Meet HNT Indiana's Intern: Brittany LoCoco

Meet Brittany LoCoco. She is majoring in Dietetics at Purdue and will graduate in May.  She started her college career at IU majoring in Exercise Science with the hopes of becoming a Physical Therapist.  She was required to take an introduction nutrition class and fell in love!  Upon her decision to transfer to Purdue she switched to Dietetics and has been following her passion ever since.  She has gotten a lot of grief for transferring from IU to Purdue, but says it was the best decision she could have made.  While at Purdue she was able to pursue her passion of nutrition and meet her future husband, Tyler.  

After graduating and becoming a Registered Dietitian, she would like to work in weight management.  More specifically, she desires to help people live long, happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives.  Brittany enjoys cooking, experimenting with new recipes, reading, traveling and spending time with friends, family, and my fiancé.  Avocados are her favorite food and she will eat them with almost anything.  She is a strong believer in fitting any foods into a healthful diet because moderation is key!  

2012 HNT Holiday Special-Guest Speaker Shon Bolden of Living Empowered Sports

We had a great turnout at this years Holiday Special.  Shon Bolden was our guest speaker.  He is the founder and head trainer of Living Empowered Sports and spoke on coaching and how he incorporates functional exercises into the plans of major professional athletes such as George Hill & Tamika Catchings. Take a look at some of the pictures from the night!

Crowded Cafeteria at Riverview Hospital

Shon instructing Health Educator Karen Hartung in a functional exercise.

Sheila Henson, RD & Program Director of HNT Indiana fielding questions for Shon.

Why Choose Medically Supervised Weight Loss Programs?

Health & Nutrition Technology (HNT-Indiana) opened in October 2002 under the medical and program directorship of Dawn Ayers MD-endocrinology and Sheila Henson RD.  Dr. Ayer’s reputation as a phenomenal physician who cares for her patients with compassion is as true today as when we opened 10 years ago. To know her as Dawn or Dr. Ayers is one in the same.  

Dr. Ayers recognized the need for an effective weight management program in the Indianapolis Area. She had aspirations to offer a non-surgical medical option to her patients beyond standard commercial or support programs. Thus it was an ideal fit to team up such a well-known and respected medical provider in conjunction with the proven behavior modification program in HNT. The result: the need of providing safe rapid and effective weight loss is being met—consistently! The average weight loss is 17% in the first 20 weeks; maintained at one, two and three plus years out. 

The entire team consists of four dedicated Registered Dietitians specializing in the field of obesity management. Having grown over the years there are various central Indiana locations: Monday evenings at Carmel St Vincent Professional Bld suite 275; Tuesday evening at Riverview Hospital 4 TCU classroom; Thursday evening at Community Health North 7250 Bld suite 100; Thursday evening at American Health Network in Peru, IN; and week days and Tuesday evenings at our home base 1201 E Main St suite B, Plainfield, IN. 

An average weight loss of 50 lbs is life changing. Our approach includes medical supervision as is appropriate per individual needs. Every participant is involved in the behavior modification process whether they have 25 or 250 lbs to lose. We utilize a restricted caloric meal plan incorporating Health One meal replacements. This versatile tool allows individuals to accomplish their health and weight goals. Exceptional nutrition is obtained with 125% of all RDIs, 75g protein, in approximately 1000 calories with variety and flexibility in cooking, and continued use for as long as they wish.  

We are proud to offer Health & Nutrition Technology, medically supervised weight loss, as a viable, safe, rapid, and effective approach to a very difficult reality for much of our nation and fellow Hoosiers.  If you are ready to change your life call us, Sheila Henson RD, Christina Varvel RD, Roxanne Standeford RD, Karen Hartung RD and Dawn Ayers MD at (317) 489-4817 or visit www.hntindiana.com.  

