Like most long-term Fitness Incentive members, I knew there was an Eat Smart program with an on-staff nutritionist. I saw her, waved at her, wondered what she did, and let it go at that. Nutritionists were for people with diabetes or health fanatics, not “regular” folk like me.

Here is an actual conversation I had with my brother a few years back.

Brother: “I am seeing a nutritionist.”
Me: “What!?”
Brother: “Yep.”
Me: “Can’t you stick to a diet for once on your own?”
Brother: “It’s not about that.”
Me: “Okay, whatever.”

Turns out he was right. Nutritionists are not niche characters who hang out in essential oil environments touting the necessity of a raw food regime. Nor are they cruel taskmasters who shame you for slip-ups. They are real people who encourage you to have pie during the holidays, along with a healthy diet that’s been created for you and you alone. Here’s my experience, so far, with our new Eat Smart nutritionist, Liz Keller.

I met with Liz after my Saturday stretch class with Cathy Peacock. Be prepared, she’s small but mighty! We went through the black exercise room behind the boutique and up the stairs to a suite of offices. Did you know there were offices up there? I only knew because I had participated in a Fantastic 4 Fitness contest, and that’s where the fancy scale was located. Liz and I sat down in her office, and we talked about my lifestyle, goals, and eating habits. I had been using the Blue Apron food delivery service, Weight Watchers division, and she was happy to incorporate that into my meal plan. Ultimately I decided to pause the service and go on Liz’s diet exclusively – for the sake of science. I’d get my personalized diet when we met the next week. After getting to know each other, we marched into the weigh-in room.

Weighing-in is never a bright spot in my week; I prefer to keep a range in my head that I can live with, regardless of what my jeans may be telling me. I also invented the hand in the air proclamation at the doctor’s office, “I weighed in last time.” In fairness, I only do that if it’s true. Anyway, we moved to the back office for a visit to the InBody 570 body composition device. To call it a scale would be like calling Southard’s Pond Lake Erie. You step on it with bare feet while holding waist-high “arms” both with built-in sensors. In about 60 seconds it tells you your weight, BMI, body fat, and water percentage, and lots of other data. To learn more about this next-level fitness superstar, visit here: https://www.fitnessincentive.com/assessments/.

Liz gave me the option of learning my weight or not. Not knowing doesn’t change it, so I went for the “The More You Know” approach. Clearly, I had some work to do.

At no time did Liz make me feel anything but perfect, but she was there to help make me be my best me. She is upbeat without being annoyingly perky and young, but smart. I felt very good about the journey ahead and would be armed with a diet, a shopping list, and someone to be accountable to. There’s no, “I’m fat, but all I want to do is complain about it” here. Liz and Eat Smart are about lifelong changes, small but steady weight loss and never starving. Onward to better health!

Original art by Christine Jelley

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Christine Jelley

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