— Sally Rudebeck

So as a food coach, what you're going to do is you are going to assess someone's diet from a food perspective, not a nutrient perspective 'cause you're not a nutritionist. And you are going to look at what is their intake of fruit or vegetables or grains. And in each of those intakes will be asking about their barriers, right? So in terms of their barriers, is it they don't know how to cook, they don't know how to shop, they don't have access to it. And you'll find out a lot of information and then you put on your motivational interviewing hat and you ask the participant, what would you like to focus on? And I like to say to people, 'cause I've been practicing for so many years, it took them a long time to get to where they're at. There is no quick easy fix. And this isn't like throwing a lot of stuff at an individual. When you practice motivational interviewing, which is, uh, a part of this course, in all of the food modules, you are basically asking individuals to be the expert in their own lives. 'cause they are, right? They only spend about an hour with you a week or maybe they spend 20 minutes with their doctor, but they're spending the rest of the time in their own kitchens, in their own communities and environments. And when you give them the space and the time and just let them talk without you having an agenda, you will learn what motivators and influencers are really at the top of their mind. And then you deal with them one by one and you create what's called a smart goal, which is creating a goal that is focused on just one thing at a time. And that's how you build awareness. You build awareness through listening, mostly listening, but also inquiring and giving the space for people to go at their own pace and to say what they need to say without any judgment. And to me, that's what is really super important. And what I saw at the wait and wellness center that I developed at Dartmouth-Hitchcock was that when people came and saw our clinicians, whether that was a nurse, a dietician, a physician, they ended up crying because they were asked what it is they needed as opposed to being told what I think you need. So it's switching that less none what I think you need. And I I'm an expert, I I have my ideas, but I'm gonna put things in front of you and then I am going to let you take the lead. All right, there we go.