I will work with my doctor, dietitian, or healthcare team to set up a specific weight loss plan

Main Points: Specific components to ask your doctor to include in a weight loss plan (i.e. monitoring food and activity and follow up); what a dietitian is, benefits of working with a dietitian on weight loss, and how to find a dietitian in your area.

Make your healthcare team aware of your weight loss goal and include them as part of your weight management team! They will support your decision to lose weight because achieving a healthy weight can help you control your cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.

A healthful weight loss plan involves components of learning, adapting and tracking for most of us.

Figuring out what foods and how much to eat
Adapting to new foods or foods prepared a different way
Tracking what works and what doesn’t
Being physically active on most days of the week

Ask your doctor’s office for help in identifying tools and resources as well as following up with you after your visit. You may also ask for a referral to see a Registered Dietitian.

What Is an RD (or RDN)?

Registered dietitians and Registered Dietitian Nutritionists, or RDNs, are food and nutrition experts that know how a healthy diet improves health and fights disease. They can develop personalized nutrition plans and help you to separate facts from fads into information you can use. A registered dietitian can put you on the path to a healthy weight, eating healthfully and reducing your risk of chronic disease.

A registered dietitian will partner with you to develop a safe, effective weight-loss plan that you can stick with for the long haul. To guide and motivate you, an RD will use creative and out-of-the-box strategies to help with meal planning, grocery shopping, food journaling and mindful eating.

After learning about your health history, favorite foods, eating and exercise habits, an RD will help you set goals and prioritize. Follow-up visits will focus on maintenance and monitoring your progress.

To locate a dietitian in your area, you may search a list maintained by the Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition at eatright.org/iframe/findrd.aspx. This list will identify geographic areas and specialties as well.

Adapted from: eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442472620