What is a Non-Diet Dietitian?
I once heard someone say something along the lines of, “You don’t focus on weight loss? How do you get any clients then? What’s even the point of a Dietitian?” And that is exactly why Non-Diet Dietitians are Non-Diet Dietitians… to prove forever dieting is not the way to live.
Non-Diet Dietitians don’t put their clients on diets (obviously).
But why not?
Well, in short, it’s because diets simply don’t work- 95% of people who lose weight through dieting will regain it back within one to five years, with added social, emotional, and physical consequences (click to see my previous post on why diets don’t work here: Do Diets Work?) .
I tell all my clients in our Initial Session: “I am not the expert of your body, but YOU ARE.” They might not believe it at first, but everyone is born with the internal wisdom of how, when and what to eat. A Non-Diet Dietitian is a guide to help you to tap into that internal wisdom. We do this by focusing on improving your health behaviors through combining our existing knowledge and education with your lived experience. We also place a large emphasis on the psychology behind eating, which is so often left out of nutrition. No meal is ever “healthy” if it is driven by stress, anxiety, and fear around food.
We are not anti-dieter (we love all people!), but we are anti-diet, anti-diet culture, and anti-diet industry. Typically, most of our clients have been on diets, and we often work with those who have disordered eating and/or eating disorders. We make sure to take you into account as a whole person - not just your food intake and number on the scale. We don’t measure or count your food, and we certainly will never judge you, or anyone, for what they eat or look like. We work with people of all shapes and sizes, without trying to change their shape or size. We will never put the focus of our work on your weight. Ever. It's about adding nutrition, nourishment, and happiness to create an overall healthier life.
Our hope for our clients is that they rediscover the pleasure in eating, stop chronic dieting, and make peace with food. We help you learn how to make eating choices from a place of self-care and connection to your body,instead of from a place of self-punishment or societally-influenced food "rules”. That is non-dieting vs dieting behavior, and we want to show you that it is totally possible to live a life where you can ditch this dieting behavior and truly find freedom and peace with food. Why is this important? Well, because life is about so much more than just food and your body.
