Duo Helps Listeners ‘Break Through Defenses’ : Taking Nutrition to the Airwaves

The Susan and Irma nutrition radio talk show on KORG radio is heard in Orange County for now, but just you wait.

Give them a year or two years to master their act and watch them move to network radio.

At least that’s what Susan Magrann, a registered dietitian who is program director of the Obesity Risk Management Program at Anaheim Memorial Hospital, and Irma Grime, a licensed psychotherapist with marriage, family and child counseling background in Santa Ana, hope will happen.

Magrann and Grime have hit on a formula dovetailing nutritional and psychological disciplines in answering questions about weight control, eating disorders or any health issue related to nutrition.

What Magrann can’t answer in terms of psychological motivation, Grime can. And vice versa.

“It’s not a show on pure nutrition or pure psychology. We’re there to redirect, reinforce and help people break through defenses so (the public) can learn how to correct or prevent weight and other nutritional problems,� Grime said.

Most callers are hard on themselves, Grime claims. “They don’t see their problem as solvable because they are thinking in terms of all or nothing at all-- nothing in the middle,� she said.

Changing life-style habits that are bad for you into those that will help enhance one’s health takes time, Magrann pointed out. “It doesn’t happen overnight, and with only a 5% success rate for most people trying to lose and keep off weight, the challenge is great. But there are many issues involved and that’s what we’re here to help solve on an individual case basis,� Magrann said.

The idea of the talk radio show was a mutual dream. “Irma came to me with her idea and I said, ‘Hey, that’s what I want to do too. So we became each other’s missing part,� said Magrann. Friends in broadcasting helped make their dream a reality by showing them the ropes. “That amounted to finding and getting our own sponsors. Anaheim Memorial Hospital became one of the first to bite, but the women are still looking for other sponsors. After a successful 13-week stint, Magrann and Grime are moving into another round. “Hopefully, there will be a lot more to come,� said Magrann.

The radio talk show, called “Lighter Life Styles,� airs in Orange County on K-ORG (1190 AM) Saturdays from 10:05 a.m. to 11 a.m.