Posted on Fri, Sep. 12, 2003

Rah! Rah! Rah!

A new kind of coach pushes food-challenged clients to get on the right track.

BY GITA SITARAMIAH
Pioneer Press

There's almost nothing food coach Chere Bork won't do for her clients.

She's taken an emergency late-night call from a man at a rib joint who needed to be stopped. She's accompanied another client to the movies to analyze his weakness for candy bars and buttered popcorn. She's calculated the caloric intake of the monster-sized portions clients order.

"I've walked with them, done weight training with them," says Bork, a registered dietitian who holds a master's degree in adult education. "I'm their life cheerleader."

There are coaches who force you to exercise and coaches who tell you how to manage your life. Now, get ready for the food coach. The personal trainers of nutrition push food-challenged clients to eat right, show them how to shop, explain food labels and dole out advice so they can lead healthier lives. Rates can vary, depending on a client's needs. Bork charges a straight $250 for three half-hour sessions

You won't find food coaches in the Yellow Pages yet. The profession is new. But often, they're registered dietitians who decided that office visits alone weren't enough. Some are fitness trainers who have branched out into nutrition counseling. Others are self-trained.

Whomever you choose, American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Susan Moores recommends at least one visit with a registered dietitian because they've been schooled in how food works in the body. "With a registered dietitian, there is a guarantee that the information will be sound," she says.

"Initially, we were the food experts, and we told people what to do, and they went on their way," says Deborah Prelesnik, a registered dietitian who works for Lifestyle Management in Bloomington, a team that includes physical therapists, trainers and massage therapists. But that didn't work for every client.

"Now, it is more coaching and taking small steps that make a big difference, " she says.

Prelesnik often incorporates exercise and lifestyle changes into her plans for clients, who are recovering from a heart attack or trying to overcome high cholesterol or just wanting to learn how to eat right so they can maintain optimum health and be good examples for their children.

Judith Hanks, a self-trained wellness counselor, finds that many of her clients at Natural Health Restoration in Pepin, Wis., seek her help as a last resort. Hanks takes a client's history and sets them up with a new routine of nutrition and fitness as well as a list of things not to do. She follows up on a monthly or quarterly basis. "It doesn't matter what food we put in our body, if our body isn't working," Hanks says.

About a year ago, Hanks prescribed a nutrition and fitness regimen for Linda Hutchinson of Stacy, Minn., and Hutchinson says she has never felt better. "I cannot do it alone," Hutchinson says. "I need support and structure. She provides that for me."

Stacie Young, who's been coached by Bork for more than a year, agrees. A school librarian, wife and mother of three, Young would skip exercise because she felt guilty about going to the gym after work instead of going straight home to her family.

"I always thought that everybody else's needs were so important," says Young, who describes herself as a compulsive overeater. "I used it as an excuse not to exercise."

But since seeing Bork, Young has changed her ways. Now, she pays attention to what she eats and regularly works out. The new habits are proving worthwhile — Young has lost 105 pounds.

"Before I saw Chere, I would have felt too guilty," Young says. "But now I don't."