3 Things We Dive Into In This Episode:
- Failure, pivoting, and the winding road to becoming a Registered Dieitian
- The difference between nutritionists, dietitians, and therapists.
- Why we DON'T focus on the pursuit of intentional weight loss at our practice
📘Resources
- Release restrictive dieting, break free from body shame, & create habits that help you live fully! Sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!
- Connect with me: Website | Instagram
- Pursuit of Intentional Weight Loss - A study by Caitie
📌Episode Highlights
[01:38] Kindness for Yourself
- Take a quiet moment to be kind to yourself and spread that kindness with each other.
- Being kind to yourself can give you the energy to do things and build good relationships.
[12:03] Who is Christina?
- Christina Constantinou is a registered dietitian with experience working in different roles. She is a clinical dietitian and fills an outpatient role at Full Soul Nutrition.
- Her Greek origins are a significant part of her identity.
- Many would describe her as a warm, cozy, and down-to-earth person. People often find themselves comfortable talking to her.
- Christina’s work as a dietitian brought out the best of these characteristics within her.
[15:41] The Many Hats of a Dietitian
- As a clinical dietitian, Christina works in an inpatient setting at a hospital alongside doctors and other dietitians.
- She counsels patients whose treatments include diet and lifestyle changes. Usually, she would only have a short time with them.
- Christina works one-on-one with her patients for an hour each at Full Soul Nutrition. She discusses several different things regarding nutrition and better health.
- The counseling skills she honed as a clinical dietitian carry over in her outpatient role.
- Christina first was a relatively new dietitian when the pandemic hit. She learned to be adaptable and work well under pressure.
[21:24] Step-By-Step Guide to Becoming a Dietitian
- Christina’s journey to becoming a dietitian was one of her biggest challenges.
- The first step is to take prerequisite nutrition and science courses in your undergraduate studies.
- The next step is to apply and match with a dietetic internship and complete hours of supervised work.
- To match for an internship, you have to apply to different offered programs and rank them. There's a 50% chance of matching with your preferred program.
- Lastly, you must pass your board exam to become a registered dietitian.
[25:30] Overcoming Obstacles
- One of Christina's terrifying moments in her journey was when she didn't match with any of her preferred programs.
- Fortunately, she found out that she could apply for programs that hadn't filled their spots. She applied everywhere she could.
- Christina matched with a program from home and moved her whole life from New Jersey to Missouri.
- Despite the change, she completed her internship and passed the board exam on her second try.
- Christina and I both found that the real learning starts once you begin your career as a dietitian.
[32:03] Christina’s Internship Experiences
- Christina had to move to Missouri at 21 years old and face terrifying challenges alone. Despite that, she found it was one of her best decisions.
- Christina’s struggles made her stronger. What she thought was the end of the career she dreamed of became the beginning of her journey.
- She learned to be more sensitive and find value in her experiences. It's hard to do what's best for you, but Christina persevered.
Christina: “Taking each day by day and really finding value in each of these experiences and everything that was happening in my life at that time. Professionally, personally, and spiritually, all of these things made me so much stronger. It made me such a better clinician.”
- Christina had thought she was an incompetent dietitian because of her failings. Similarly, I also faced failure in the form of other people's judgments.
- Our failures don’t define our abilities as dietitians. Instead, it built our resilience and taught us to grow stronger.
[42:46] Defining Dietitians
- Dietitians vs. Nutritionists: dietitians must be licensed or registered to practice. However, nutritionists are not regulated.
- Dietitians vs. Therapists: therapists often work to understand the reasons behind your behavior, thoughts, and feelings. They take action to improve mental health.
- Dietitians won’t psychoanalyze you. Though there may be overlap, they focus on proper nutrition for better health.
- Dietitians educate their patients about nutrition and explore their relationship with food and their bodies.
- It’s okay to have a therapeutic relationship with your nutrition counselor. Working as a dietitian goes beyond teaching what’s healthy and not.
[50:31] Weight Loss and Better Health
- Restriction of food is one of the most consistent predictors of weight gain. Focusing on weight loss can mean focusing on shame.
- Restrictions stop you from being your whole self. It promotes negative emotions rather than a positive mindset.
Christina: “If the end goal is supposed to be positive, how are we going to get there with all of these negative emotions and negative steps? So I think shifting the light and shifting the mindset of noticing and realizing that if you're going to be at your most positive and best self, you have to do so in a positive way and in positive mindsets.”
- Remember that weight is not a reliable indicator of health. It’s more important to look at behaviors.
Caitie: “Weight is not a behavior, individuals and an individual's body shape or size does not tell you anything about how they live their lives and how they do or do not intend to pursue health.”
- Society today is fatphobic; this stigma negatively impacts your health more than weight.
- Stay tuned for part two of this episode, where Christina and I answer more of your questions!
About Christina
Christina Constantinou is an Associate Dietitian at Full Soul Nutrition and a clinical dietitian. She's a registered and licensed dietitian, a certified Intuitive Eating Counselor in Training, and has a Master's degree in Health Communication and a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science. Her individualized approach to nutrition helps her educate and empower people's relationships with food.
Connect with Christina and learn more about her on Full Soul Nutrition’s website.
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Whole, Full, and Alive is a podcast exploring the art and science of falling in love with your life, with your story, and with who you truly are — underneath your titles, your resume, your relationship status, and your bank account.
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