Personalized nutrition: a journey towards healthy and affordable meals

A step-by-step guide to accessing and getting the benefits of the free personalized nutritionist service through our EFAP.

After we shared the new personalized nutrition service available through our EFAP, the HR Benefits team decided to take a closer look and investigate the new service. Here is a detailed look at one person's experience connecting with a personalized nutrition health coach through our Employee and Family Assistance Program.

By Adam Knight, Communication & Engagement Specialist, Health, Wellbeing & Benefits

I love taking little trips to the different food spots around campus whenever I'm on the hunt for something to eat. However, purchasing prepared food daily can add up over the week, and I am conscious that some of my lunch and snack choices can be less-than-healthy. Preparing food and bringing it from home to work tends to get stalled and lacks some creativity.

Where does one go for inspiration while creating a better relationship with food and saving money?

Recently, we had some feedback from a staff member who accessed the new personalized nutritionist service through our Employee and Family Assistance Provider (EFAP), GreenShield Health. Thankfully, this service is free and fully covered under our EFAP plan. The staff member feedback prompted a few HR Benefits team members to try this Personalized Nutrition offering. 

What follows is my experience booking a consultation and working with a nutritionist. 

Step 1: Signing up and booking an appointment 

After logging in to our GreenShield Health EFAP, I was ready to get started with the personalized nutrition program. (If you haven’t signed up for EFAP yet, you can follow these instructions).

Once on the GreenShield+ Homepage, navigate to “Total Health and Life Services”.

Then select “Personalized Nutrition”   

This program offers personalized nutrition advice to help manage your nutritional needs and goals. A combination of meal tracking and personal support from a Registered Dietitian will help you gain effective tools and expert support to improve your nutrition practices. 

Included Services: 

• Nurse assessment and care recommendations
• 3 hours with a Registered Dietitian
• Access to an AI-driven nutrition platform to assess your nutrition
• Access to personalized education and insights 

Step 2: Assessment nurse 

Personalized nutritional guidance is a key element of GreenShield Health’s offering. To get started, an Assessment Nurse ran me through a series of questions to better pair me with a health professional that matches my needs. 

Since I mentioned a preference for “Intuitive Eating” (a term I picked up from a UBC colleague who was also a Registered Dietitian), I was paired with Jenna, who was able to advise me using this (and many other) preferences.  

Step 3: Food tracking 

I am not a big fan of food tracking. It makes me question my eating habits, which in turn makes me frustrated with my eating habits.  However, the AI-powered food tracking app did make it easier, and I was able to use it to make this process more palatable.

Step 4: Initial discussion 

Step 5: The best recipe book  PDF ever 

Step 6: Follow-up discussion 

A few weeks after I got the recipes and suggestions, I had my final chat with Jenna to see how I was tracking.  

Have I implemented all of these new recipes into my weekly menu? Not quite. Am I now the healthiest I have been? Not yet, however, I recognize this service can only guide me, provide inspiration, and motivation, and I do recognize that I can change my behaviour.   

Conclusion 

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the level of insight I gained from the discussions and follow-up materials far exceeded my expectations. I was able to validate what was working well and let go of some of the comforting fallacies I’d been telling myself, such as 'I’m active enough' and 'I can have a bowl of chips every night!' Ultimately, I was shown a better path forward for my eating habits. Now, to truly benefit from this service, the responsibility is mine. 

Some final thoughts: 

• The service is free for you and your eligible dependents.
  • The service offers three hours of consultation time with the Registered Dietitian
  • If you need additional support, you can use your benefits to see a Registered Dietitian for yourself or a family member. Eligible faculty and staff are covered for 80% of the costs for registered dietitians after you pay the deductible and up to a combined maximum of $600 (for CUPE 2950 members, the maximum is $500). And remember, you can use your extended health plan to help other members of the household.

• The food tracking app might not be for everyone. There are other options if you don’t want to use this tool
  • That said, I was told I can continue using the Rx food tracking app if it was valuable.
  • While I didn’t continue to use it, I can certainly appreciate its appeal, and it was user-friendly.