My Journey to Helping Women Lose Weight

Welcome!

For those that have been following me for a while and to those who may be newer, I want to start by saying HELLO! And thank you for hanging out with me.

My name is Miranda. I am a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES).

I live in Schertz, Texas (just north of San Antonio) with my wonderful husband, Elijah. We love to travel and live active lives - hiking, biking, state and national parks, camping, backpacking, running… If it’s outdoors, consider us in! I have worked as a bariatric dietitian in San Antonio for many years and I absolutely love what I do!

In 2019 I began my own private practice - Life in Balance Nutrition Consulting. My goal in this practice is to reach more people and share my passion for health with as many people as possible! My passion for what I do is reignited everytime I see the lightbulb moment in my clients eyes. When they finally realize after years of dieting - their relationship with food does not have to be a negative one and they don’t have to let food control them.

How did I get here?

Now, I promise not to make you read a whole blog post about me... I guarantee you there is some value for you to take away!

I wanted to talk about my mindset before I became a dietitian, and how I’ve developed a new way of thinking.

I attended undergraduate school at Texas State University in San Marcos with thoughts about getting my degree in a few different things before landing in the world of dietetics. I’d always known I wanted to do something in health care, something where I could help people and be a teacher or counselor. I enjoy more than anything building relationships and seeing people progress and I feel thankful I can play a small part in helping them become a better version of themselves.

But, you want to know what finally solidified my decision to study dietetics, the ins and outs of the human body, health, food supply, etc?

I was so fed up with hearing different information around every corner…

Today eggs are bad, tomorrow they are good… Saturated fat increases cholesterol? Or does it?…

Cucumber is a fruit? Or a vegetable?? (okay, that one is kind of a joke…)

But in all seriousness, I am a person that wants facts. I want proof and research… I despise being deceived, lied to, confused and frustrated - especially around food, diet, weight loss and health. Food, health and weight loss products are a MASSIVE market in our society. We see thousands of ads per day with a large percentage of those being for food, healthy eating, or weight loss. Our brains are (consciously and subconsciously) overwhelmed by all of the information we receive.

I felt companies were taking advantage of my (and other’s) ignorance in this area. So, I decided becoming a dietitian was the perfect way to help people, clear up information for myself, and someday help improve my own health as well as my families.

Now, it may sound like I’m headed into something like - now that I’m a dietitian I have all the answers! Things are so clear and easy… But that is simply not the case.

Many days I feel far from an expert.

I have worked several years and helped thousands of clients to take back their health, improve their relationship with food, lose weight and reach goals, but there is still so much to learn. I often feel that I am learning as much from my clients as they are from me.

My approach to helping my clients is to get a good picture of their health and weight history, current lifestyle, and eating patterns and routines. We work towards making small changes to these food patterns and lifestyles. Even though the changes are small, they make a drastic difference in the long run. The beauty to this approach is sustainability.

You’ve heard the quote “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime…” (Lao Tzu).

This is how I feel about “dieting”. Sure - a meal plan can be helpful for a week or a month or maybe 3 months… but what happens when you go on vacation? Or when you don’t have time to cook the meal or buy the groceries… then what?

I want to teach people how to eat for the “real world” - how to give yourself grace for the days you work late or have a sick kid or have a full 12 hour day with no breaks from work, kids sports and other commitments.

“Dieting” may be easy for you on the routine days when the fridge is full of healthy foods and life is how it “should be”… but let’s be real, there are probably more hard days than there are easy.

I say all of this to encourage you that you can do this. I know some days it’s hard and feels impossible. I know some days you simply want to give up. But DON’T.

In past and future blog articles, I want to share with you some valuable tips, tricks, tools and information that will help you through this journey called life with better health and a happier heart that is more at peace with yourself and food.

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If you could use some assistance or accountability, please reach out and let me know how I can help!

Email me at miranda@lifeinbalancenutrition.net