Nutrition Presentation

A month ago I had the opportunity to present to a group of pre and post deployment military members. The majority were Security Force member, these defenders were completing a Yellow Ribbon ceremony requirement, along with a few members of other units and squadrons. I was so pleased to be invited to speak and create a presentation that was specifically geared toward defenders. It was a nutrition based presentation that encompassed all facets of health and wellness to include sleep hygiene, meal prepping, stress management, and dietary. Being that I am rounding out my degree program I am quite confident in my nutrition knowledge and wanted to really hone in on the importance of it now and for later in life, especially among military members and their families. I covered many aspects of nutrition everything from sustainability to availability of foods.

My presentation contained a slide for fad diets, it elicited a mixed response in the room and it was honestly refreshing to dispel some diet culture bullish*t. I explained the legitimacy of these diets, or lack there of, and explained the damage and harm they can do. I offered a past conversation with a client and my disappointment in society's hold in diet culture. A client was looking for making changes to gain health but also lose weight. I explained the best way she could do this, knowing her schedule, eating habits, current stress factors, lifestyle, and unfortunately she didn't feel this would be enough. She wanted more restriction, she wanted foods to completely swear off, and ones to glorify and I simply didn't offer her what she was looking for. I said, 

"Our society has normalized restriction so much that when I propose a balanced lifestyle, most of my clients simply think it's not enough." And I think I offered the gravity of that remark to my audience. Society has a way of making us feel as if we are never doing enough.

This all or nothing mentality is so damaging and quite literally sets everyone up for failure. Most people would eagerly remove an entire food group or consider consuming something they don't even like to eat in the name of "health". This is why as health care professionals, all of us need to refocus our viewpoints and stop succumbing to diet culture, we are guilty of it too. We need to be smarter and look not only at what's in front of us, but take a step back and look at the ENTIRE picture. Nutrition isn't a one size fits all thing, it can't be put in one single box, and it doesn't look the same for everyone. I hope to have more opportunities in the future to expand on my presentation skills and more importantly share my knowledge and view point. This is only the beginning for me & I can't wait to see how my presentation skills evolve and grow!