How This Dietitian Helps Her Clients at the Intersection of Nutrition & Mental Health

Have you ever wondered how nutrition can impact mental wellness?

In today's episode, we’ll be talking about nutrition therapy for brain health and mental wellness for individuals who live with anxiety and depression. Joining us is a Canadian Registered Dietician, fellow Meal Garden team member, and owner of The Daily Grind Nutrition, Terri Rutledge.

Through her practices, Terri teaches individuals, specifically women, how to manage their symptoms with food and lifestyle modifications so they can reclaim their joy and embrace their “daily grind” with calm and confidence.

Let’s start with the biggest question I’m sure you are all wondering…

Why is nutrition important for mental health?

There are so many different avenues in which nutrition impacts mental wellness.

The more trending topic lately is the connection between your brain and your gut - otherwise known as brain-gut access.

It’s about how the microorganism community in your gut is super important in manufacturing components in the creation and maintenance of these neurotransmitters, which, in layman's terms means that whatever we eat and put into our bodies is going to impact our mental wellness as well.

Poor gut health can either disrupt communication, cause inflammation or result in oxidative stress, which is prolonged stress or environmental factors that increase body stress.

If someone is feeling anxiety or depression, why hire a dietitian to help?

“There's many kinds of behaviors and habits that individuals living with anxiety and depression encounter as challenges. A common one that I see is less motivation and energy to plan, shop and prepare nourishing snacks and meals." - Terri

Other behaviors include:

• Emotional eating
• Increased cravings due to changes in hormones
• Changes in appetite due to medications
• Experience overwhelm and inability to make decisions at home or the grocery store

The first step is to address mindset and habits first before diving into specifics of meal planning or recipes.

Or in other words…

“Mindset work first.” - Terri

What is the approach or process you take when onboarding new clients?

Before a client comes in, I send out an intake form and get a good feel on topic areas or issues they want to focus on in the appointment. I send it out prior so that we can dive a little deeper and fan out what the deep-seated issue is and how we can address it as a team.

The first appointment is about formulating a plan, mindset work, and question and answer to further investigate and again, dive deeper.

What questions do you find to be the most compelling in asking your clients and be able to share that sensitive information?

The biggest thing is being observant of what they are saying and formulating questions from that.

Such as:

• Why are clients doing a particular thing?
• Why are they choosing a particular thing?
• Why might that food make them feel that way?

This helps me figure out where they're at in their nutritional knowledge and it makes them feel heard.

Validating what they are going through establishes trust and in turn, makes them more likely to open up.

What are some of the tools you use in your virtually-focused business?

Keeping a running list at all times and of all systems helps me figure out where payments are going every month. There are a lot of great free tools out there too.

Some of the tools that I use are:

• Wix for website
• Practice perfect EMR for tracking clients and notetaking
• ConvertKit for newsletters
• Canva for marketing
• Meal Garden for the core of my business including making meal guides, recipe collections, and recipe books.

How does Meal Garden help as it relates to running your business?

With Meal Garden and my clients, I love to give a sample 7-day meal plan to show them how to integrate foods into their diet that is beneficial for mood and anxiety. I also can provide them with recipes and shopping lists.

“I have gotten great feedback from clients on how helpful Meal Garden is. They use the meal plans to the tea for the first little while, but they eventually learn and feel confident to build the meals themselves.” - Terri

My personal favorite is the meal plan collections because I can put together a collection from the huge database of recipes in minutes. Recently I made one for quick and easy things to bake in bulk so you can store it in the fridge or freezer and have it on hand for when you are lacking energy.

How do you take care of your own mental wellness as a private practice dietitian?

My interest in mental health stems from my personal history of mental illness.

I live with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and mild depression- which has been under control for the better part of 3 years.

It’s been a long journey and a lot of trial and error with what works and what doesn’t but I think I finally got it down packed and I wanted to share my strategy with the world.

I realized after years of university and working at the same time that I was dragging myself way too thin. Learning to listen to my body, what it needs and doesn't need, and when it needs a break.

“Balance and boundaries.” - Terri

I really enjoy being outside and just going for walks calms me down and clears my mind.

Listening to music also calms me instantly when working on a big project or meeting a deadline.

The last thing is exercise. Simply moving my body, getting up, stretching, yoga, or running, it really just depends on what my body needs that day.

For those who want to learn more about Terri, work with Terri, or stay in touch online, check out her website, The Daily Grind Nutrition, or her Instagram, @dailygrindnutrition_.

Inviting your feedback: What value did you get out of this podcast episode? What could we have done differently to make it a more successful listening experience for you? What questions do you wish were asked or elaborated on further? Let us know! Email the host directly: kiki.athanas@mealgarden.com

‍