The University of Minnesota Physicians (M Physicians) Mill City Clinic is home to Eating for Wellness, a nutrition planning program that aims to increase patient access to nutrition services. Mackenzie Dougherty, RD, a registered dietitian at the Mill City Clinic, leads Eating for Wellness and helps patients create realistic nutrition plans to reach their individual health goals.
Many people who look for tools to support their health through nutrition may have difficulty finding a dietitian, or they discover that it’s not always covered by their insurance. The Eating for Wellness program allows patients to come in on a visit-by-visit basis to discuss their nutrition goals and set a plan for the future. For each patient that comes into the clinic, Mackenzie helps them create a personalized nutrition plan.
Common types of nutritional goals
According to Mackenzie, many patients come to her with diagnosis-driven nutrition goals. Weight management is one of the more common goals patients discuss with her. “For a lot of people that means weight loss, but some people are looking to manage their weight in terms of maintenance or even promoting weight gain,” she says.
She also creates plans for patients that support heart health and diabetes management. These types of nutrition plans help patients look into ways they can lower their cholesterol and blood pressure, support their blood sugar goals or manage pre-diabetes through dietary choices.
Eating for Wellness also supports patients looking for healthy snack ideas, meal prep support or nutrition guidance to aid in athletic activity. “Those are the subcategories that we might talk about, but it really depends on what the patient is looking for,” Mackenzie says.
Creating personalized nutrition plans
During each patient’s first visit with Mackenzie, she spends time discussing their health history, daily lifestyle and their specific goals. After she has a better understanding of what each patient is looking for, they work together to create a plan tailored to them.
“We can set a bit of a roadmap, identifying some of the longer-term goals and where we want to go, and then break that down into more manageable steps,” she says. “So when they’re leaving, then we can have one to three big bullet points that they’re thinking about and moving forward.”
When patients come in for follow-up visits, Mackenzie focuses on what parts of their nutrition plan have been working well and where they might need to make some adjustments. “From there, we can continue building that plan to kind of get where they want to be long-term,” she explains.
Keeping plans realistic and sustainable
According to Mackenzie, when customizing each nutrition plan, it’s important to understand the challenges patients have encountered when making lifestyle changes in the past and use that information to determine a practical course of action.
To keep each plan manageable, Mackenzie recommends that her patients make small nutritional changes over a longer period of time. “When we kind of make huge changes, they're just so hard to sustain,” she says. “I think a lot of people have experienced that by the time they meet with me.”
The Eating for Wellness program provides nonjudgemental, practical support for patients, recognizing the role that nutrition plays in overall well-being. The program empowers patients by providing them with the knowledge, resources and guidance they need to make positive lifestyle changes while maintaining a positive relationship with food.
“Part of my personal nutrition philosophy is trying to find a way that nutrition feels like your support tool and not like an added chore,” Mackenzie says. “I aim to avoid the judgment so common among more traditional ‘diet’ plans.”
Call the Mill City Clinic at 612-338-1383 to schedule an Eating for Wellness visit with Mackenzie today!