great Website dedicated to preventing, diagnosing, and
treating eating disorders.)
If you are considering bariatric surgery, or have already had a
procedure performed, you have spent most of your life on diets trying
to lose weight and once the weight is off struggle to keep it off.
Keeping the weight off is the most difficult part of the equation.
It is no different after bariatric surgery. The surgery is a tool
to help you get the weight off and improve your health status but
statistics on long term success are poor if you are not committed
to lifestyle change. Nutrition and exercise behaviors should be
set in place before surgery and need to be maintained for the long
term.
As a Registered Dietitian and Personal Trainer I can assist you
in variety of ways to help you stay motivated and committed to a
healthy lifestyle. I can help you cope with dietary complications
that may occur after your procedure, learn to develop a healthy
relationship with food and build self-esteem. I will help you become
aware of barriers that stand in your way to success and together
we will find ways to break barriers down.
I can work with you one-on-one weekly
by training you and going over your diet records. Or I can create
an exercise program for you, train you once or twice to assure good
form, and then revamp the program quarterly so that you can progress
in intensity and stay interested in being physically active. I can
also set up a check in system by phone or email to help you stay
on track with your exercise and nutrition goals. My goal is to provide
you with the services you need to stay successful and live a long,
healthy life.
Gaining too much weight during
pregnancy increases your risk of developing gestational diabetes
and in turn the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.
Moreover, excessive weight gain increases your chances of having
a large baby, which makes labor and delivery more difficult (yes,
more difficult than it already is!). Women who gain too much weight
during pregnancy have a higher chance of needing a cesarean because
of the large baby size. Lastly women who gain too much weight during
pregnancy tend to have postpartum weight retention, which leads
to obesity.
As a personal trainer and registered
dietitian, my job is to work with you to keep you in your optimum
weight category while relieving some of the most difficult symptoms
of pregnancy. With a little guidance and an individualized nutrition
and fitness plan, pregnancy really can be the most wonderful time
in any woman’s life.
Back to top >
|
|
 |
