However, the big surprise for me came when my colleague, who overheard our conversation, asked me at the end of the day what I thought about the client's weight gain. I looked at her and said, 'Mary's blood sugars are wonderful. It's a message that both health professionals and clients need to hear time and time again. After all, diets are what dieticians are trained in and what they know best. It was a hard message to sell.
Clients are also sometimes reluctant to buy into the idea.
Just as health professionals must move slowly along the continuum from using a weight-focused medical model in which the professional sets the rules to a nondiet empowerment model that shows participants how to take responsibility for their own health, clients must move through the same process. This process may take years. Fortunately, says Omichinski, diet-weary clients and a new generation of health care professionals are beginning to embrace the nondiet message with considerable enthusiasm. She's met with the most success at home. We are there now.