For many, establishing a healthy relationship with food can be a difficult process. Baptist Health's Weight & Nutrition Center is helping individuals achieve their goals — whether they seek to lose a few pounds, manage chronic conditions or simply feel better. We asked Mitchell Kirby, Registered Dietitian specializing in Bariatrics, to tell us more about the center and its offerings.
What services does the Baptist Health Weight and Nutrition Center provide?
The Baptist Health Weight and Nutrition Center offers Medical Nutrition Therapy for a range of medical conditions, weight gain and weight loss, along with medication management for obesity. Depending on the patient's needs, we also conduct body composition analyses using InBody Scans. This provides detailed insights into changes in muscle mass, body fat percentage and visceral body fat between visits.
How does Baptist Health customize plans to suit each individual's needs?
Everyone is very different, and while some do well when they are more restrictive or follow fad diets, the majority needs some kind of flexibility to ensure it is something they can maintain for a lifetime. Our role is to give guidance to the individual to gradually make these lifestyle changes in a way that feels less restrictive and easier to stick to. Through motivational interviewing, we encourage the patients to create their own goals for the topics discussed, rather than ordering them to achieve goals that were forced on them. When patients set their own goals, they are much more likely to follow through with the changes.
Your program encourages participants to set attainable goals. Why is this important?
Setting smaller, more realistic goals is much more effective for creating permanent lifestyle changes. While this process is slower than crash diets, it fosters lasting change that can be maintained, preventing the "yo-yo" dieting cycle of significant weight loss followed by regaining the weight.
Why should one seek professional help when beginning a weight-loss journey?
For anyone seeking guidance on weight loss, I strongly recommend consulting Registered Dietitians (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN) specifically. We are required to complete a 1,200-hour internship, hold bachelor's and master's degrees and pass a national examination to practice. We are extensively trained in a wide range of disease processes and specialize in counseling patients to achieve their goals.
How does Baptist Health's weight loss program differ from other programs?
Our weight loss program is exceptionally comprehensive. We are well-versed in nutrition and also discuss strategies to incorporate exercise. Additionally, we have a nurse practitioner who collaborates with our dietitians for medication weight management. We can prescribe GLP-1 and other weight loss medications, but we always ensure that all patients receive medical nutrition therapy to achieve the right kind of weight loss. Our clinic is also equipped with an InBody scanner, allowing us to determine whether weight loss is from body fat or muscle mass.
For more information, visit bhweightandnutrition.com.
We are extensively trained in a wide range of disease processes and specialize in counseling patients to achieve their goals.