"Eat Balanced Nutrition" is the mantra of a nutrition counseling practice started by Marc C. O'Meara, RD, LD, CDE in the fall of 2007. The focus of his practice is to teach clients to maintain a healthy lifestyle that will improve their quality of life and allow them to achieve long-term health.

Marc C. O'Meara, RD, LD, CDE

Marc has developed a counseling style that focuses on mindfulness, behavior change and self-motivation. During his counseling sessions he rarely discusses calories, diets or meal plans.   Instead he uses motivational interviewing to teach his clients techniques for "balancing" their meals and snacks – techniques that will meet their needs, statisfy their hunger, achieve their goals and help them enjoy their food. By listening to and working with his client, Marc makes them feel comfortable with the changes they need to make and guides them to set realistic goals. His methods are unique, effective and very refreshing. He is not your typical dietitian. You can read about what his clients, their families and his referring doctors have to say about his approach on the Testimonials page. His Biography will provide you with a more indepth look at his credentials. The Services page will provide you with a description of a typical appointment and the topics he regularly discusses with his clients. And below, we have provided some actual client stories that you may find hit close to home... which one can you relate to?

Marc is a provider for BlueCross BlueShield, Aetna and Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare. He meets with clients at the offices of PersonalMDs, LLC in Chestnut Hill, MA. If you'd like to work with Marc to develop a personalized nutrition plan, please contact him using our online Contact Marc form, email him at marc@eatbalancednutrition.com or call 978-337-1059.

>> CLIENT STORIES
        Which one can you relate to?

> Lowering Lipids
Marilyn, a woman in her mid-60s, was seen by Marc for hyperlipidemia and a family history of heart disease. Her initial readings were: Total cholesterol: 212, LDL: 132, HDL: 65 and triglycerides: 76. The patient was very motivated to make lifestyle changes and to avoid medications such as statins. One of her goals was to increase her exercise from 3x per week to 4x per week, which she was successful at maintaining. By reducing her saturated fat intake and increasing her intake of fish, soluble fiber and phytosterols she was able to lose 14 lbs in 3 months and reduce her lipids to Total cholesterol: 180, LDL: 95, HDL 70 and triglycerides: 73. These changes have greatly reduced her risk of cardiac disease and she’s been able to maintain them for a full year.

> Shattering a Weight Loss Plateau
Wendy, a woman in her early 50s, was seen by Marc for weight loss and a history that included a mild heart attack. She was an active woman who was 5 feet, 6.5 inches tall. Her highest weight was in Sept of 2002 when she weighed 226 lbs. She had managed to reduce her weight to 201.5 lbs over almost 2 years, but she felt stuck there and unable to get below 200 lbs despite exercising at a very high level 6-7 days per week. Her meals and snacks were still based on carbs which kept her calorie level too high to lose the last 20 lbs she was hoping for. After discussing ways to reduce her caloric intake while staying satisfied, she implemented her new way of eating. These changes resulted in a 16 lbs weight loss within a year to 185.5 lbs. During the next 6 months, she went through a lot of personal stress and regained about 20 lbs. She came back for a follow-up appointment and was able to get back on track with her healthy lifestyle. This resulted in her surpassing her weight goal and reaching 174 lbs. She understands that she needs to continue follow up appointments to stay motivated and focused on how to keep her weight down.

> Controlling Blood Sugar
Nate, a man in his mid 60s, was seen by Marc for uncontrolled diabetes while taking insulin. His A1c (a test which shows blood sugar control for the previous 2-3 months) was elevated at 9.7 and he was getting frequent elevated blood sugar tests after meals. After reviewing how he could lower his carb intake at meal time and balance his snacks better, he was able to reduce his A1c dramatically to 6.8 in just 4 months and maintain it there for another 3 months (A1c: 6.6). He now feels more satisfied during the day and understands how to balance his meals and snacks to keep his blood sugar in a healthy range.

> Reaching a Healthy Weight
Stan, a man in his late 50s, was seen by Marc for high blood pressure and obesity. He did some inconsistent walking as his form of exercise. He skipped breakfast and lunch regularly thinking it would help with weight loss. At the first visit he made statements such as: “I think I’m eating too much healthy foods. I don’t eat lunch since I feel logy [sluggish] if I do. I’m not hungry during the day. If I don’t eat, I feel productive daily.”  His initial measurements were Ht: 5ft 10in. and a weight of 232 lbs, which gave him an obese BMI of 33.4 (BMI 30 or more is classified as obese). After discussing meals that would spark his metabolism and prevent fatigue for breakfast and lunch, Stan was able to implement the eating changes along with including more consistent exercise 2-3x per week. This resulted in a 30.5 lbs weight loss in 6 months His new weight was: 201.6 lbs and his new BMI was out of the obese range at 28.9?. He was able to accomplish this by adding 2 balanced meals per day and exercising a few more times per week consistently.