The Duke Diet & Fitness Center offers several unique programs designed to emphasize the psychological and physical aspects of weight loss through diet, nutrition, and exercise. The center was founded in 1969 to provide services to the students and faculty of Duke University, but has since morphed into a facility designed to assist those not affiliated with the institution. NFL Player Engagement took the time to speak with DFC Medical Director, Dr. Ronald S. Sha; Director of Health Psychology, Dr. Sofia Rydin-Gray; and Business Office Manager, Bobby Cale about their approach to developing healthier lifestyles for the Duke Diet & Fitness Center’s clients.
PE: What is your approach to assisting your clients as they try to lose weight?
Sha: Not only do we want to help people lose weight while they’re here and have people lead a healthier lifestyle, our real goal is to help them lead a healthier lifestyle and lose weight at home. We don’t think it makes sense to just lose a lot of weight here and then go back to your old habits.
Rydin-Gray: We’re aware that former football players may be in a transition phase or may have gone through a transition phase. Having played means they had quite a bit of structure around definitely exercise, meals, and diet, and so forth. You mention independence and that’s definitely something we teach everybody here to be able to be independent and make healthy decisions after they leave our center.
PE: What does an average day at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center look like?
Sha: No day is exactly average, but typically what we’re trying to do is once the clients arrive here at the beginning of their stay, they will have an individual assessment by a medical provider, by a health psychological, by one of our dietitians, and by one of our exercise psychologists. Then, in addition, we have classroom lectures given by each of those four – the nutritionist, the healthcare providers, the psychologist, the exercise psychologist. Then we also have time for exercise classes both in the pool and the gym and we also have time for individual exercise. We also have massages and acupuncture available. I would kind of compare the DNC to being back in college – you’re offered a smorgasbord of learning opportunities and you just choose those that you really prefer to partake in.
PE: What types of people make use of services at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center?
Sha: People who come here are 1) very highly motivated and 2) typically of upper socioeconomic status. They are usually successful in everything else they do, they just have not been successful in leading a healthier lifestyle. There are ages from probably early 20s to sometimes even people in their 70s. We’re actually about 50% to 40% women and men. The average age here is probably early 50s.
Cale: We’ve had high profile people here before - athletes, football players, baseball players, and also some entertainers. We’re not immune to high profile people being here. We’re able to service a wide range of folks.
PE: Do you offer psychological support to clients after they complete the program?
Rydin-Gray: Yes, we offer telephone coaching or sometimes we do Skype so that we can stay in touch with our clients after they leave - sometimes on the weekly basis, depending on their needs. Sometimes we involve the family members, maybe particularly for the football players, they want to have their families involved in terms of meals and some of the structure to their day, so that takes more to involve their family members too sometimes. So we do telephone coaching after they leave.
Sha: They certainly have contact with our psychologist while they’re here also.
PE: Do you allow clients to have support from their families while attending the program?
Sha: Absolutely. In fact, we encourage it. If people leave here with a good support structure at home or their family at home knows what they’re trying to accomplish and how they’re trying to accomplish it, they have a much better chance at being successful.
Rydin-Gray: I think it’s really important for us as professionals to talk with the family members so that they hear certain things from us because it’s hard for a player or retired player or any client to come here and remember everything. That’s why it’s important to involve the family members while they’re in our program and also afterwards.
Please visit the Duke Diet & Fitness Center’s website (www.dukedietandfitness.org) for more information about specific program options and services.