Chris Willis

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  www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/010108/lifeandstyle_200 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/1/2008    Last Visited: 1/1/2008  

  "The convenience foods ... they may be convenient for the parent, but they're sure not convenient for the health of the child," said Chris Willis, clinical dietician at OSF St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg.
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  "That'd be almost six teaspoons of fat (children are) eating" in one Lunchables product, Willis explained.
  
  Add to that a single-serving package of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies and a one-ounce bag of Cheetos to provide a filling lunch, and you're giving your children 1,040 calories, 370 of which come from fat.That's more than half of a 2,000-calorie diet in one meal.
  
  But, short of preparing a gourmet, wheat-germ-and-granola lunch in vacuum-sealed bags every day, what can a parent do to balance convenience with nutrition?
  
  "It becomes habit," Willis said, citing portion control and good habits reinforced at home as the best ways to help children learn to live a healthy lifestyle.
  
  Instead of just pulling a prepackaged Lunchables out of the refrigerator in the morning, for example, send your child to school with five Reduced Fat Ritz crackers and two slices of Oscar Mayer oven roasted turkey breast.He or she still gets to "build" a lunch and have the same flavors a Lunchables provides, but saves 220 calories and 165 fat calories.
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  To help save time in the hectic hours before school, Willis suggests pre-portioning all the ingredients and keeping them in the refrigerator, ready to put into a bag the next morning.If you're making your child a sandwich, she added, plan on making that fresh in the morning, but package everything else the previous night.
  
  "People always underestimate the number of calories they're taking in," she said.

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  www.register-mail.com/stories/103107/MAI_BEPPUU81.GID.s - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/31/2007    Last Visited: 11/1/2007  

  Chris Willis has enough letters behind her name to make Dr. Frankenstein jealous.She is an M.S., R.D. and CDE - in layman's terms she is OSF St. Mary Medical Center's dietitian and certified diabetes educator.
  
  She may sound like a credentialed Halloween hater, but don't judge this professional by the framed parchment hanging on her office walls.
  
  "I hope you don't expect me to say people should hand out carrot sticks and apples on Halloween," Willis said.
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  Like Sayrs, Willis advised moderation when it comes to candy consumption.
  
  "Most parents know how to handle their kids, so whatever their choices are should be the kids' choices," Willis said.
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  Willis said they hand out "the good stuff" at her house.
  
  "I'd like to say I hand out toothbrushes, but I don't," Willis said.
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  If you see a yard filled with toothbrushes tonight, Dr. Kandy Sayrs or Chris Willis don't own the property.

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  www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080127/ - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/27/2008    Last Visited: 1/27/2008  

  After gathering to know one another, young men are prepared by the community's best male role models including Dr. Derek Metoyer, Opelousas General Health System Chief of Staff; Opelousas Chief of Police Perry Gallow; Dexter Brown, administrator and member of parish government; E.J. Marshall, retired educator and nationally known for affiliation with Omega Psi Phi; and Chris Willis, former educator, star athlete and entrepreneur.

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  Adult nutrition session Feb. 15 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/24/2005    Last Visited: 1/24/2005  

  Chris Willis, nutritionist for OSF St. Mary Medical Center will conduct the session.

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  Author, dietitians talk about ways you can control... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/7/2003    Last Visited: 6/7/2003  

  "The person with the diet mentality will never succeed," said Chris Willis, a clinical dietitian at OSF St. Mary Medical Center."Diet, to me, is a four-letter word.It is restriction after restriction after restriction."
  
  Willis said a diet should be part of the eating equation only in the case of a severe health problem and the doctor has ordered the restrictions.
  
  "So, I try to get them to stop and say, 'let's take this one step at a time.First of all, where can you make changes?'" she said.
  
  A food log or journal also is important, Willis said.
  
  "How much they eat, when they eat, is really a key issue from one extreme to the other," she said."A lot of people are unaware of how much they eat in a day."
  
  A journal allows the person to look back and see if he or she is eating enough fruit, for instance, or consistently eating midnight snacks.
  
  Willis suggested taking it a step further and recording feelings during the day - happy, sad, stressed, etc. - and see how that impacts eating patterns.
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  Willis said people often have good intentions but end up sabotaging their own efforts.For instance, someone really wants a cookie but feels that means too many calories and/or fat.
  
  "They start eating a carrot," Willis said.That doesn't satisfy their craving.Maybe they move on to apples, rice cakes and who knows what.
  
  "They end up eating 800 or more calories," Willis said, using exaggeration to make her point."Have the cookies and move on."
  
