USU nutritionist advocates for student’s health

On Feb. 28, Utah State University dietician Brooke Lister conducted an Instagram takeover to instruct Aggies in healthy eating habits and general nutrition.

Hundreds of students joined this online event to ask anything from how to navigate calorie deficits to the best protein choices in their shakes.

Lister’s event called Ask a Dietician concluded the Aggie Recreation Center’s emphasis on eating disorder awareness week Feb. 21-28.

Stanley Pensington, a USU public health student, had experience with eating disorders at a young age, yet learned how to overcome their illness in high school.

“Living my life with an eating disorder was extremely lonely and scary,” Pensington said. “I felt like the resources around me were not always readily available, but they were so necessary to me attaining a healthy recovery.”

According to Pensington, the new practices the university has taken encouraged them to continue their rehabilitation.

“The new Instagram reel for the school’s ED initiative were really funny and helped me get some good tips for healthy eating as a college student,” Pensington said.

Lister, partnered with multiple staff members and USU students, led this year’s initiative to give Aggies a space to love themselves and learn about healthy eating and nutrition habits.

“Food is medicine,” Lister said. “We do not realize how big of an impact nutrition has on our overall health.”

To combat unhealthy eating habits, Lister has led seminars for students and faculty discussing the benefits of intuitive eating.

“Intuitive eating focuses on rejecting the diet mentality,” Lister said. “It is all about honoring your hunger and fullness cues.”

According to Lister, dieting disconnects one’s ability to understand hunger and fullness cues and can be extremely toxic to constructing healthy food labels.

“Food has no morality. An apple is not inherently good and a piece of chocolate cake is not bad,” Lister said.

Lister encourages all Aggies to dispel food labels and accept that all food is energy that fuels their body.

Another principle of intuitive eating Lister teaches is moving one’s body for fun.

“Maybe you feel more energized when you move or maybe you just overall feel better about yourself when you move,” Lister said. “Not because you are trying to exercise to lose weight or look a certain way but because you’re trying to fulfill your bodily needs.”

According to Lister, the key to moving for enjoyment is for each person to find an exercise that they love. Whether it be running, dancing or hiking finding something that sparks joy allows students to empower their bodies and utilize the energy their food provides.

Lister also cautions against body comparisons.

“There is this thin ideal that you have to look exactly like this supermodel or this fitness model,” Lister said. “I feel like that is really unattainable for 99 percent of us because we’re all built different.”

According to Lister, understanding one’s genetics and body type is important to giving realistic standards of how one’s body can look.

Lister believes these unrealistic body ideals to be a byproduct of social media.

“Spending hours scrolling through other people’s best can make students feel their worst,” Lister said.

Lister advises anyone scrolling through TikTok or Instagram to take the time to evaluate their body as well and dispel toxic comparison culture that can foster body dysmorphia.

If you’re seeking better nutrition habits, Lister recommends to shift perspective on food and nutrition.

“Consistently fueling their body is going to help them get through school, get through classes and get through the day,” Lister said.

Lister invites Aggies to hop on to her next Ask a Dietician event for any specific questions about nutrition and health or schedule a personal meeting with her in the ARC.

Lister regularly holds one-on-one, 45 minute sessions with students where they examine their dietary needs, fitness goals and determine the best nutrition plan for them.

If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with an eating disorder, contact USU’s nutrition services through the Sorenson Center for Clinical Excellence where Logan community members can meet with a licensed dietician and get the help needed to combat malnutrition.

Photo by Bailey Rigby