COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — The month of March is considered National Nutrition Month and WRBL reached out to a local dietician to shed more light on how to maintain a healthy diet.

On Friday morning during an interview, Jamie Benefield, a dietician at Mercy Med of Columbus, said her goal is to make clients feel comfortable and understand that changing and maintaining a healthy diet does not mean people cannot enjoy their favorite food.  

“People interpret a visit with a dietician to mean she’s going to take away everything that I love.  I’ll never be able to enjoy, you know, insert food here ever again.  Right. And  that’s really not what we want to promote. So here at Mercy Med, we really do try to look at the person as a whole.  Look at that complete loss of lives and really see beyond just the weight on the scale.”

Jamie Benefield, Registered Dietitian at Mercy Med of Columbus

Benefield mentioned one of the many ways a person can maintain healthy eating habits during inflation is through creating a budget and shopping list.

“We can’t ignore all of these societal and environmental aspects as we’re looking at nutrition, right? Like it is about finding foods that have a good composition of your macronutrients that are filling your bodies, but also ones that are staying true to your culture.”

She also noted that it is important to have balance when working toward better eating practices and recommends going to see a dietician especially when exercising or actively pursuing other health goals like losing or gaining weight.

We have this perception that if we eat less, then maybe we’ll be healthier or our bodies will be smaller. But in truth, we really want to make sure that we’re adequately fueling our bodies throughout the day, which means eating breakfast, not filling up on our caffeine drink that tricks our body and thinking that we’re full and satisfied.