For students with questions about nutrition, fitness or stress management, the women of the Wellness Center can help.

Students who are looking to maintain a healthier diet can set up a free appointment with Judy Trumpy, a nutritionist at the Wellness Center, also known as the office of prevention, education and outreach in the Student Health Center.

“I try not to put anybody on a diet,” she said.

Instead, Trumpy tries to focus on healthy eating and health habits that can be used the rest of the student’s life. Each student receives a folder with information they can use to help maintain a healthier diet.

Trumpy, who has a degree in dietetics from Iowa State and has been employed by the university since 1991, has been working with students on nutritional plans since the fall of 2000. She also is an assistant manager of food service for the Wallace-Wilson dining center.

To begin the process, a student must fill out a three-day intake sheet that accounts for two weekdays and one weekend day of food consumption. Students then bring the sheet in a few days before their appointment so the information can be entered into and analyzed by a program called Nutritionist 5.

Trumpy then sits down with the student in an hour-long consultation and uses the analysis to demonstrate where their calories, carbohydrates, fats and other nutritional levels come from.

She also makes calendars of weekly menus, finds recipes and sets goals with students.

One of Trumpy’s graduate students is working to make a three-week plan that includes food menus and grocery lists. She said she hopes to have it available to students in about a month.

Trumpy also works with students who eat in the dining services. She said she will sit down with the menu provided by food service and show the student what kinds of items they should be eating.

Students concerned about fitness can set up an appointment with Emily Martini, a fitness specialist who can help students meet their goals by developing a plan.

Martini, graduate student in health and human performance, started working with students to develop fitness plans in the fall of 2001.

Most students make appointments with Martini because they have not been exercising and are looking to start again, she said. In the first meeting, she measures heart rate, blood pressure and body composition. She also conducts aerobic, strength and fitness tests on the student.

During a second meeting with the student, Martini compares the test numbers to what are considered normal numbers. She makes a fitness plan with the student that includes activities the student likes, she said.

Students then return in eight weeks to check their progress.

“I try to help them focus more on if they are having a healthy lifestyle,” Martini said.

The Wellness Center focuses on the mind as well as the body. Stress management, smoking cessation and relationship issues are the specialty of Jennifer Swaim, a doctoral student in psychology.

She helps students cope with stress by developing plans that help them prioritize, learn time management and practice relaxation techniques.

“It’s really tailored to the student,” Swaim said.

She said each plan is individual because students have stresses that range from family problems to feeling overwhelmed with classwork.

Swaim said she can hold individual as well as group sessions to help students quit smoking.

“We pretty much bend over backwards if somebody wants to come in,” Trumpy said.

All three women are available by appointment. More information is on the Web site at www.public.iastate.edu/~health/Pages/PEO.html.