About the expert: Ruthanne Hilbrich has been a registered dietician for 25 years. She specializes in care and support of bariatric patients at Clarian Bariatircs in Carmel, and is also co-president of Flourish, LLC, a nutrition consulting company.

Q: People today are bombarded with a variety of diets and eating strategies. Is there one diet you recommend for your patients?

A: Registered dietitians at Clarian Bariatrics have developed a nutritional regime for successful pre-operative weight loss. It works so well that many of our patients lose so much weight they choose not to have surgery. It’s called the liver reduction diet; it’s low in fat, carbohydrates, and refined sugars — simply low-fat protein and vegetables.

Q: Many people want to lose weight, but don’t have much time for exercise. How can weight loss — although it might not be as significant as weight loss with diet and exercise combined — be achieved through diet alone?

A: Though a nutritious diet combined with exercise will produce the most dramatic and healthiest results, many of my bariatric patients are wheelchair-bound or physically disabled, and the ability to exercise is limited or impossible. Everyone can follow the liver reduction diet and experience weight loss success, regardless of physical ability.

Q: Not all unhealthy eaters are overweight. Many thin people have bad eating practices, and don’t realize the toll it’s taking on their insides. What are the internal adverse effects of unhealthy food?

A: The most serious of health problems will abound, regardless of weight. These include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, just to name a few.

Q: What is the biggest dietary problem you see in America today, and why?

A: Nutritionally speaking, the addition of high-fructose corn syrup in highly processed food items of all types was the beginning of the epidemic of overweight and obesity in the United States.

Q: Drive-throughs are a quick and convenient choice for parents, but unfortunately, it’s setting children up for a lifelong habit of bad nutrition. What are your recommendations for parents on the go who want to feed their children healthy food?

A: I disagree that fast food is “unhealthy” or is “bad nutrition.” Though there are many poor choices at fast-food restaurants, there are always healthy items available to choose. Example:   Order a grilled chicken sandwich without the bun and special sauce, and with extra lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. Vegetables like lettuce and cabbage are healthy vehicles for eating “sandwiches” instead of using bread.

Q: Motivation is key when it comes to sticking with a healthy eating plan. Can you provide our readers with some good motivational strategies for making a permanent change in the way they eat?

A: The magic to motivation is having a plan. The most effective strategy to successful weight loss is daily journaling; record everything you eat and drink ... if you bite it, you write it ... if you drink it, you ink it. Patience and persistence — not perfection — will ensure progress. Having a great support system around you isn’t always possible, but Clarian Bariatrics has the strongest family of loving support available. Find your “family” and watch yourself flourish!



SIDEBAR:

Eating well this holiday season

Ruthanne Hilbrich and Clarian Hospital provide the following healthy eating tips for the holiday season.

n Focus on the family. The holidays don’t have to be about food. Food can be creative, nutritious, and wonderful, but choose to focus on people instead. Holidays are a time to reunite with good friends and family.

n Get the skinny on the menu. What kind of food will be served? When you know in advance, you can take control and plan ahead.

n Lead the pack and bring a healthy dish or dessert that you can eat as well as one that everyone will enjoy. Prove to people that great tasting holiday food doesn’t have to be prepared with a stick of butter and a cup of sour cream.

n Disaster relief. If you do have a bite of that pecan pie, don’t throw your day out the window and eat the rest of the pie. Forgive yourself and move on.

n Stay away. If food is the only thing you’re looking forward to at the party, you probably should not go.

n Out of sight, out of mind. Once you have your plate of holiday food, don’t stand around the table of offerings. If you do, you will be tempted to graze. Get your plate of food and take that with you while you socialize.

n New traditions. Instead of sitting around the TV after dinner, get bundled up and go caroling. Or take a brisk walk around the block. Play a game where you and your group decide which neighbor has the best outdoor holiday décor. Or instead of watching football, get outside and play your own ball game. Make it a tradition to break out the sled or play a family game of basketball after that Thanksgiving or Christmas lunch. Your children will love you for it, and it will become a sweet holiday memory they’ll never forget.

n Keep positively busy. Instead of sampling every dish and dessert brought to the party, make a positive goal to get to know other party guests. Be a good listener. You feel better about yourself when you uplift others. No food can give you that kind of good feeling.

n Drink in hand. If you choose to eat before you go, keep a non-alcoholic beverage in hand to sip on — a practical way to set yourself up to succeed.

n No fear. You have the power to take control of how your holiday season goes. Do not plan on dieting Jan. 1. That will set you up to gorge the whole month of December because you’ll tell yourself that you’ll eat nothing in January. This is a self-destructive mentality.

Relax and enjoy the holiday season.



Rachael Niehaus is a Flyer Correspondent