Sheila Henson RD, Program Director
 Dawn Ayers MD, Medical Director

Meet our Purdue University Dietetic Intern: Karen Willy

Karen is  from Fishers, Indiana and will be graduating from Purdue University Coordinated Program in Dietetics on May 13, 2012. In May 2011 she became an ACE-Certified Personal Trainer. She has a passion for fitness and nutrition.  When Karen is not in school or busy planning her June 2012 wedding, she enjoys working out, cooking, shopping, decorating homes, being an active member in church, helping others and spending as much time as possible outdoors.   

Karen will be with us in Indiana until April 27th-so say hello if you get a chance to see her!  

        

Our New Health Educator

We are excited to announce that we have a new Health Educator here in Indiana. Chelsea started the beginning of the new year and is quickly gaining experience in our Carmel, Noblesville, and Plainfield clinics. She is a great fit already and we look forward to working with her in the future.

Here is a bit about Chelsea Kingston:

She is a Registered Dietitian who received her B.S. in Dietetics from Purdue University in 2010. She recently completed her dietetic internship where she experienced rotations with the Food Bank of Northern Indiana, Porter Health Systems in Valparaiso, IN, and the Appalachian Outreach Program in Lexington, KY.

Chelsea grew up in Indianapolis and is an avid runner and sports enthusiast who enjoys traveling and cooking. She is excited to join the HNT team and use her knowledge and skills to encourage people to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle and reach their health and weight management goals.

Our Dietetic Intern's Experience

Rachel Hadley is a dietetic intern who completed her 6 week Engagement Rotation at HNT while in the Purdue Coordinated Program in Dietetics. Below is a recap of some of her learning experiences and interesting moments while working at HNT!

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"Being a dietetic intern I know the importance of health and weight management not only for myself, but also for my future patients. That's why I was very excited to have been placed at Health and Nutrition Technology (HNT) site for my Engagement Rotation. Let's face it, before this rotation at HNT I did not have a whole lot of experience with weight management, let alone behavior modification. Earlier in the year while doing my clinical rotation in a hospital, patients would often tell me they would like to lose some weight. I would say, 'Great!', and then quickly move the conversation on because I did not feel comfortable addressing it at that time. I now feel very excited about opportunities to discuss health and weight loss with individuals that I often bring it up myself. I owe all my knowledge learned to HNT and their wonderful staff.

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The HNT program is really phenomenal when you think about it. The program has all the components that make it so successful: education, meal replacements, and professional and peer accountability. Each part of the program provides an aspect that enables the program and its' clients to be successful.

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While working at HNT I learned many things that will help me professionally, but also in my general life as well. I have listed some of my favorite quotes and experiences below:

1. Foundation Class: Someone asked if water and ice tea were the same thing. Sheila answered, "If you take a white shirt and wash it in water what color would it be? If you take a white shirt and wash it in ice tea or diet coke what color would it be? They are not the same thing. Your body needs water." I will forever remember this quote because it made it so clear how important water was. Even though both water and unsweetened ice tea have zero calories, nothing beats the cleaning power of water.

2. Painting the Office Walls: While this does not pertain specifically to dietetics, it is a huge life skill I know I will need at some point. Before this experience I have never really painted a room. As you can imagine I learned a lot, such as to paint in a V. (I was painting straight up and down). I also learned how to properly close the paint can lid when you're done. If you have not come out to the Plainfield office to see it, you should. It looks great!

3. "You're the only person that can change you" is one quote that I have heard Roxanne say many times during class. This one is very important because it puts the decision making responsibility where it should be, on the client. Your Health Educator can tell you everything you need to do, but in the end you are the one who makes the decisions.

4. My favorite quote I heard Christina say is taken right from your notes; "Knowing does not equal doing, but doing equals success!" I love this one because it is so simple but so true!

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As a closing note, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped make this experience as wonderful as it was. HNT is a great program because of everyone, the Health Educators, and especially the patients! A special thanks goes out to the Practice Class I taught on Wednesday. Thank you for helping to guide me; you're all great! Best life wishes to everyone I met and worked with while at HNT. Thanks for a great final rotation. I will miss you all!"