Nutrition and Wellness Counseling
Achieving health and wellness is not an easy task in today's society. There are far too many opportunities for “convenience” and it takes work to do things naturally and in a more healthful manner. Finding ways to incorporate health and wellness into your already busy lifestyle is a key goal for this program. Once you make some key changes to the types of food you eat and the amount of activity you engage in, achieving health and wellness becomes much easier.
There are a variety of weight loss products and programs on the market today, and many of them will generally produce some degree of weight loss for the individual who purchases the program. However, many programs are designed to have the individual eat pre-packaged meals and supplements without ever learning how to maintain a healthy diet and incorporate exercise into their lifestyle. These programs can also cost in excess of $200-300 per month with the added on meals and supplements – even if they advertise $7.00 per week or similar claims. The simplicity of these programs is convenient, but if you cannot learn how to maintain the weight loss and achieve health and wellness, then there is really no long term benefit.
Weight loss is an important goal for many people, but improving overall health and wellness should be an even more important goal. Thousands people in our society suffer from diabetes, heart disease, and other obesity related diseases. Improving overall health and wellness will help to reduce weight and improve the quality of life, not simply reduce the size of your jeans.
Prior to your initial consultation, you will need to fill out two forms to provide Dr. Howard with some key information that will help make your initial consultation appointment go more smoothly. These forms include a Client Assessment Questionnaire and a Daily Food Record – please print 3 daily food record forms and fill out 3 full days of the food record in order to provide a more detailed idea of what you normally eat and drink the day. Do not change your eating habits for these three days. It is important to get a good baseline of where your dietary habits are starting so that we can get a good idea of how to make changes as needed.
During your initial consultation, the information that you provide will be reviewed, as well as your current goals, readiness for change, and commitment level. Your body mass index will be calculated, your body fat percentage will be obtained, your weight will be recorded, and measurements will be taken of your body. Periodically, these will be re-calculated and recorded so that progress can be monitored. We will calculate your body mass index, find your body fat percentage, and record other measurements to give us a starting point to monitor your progress.
The program includes an initial 45-60 minute consultation with Dr. Howard and weekly 10-15 minute mini-sessions to check on diet, exercise, goals, and measurements. Every two months will be a 30-45 minute evaluation of results and a review of your plan. If more guidance and a re-evaluation of your plan, goals, or fitness levels is needed before 2 month's time, the review can be scheduled earlier. As you feel more comfortable with your lifestyle changes, the frequency of your visits will diminish until you are at your goal. As such, the cost of the program will be collected per session as each and every person will have different goals/requirements. The cost for initial consultation and each review will be $45.00, and each mini-session will be $15.00.
These appointments are scheduled separately from chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture treatments. If you are receiving any other treatment from Dr. Howard, you will need to schedule multiple appointments.