  Portions are another problem, according to Willis.That is especially an issue for people who eat out a lot.
  
  "Frequent diners need to learn to control it," Willis said."To manage it better, they need to use the plate method."
  
  The plate method, Willis explained, is to divide the plate into three sections.Half of the plate should consist of vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
  
  The other half should itself be halved into a combination of lean meat, skinless poultry and non-fried fish and a potato, pasta or rice.
  
  Willis noted the method leaves out some important nutritional elements.
  
  "The frequent diner most misses out on milk and fruit," she said, and must decide "where else in the day can you fit the fruit in?When are you going to fit in the milk?"
  
  Moving from a discussion of emotional eating to talking about good eating, Willis offered some hints.She said olive oil and canola oil contain "good" fat.
  
  Sprinkling walnuts on oatmeal or cereal is another source of healthy fat.
  
  High-fiber cereal, salmon and tuna - "your deep ocean fish are an excellent source of healthy fat," Willis said."You need some healthy fat in your diet."
  
  She said people who eat smaller, more frequent meals - so-called "grazers" - have the right idea for controlling weight.
  
  "I use a scale of one to five," she said."One is starvation and five is 'I'm stuffed, I feel like a pig.'
  
  "You never want to be at either extreme," she said.
  
  She suggested "a nice mid-range" of 2 1/1 to 3.

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  Look beyond the scales - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/12/2003    Last Visited: 1/13/2003  

  Chris Willis, clinical dietitian at OSF St. Mary Medical Center, works with patients to develop diet and exercise plans that work for them.Although she too is not a personal believer in making New Years resolutions, she does think it's possible to make positive health changes for life.
  
  "Not one concept is going to work for all," she said."You've got to have some objectives," she said."You've got to look beyond the scale.People have the ability to change, but they have to do it at their pace, at their level.They should try to make small changes.
  
  "It doesn't have to start Jan. 1," she said."You can take an objective for 2003, then take the time to write it down.
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  When Willis works with a patient, she assesses his or her behaviors with regard to diet and exercise, and she works with the patient to come up with a plan to make positive changes.
  
  "Some people need help with their goals, they need more support from family and friends.Some people are more self-willed and can do it on their own."
  
  Willis said she sees patients who are in several different modes - self-awareness mode (when they realize they should make a change but have taken no steps toward their goal), contemplation mode (when they're thinking more seriously about changing), ready mode and implementation.
  
  "When they're in ready mode - to exercise, for instance - they need to find a window of time.Put it on your calendar, if you have to, schedule an appointment if that's what it takes.
  
  "It depends on their individual personality," she said."Don't just make a generic resolution; narrow it down."

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  Maintenance, repair issues dominate meeting - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/19/2005    Last Visited: 2/19/2005  

  Chris Willis, registered dietician/nutritionist conducted the session, including an extensive question and answer period.

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  On the losing side - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/18/2004    Last Visited: 7/20/2004  

  One critic of the Atkins Diet is Chris Willis, a dietitian at OSF St. Mary Medical Center.
  
  "I'm not a proponent of the Atkins Diet or any of the so-called fad diets that are out there," Willis said.
  
  "Any diet that does not promote God-given foods ... fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals, is just not healthy," Willis said.
  
  Instead, Willis promotes exercise, balanced meals and smaller meal portions.
  
  "I'm not a proponent of any diet plan that tells you can't eat this or you must eat this.Restrictions are just not going to work with some people," Willis said.
  
  But so far it has worked for Miller who consumes just 20 to 30 carbs a day and is loosing about two pounds each week.She said she takes a daily vitamin as encouraged by the Atkins Diet.
  
  And, Miller says she feels much better about herself.

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  Register-Mail.com - Galesburg Register-Mail Online - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/20/2007    Last Visited: 1/20/2007  

  The library will sponsor a nutrition session with Chris Willis, nutritionist from OSF St. Mary Medical Center, Galesburg, at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 5 in the library community room.

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  Vending machine ban rebuffed - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/11/2004    Last Visited: 1/12/2004  

  Chris Willis, a dietitian at OSF, said removing vending machines from schools is not the answer to the child obesity problem.
  
  "That's not the real issue.I think vending machines are a good source of revenue for the schools to help with other areas of education," Willis said."I think it needs to start with the care givers at an early age, teaching good eating habits."
  
  Willis said more emphasis on physical education is a better solution.
  
  "I think the vending machines is only one fraction of what the children are getting," Willis said.

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