Ask an Expert on Nutrition

You have questions, we have answers. This month we spoke with Catherine Taylor, a registered dietitian for VIDA Fitness, about tips for educating members on nutrition.

What is VIDA Fitness doing to help members with nutrition choices?

CT: All VIDA Fitness members get a free nutrition session with their membership, in addition to a free personal training session. This way, we feel we are hitting two major areas of our members’ health and wellness. In addition, our FUEL Bar provides a breakdown of the nutritional information of each smoothie offered. Our registered dietitians have helped revamp the offerings to provide more nutritious ingredients and items.

How do VIDA’s dietitians and personal trainers work together to help members with nutrition?

CT: Dietitians and personal trainers are on the same team here at VIDA. We all have the same objective: to help our clients achieve their goals in the most efficient way possible. The only way this can happen is if both exercise and nutrition is addressed, and by the right professional.

How does VIDA pick and choose which products to sell in its juice bars?

CT: We listen to our members. When we get a lot of questions about almond butter for the smoothies, we bring on almond butter. If it doesn’t go over well in the market, we get rid of it. If it thrives, we keep it. In addition, we taste-test products we’re looking at bringing on board. We are always keeping our eyes out for new products in the market, especially locally-owned products. When we can, we stick to whole foods. For our packaged products, we’re always comparing it to its competitors in the market, and choosing the most natural and nutritionally sound.

What’s a common mistake you’ve seen a lot of members struggling with when it comes to their nutrition?

CT: Trying to follow everything they see on the Internet, such as gluten is bad, dairy is bad or soy is bad. They’re so overwhelmed they end up in the two extremes of either overly restricting themselves to a point of inadequacy, or just throwing in the towel and eating whatever. Other struggles include unbalanced meals and snacks, taking in too few calories or eating too infrequently during the day.

What qualities should clubs look for in a dietitian or nutritionist?

CT: At VIDA we look for dietitians who are social, active on social media, have a personal interest in fitness and who are working towards their Sports Dietitian credential. We also prefer them to have experience, be open minded about collaborating with personal trainers, have a “team approach” mind and have creative ideas for getting in front of members in an organic way.