What to Expect From Your Appointment
If you have never seen a dietitian before, you may be wondering about how the appointments work and what will happen during your sessions. It’s understandable if you have some apprehensions about what to expect which is why we’ve written this guide to help you to work out which clinic is right for you. Read on to find out more about how the Fresh Approach Nutrition clinics work.
Who will I see?
We have specialist dietitians who cover 2 different diet-related clinics: IBS & digestive health conditions and eating disorders. Below is an outline of each clinic to help you to understand which would be best suited to you.
- Digestive Health Clinic – This clinic is run by our Specialist IBS & Digestive Health dietitians. They see individuals in this clinic with digestive health concerns such as IBS, diverticulitis, bloating, constipation, loose stools, and food intolerances. They work with clients in person at the clinic in Redland, Bristol or via online appointments; whichever works best for you. In an in-depth consultation, you’ll discuss your digestive health issues and come up with an action plan for the best way to tackle them.
- Eating Disorder Clinic – This clinic is headed up by our Specialist Eating Disorder dietitians. It is designed for those who feel that they have a difficult relationship with food. Our eating disorder dietitians are happy to see anyone who feels ready to make positive changes to the way they view food, whether or not you have a formal eating disorder diagnosis. They will help you unravel the complexities of your relationship with food, offering you evidence-based strategies to foster a healthier mindset around food. Just to let you know, appointments are online appointments only and slots are limited.
Here’s the lowdown about your appointment
So you think you know which dietitian/clinic is best for you, but you’d still like to know more about what happens during the appointments. Read on to find out:
During your appointment
During the appointment you will talk through what has led you to making your appointment in a bit more detail including information about any medical investigations you’ve had, if relevant, or anything that you’ve already tried to help with your condition. You’ll discuss your medical history, medications and supplements to make sure that your dietitian is up to speed with everything they need to consider as you go through the appointment. You may also discuss your symptoms in a bit more detail, for example if you are being seen in the digestive health clinic you will conduct a symptom tracker which rates your symptoms based on severity and you’ll complete the same tracker at follow up appointments to work out how your symptoms are improving over time.
You’ll then talk through your typical routine in relation to food, fluids and activity levels. You may be thinking ‘I don’t have a good routine, that’s the problem!’ That’s ok, we see that a lot and we’re here to help if that’s a particular difficulty for you.
Once your dietitian has completed the assessment part of the appointment, you will discuss next steps regarding follow up appointments. You may go away with some dietary and lifestyle changes to get started with after the initial appointment but this depends on time and will be discussed with you by your dietitian.
The real work will start at your first follow up appointment where you will start to learn more about dietary and lifestyle management strategies that can help your condition. The key thing you will go away with from appointments is a set of specific goals which are tailored to you, based on the dietary and lifestyle recommendations. Rather than provide you with a prescriptive meal plan we prefer to set goals which feel achievable for you based on your lifestyle, routine and preferences.
How do I book?
If you think you are ready to book, great! The first step is to book a free, 15 minute discovery call so that we can ascertain which dietitian would be the best fit for your needs.