Blog By a Dietitian
By Courtney Barth
With one simple google search you will find a million of ways to diet. Our society has implemented one diet after another, and it can be quite confusing to know what foods you should be eating for your health. The dieting culture has also enforced that weight loss and being thin was the ideal image of health, but health is so much more than a number on the scale. My name is Courtney, and I am a registered dietitian based in Cleveland Ohio. After years of failing at one diet after another, I was tired of feeling like I had no idea what I needed to eat to be thin. During high school, being thin was the ideal. I found myself trying diets, getting tired of them, gaining all my weight back, trying another diet, and the cycle kept going on.
It was one day when I told myself, enough. I want to eat to feel healthy, not to be thin. That is when I decided to go to school to become a registered dietitian. I was on my own personal health journey, and the more I learned about nutrition and how important it is to have a well-balanced diet, the healthier my relationship with food and my body image became.
To become a registered dietitian, you need to complete a four-year bachelor’s degree; Mine was in food and nutrition. Once you complete your bachelor’s degree you apply for a dietetic internship. This is usually 9 months long, in which you get experience in a variety of fields such as hospitals, wellness centers, nursing homes, schools, gyms, etc. During your internship you rotate about every 3-4 weeks to a different preceptor. I loved my internship! I found learning about all the different fields was motivating. During your internship you are required to do projects and homework to show your progress. Once the internship is complete, your internship director will sign off for you to be eligible for the dietitian exam. This is about 2 hours long, with about 200 questions! It is a timed exam that you take at a testing center. You use what you have learned thus far to take the exam. Once you complete the exam, and pass, you are officially a registered dietitian! Every five years you need 75 continuing education credits, which help you stay in the loop of all the science and studies that are happening in the food and nutrition world!
I currently work at a doctor’s office as an outpatient dietitian. For my job, I see clients that were referred by their doctor to see me. I will get an extensive history on them, assess them, and come up with a nutrition plan that is sustainable for their lifestyle. This is why I love being a dietitian; dietitian’s get to know you, diets don’t. As a dietitian, I believe that all kinds of foods can fit into our diet, we just have to learn how to adjust portion sizes, fuel up on high fiber and protein foods to feel full and satisfied, and learn to trust ourselves around desserts and sweets. As a dietitian I teach clients how to do all of this, and to ditch the all-or-nothing diet mentality. The human body is so smart, so when we fuel it, it will respond is such a positive way!
A healthy lifestyle is one that embraces that our bodies are beautiful, that food is meant to be fuel and not meant to be something we must restrict. A lot of dietitians touch on the concept of ‘intuitive eating,’ which is a style of eating that allows you to learn your inner hunger and fullness cues, which develops a healthy relationship with food, your mind, and your body. Being a dietitian is truly such an amazing career!
