NUTRITION

WHY NUTRITION IS SO IMPORTANT

Good nutrition is a vital part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Swapping unhealthy foods for healthy ones can improve your health and wellness by increasing the strength of your bones and teeth, improving your energy levels and mental clarity, decreasing your weight (or inches). Not only does good nutrition improve your sleep, it reduces the risk for high blood pressure and chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease. Good nutrition is essential for a body to fight off infection and function properly.

WHEN YOU MIGHT NEED AN EXPERT

There are many reasons to seek out the advice of a nutrition expert. Whether you are looking for a structured eating plan or a short list of changes that are specific and measurable, our nutritionists are committed to helping you reach your health and wellness goals.

You need to lose or gain weight

Making changes to achieve a healthy weight can be challenging, and our nutritionist can help coach you through the process.

You have diabetes or high blood pressure

Our Nutritionist can help you safely change your eating plan without compromising taste or nutrition. We can provide individualized meal plans that are specific to your health concern.

You have food allergies

If you have recently been diagnosed with a food allergy or sensitivity, it can be a challenge to manage new dietary requirements while taking in all the important vitamins and minerals you need. Our nutritionist can help you fill nutritional gaps caused by food allergies.

Your teen struggles with eating healthfully

Are you a parent that struggles to get your teen to eat healthy? Our nutritionist can work with your teen to encourage a healthy, balanced diet that supports a growing body.

You’d like to improve your sport performance

Whether you are training for a triathlon, looking to build muscle mass or simply want to increase your agility, our nutritionist can make recommendations to help you reach your fitness goals.

You want to increase the quality of your life

You may benefit from seeing a nutritionist even if you don’t have any specific heath concerns. Maybe you want suggestions on how to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables or how to eat healthy when dining out or simply want to be held accountable for your food intake, our nutritionist are here to help.

NUTRITION CONSULTATIONS

In a nutrition consultation, you will work with a nutrition counselor to assess your diet and discuss areas where change is needed, in relation to your own health and activity goals. The nutrition counselor will provide guidance for improving your overall diet.

The process begins with a simple questionnaire, to help create a picture of your dietary intake and certain other considerations, such as medical conditions. The consultation is an opportunity to discuss a process you can follow to incorporate your dietary changes into a healthy lifestyle, based on goals you set for yourself.

As part of the process, the nutritionist will prepare a guide that will act as a resource. Based on your needs and preferences, the nutritionist will then make further recommendations, such as sample meals and snacks.

NUTRITION WORKSHOPS

Our workshops go beyond planning to involve some of the practical challenges of eating well, such as healthy cooking and grocery shopping.

Better Nutrition Workshop Series

Examples of workshops that have been offered include:

• Eating Healthy on a Budget
• How to Stock your Fridge and Pantry for Success
• Kids Healthy Cooking
• Super Market Smarts/ Label Reading
• Nutrition Tips for the Busy Professional
• Older Adult Nutrition

YMCA PROGRAMS WITH NUTRITION COMPONENTS

We have built detailed nutrition components into some of our core program offerings.

Weigh to Change

This 10-week weight loss program incorporates nutrition and physical activity into a comprehensive program. On top of working out with a personal trainer individually each week and as a group, participants will also meet one on one with the nutritionist. During this time, the nutritionist will help individuals discover what has been holding them back from losing weight in the past and how to get back on track. The nutritionist will set each individual up with a healthy eating action plan during their one on one consultation. Participants will also have the opportunity to attend several grocery store tours, healthy eating seminars and recipe modification workshops all led by the nutritionist.

Virtual Weigh to Change

We’ve taken our super-effective Weigh to Change program virtual to meet the needs of members with the most hectic schedules! By using online tools and express group training sessions, we’re able to save you time and keep you progressing.

Way to Change

This 8-week healthy lifestyle program is designed for teens ages 13-18. Along with working out individually with a trainer and as a group twice a week, the nutritionist will meet with each teen one on one for nutrition education. Teens will also attend several “nutrition hours” which include: a trip to Cumberland Farms where teens will learn to make healthy choices on the go, a grocery store tour with parents, a trip to a local restaurant to learn how to make mindful choices when eating out and two nutrition workshops where teens learn how to prepare their own healthy meals.

Eat Well, Be Well

Designed to inspire and educate individuals on healthy eating, this personalized, 8-week program caters completely to individual needs and health concerns. The program includes progress measurements, where we track health indicators using our Styku body scanner, an interactive tool that measures changes in body inches, lean body mass and fat mass. Individuals will also go on a healthy grocery store tour where they can learn identify a variety of healthy options, read food labels and learn healthy preparation methods for different foods.