How do I work with a Dietitian Virtually without getting my weight done in office?
Often the role of the dietitian is to be the keeper of the weight trend for clients and treatment team. This is true to some degree as we are the keepers of weight trends, but often at the outpatient level of care we want to dig deeper than just weight checks. Even though I tend to be the keeper I don't want it to be the focus of every session. I care but the how, what and why you eat the way that you do. What are you most proud of this week? What has been challenging? If you/your treatment team are concerned about weight trends often a member of the team that is in-person will take the blind weight and update me.
If you are struggling to find an in-person provider on your treatment team there are a couple different ways to monitor your weight.
There is the collaborative weigh in process where the numbers are out there all in the open. You predict your weight trend and tell me supporting evidence of what you think your weight is. Next you step on the scale during our appointment to process what is going on. Was your prediction accurate? Very off? Ideally, with patience and practice this experience becomes less anxiety provoking. The collaborative weigh in process is not the right fit for everyone, so I would never make you do this if you are not ready.
Sometimes when clients struggle with eating disorders they weight themselves excessively. If this behavior is holding clients back in life I often encourage them to just be open and honest with what numbers they see on the scale. Confront the naughty behavior and share the info.
Some of my clients have not stepped on a scale in years, so it's not even a topic we cover or need to cover.
They do make scales that can connect to your RDs computer so the client can stay completely out of it. I haven't had the chance to use one these high tech scales yet, but sounds fascinating and very helpful!
Some of my teen/young adult clients that have their family very involved in their recovery journey. If this is the case sometimes the parents will obtain a blind weight for me and communicate with me an update. This can get tricky because I always encourage parents to complete this task very neutral without facial expressions, comments, tears etc. Being a parent is a tough job and its hard not to get all the feels if the scale is not moving in the right direction. I never want this task between child and parent to be a burden or put strain on the parent/child relationship. If this is the path I stress practicing a poker face, keeping it cool and being neutral.
Blind weights help many people, but there are so many unknown factors in life I always want to prepare my clients for the real world. Clients assert their needs to a new a doctor that they want a blind weight, but with so many sticky notes, computer screens, printed summaries and virtual records its not so much of a mystery. I want to help you gain the confidence that if you find out your weight it will not derail you, define you or determine your days ahead. Another thing to think about is sometimes weight is just a fact to get a task done. It might be a question at the DMV for your license. Or maybe you try skiing for the first time and the shop needs your weight to fit you properly. A number can just be a point of reference. In the grand scheme of things weight is just a force of gravity.
