What It’s Like Working With A Weight-Inclusive Dietitian

What is it actually like working with a weight-inclusive dietitian?

“YoU cAn NeVeR wAnT tO lOsE wEiGhT aNd Be HeAlThY!!!!!”

That is NOT what weight-inclusive nutrition counseling looks like…

The reality is, we live in a weight-centric society. If you consciously start healing your relationship with food and body, you still have decades of unconscious wiring that views thin bodies as “ideal.”

We know that and want to meet you where you are at.

Here’s what it’s actually like to work with a weight-inclusive dietitian to heal your relationship with food and body:

Weight-Inclusive Nutrition Counseling Sessions

Our first session is a get to know you call. We go through a lot of questions to get an idea of your history with food, body, and health and what your goals are.

Here are some things we consider:

• What was food like growing up? Did the adults in your life diet? What about your peers? Were foods labeled as good vs bad? This influences our habits and beliefs around food for years to come.
• What was the language around bodies like growing up? Again, if you were around adults who were constantly making comments about their body, your body, and the bodies of those around you, this will influence your beliefs around bodies later in life.
• When did you start struggling with food or body? It is not always about the food or your body. Our habits can sometimes serve a purpose in helping us cope with an event or experience in your life.
• What beliefs do you have now about food and body? What are the thoughts that continuously come up when choosing what to eat or looking at yourself in the mirror?
• What do other aspects of your life look like? Your mental, social, and emotional health all matter. We don’t want your pursuit of physical health to take away from hobbies, relationships, or your mental health.

Goal Setting

Something I tell my clients all the time is that this is YOUR life and my job is to be a guide that helps you reach your goals.

While everyone’s goals vary, typically it has something to do with improving their health in some way, feeling confident about food, or feeling more comfortable in their body.

We typically start with micro goals like:

• Eating consistently during the day (every 3-5 hours)
• Aiming for a balance protein, carbs, fat, and produce at most meals
• Increasing a macronutrient they aren’t getting enough of (typically CARBS!!!) that could be leading to intense hunger and cravings
• Slowly incorporating the “off limit” foods in a way that feels supportive
• Working with a therapist to develop other coping tools
• Learning more about our limiting beliefs around food and replacing them with supportive beliefs

The key distinction with weight-inclusive dietitians: our goals are not based on weight alone. My recommendations to eat enough won’t change if your 120lbs or 250lbs. We adjust based on your lifestyle, lab work, where you’re at in eating disorder recovery, relationship with food, how you feel, what you have access to, etc.

It some lot of trial and error (with no judgement or fearmongering!!) to find what works best for YOUR lifestyle.

“And if I do have weight-loss goals?”

We talk about that without judgment too with that caveat that I am a weight-inclusive dietitian who works primarily with eating disorders and disordered eating, so I won’t be giving you weight-loss recommendations. That is not my specialty and goes against my values as a dietitian.

At the same time, I believe in body autonomy. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT OR DON’T WANT TO DO WITH YOUR BODY.

What I WILL do is talk you through the pros and cons of trying to lose weight intentionally to help you feel empowered.

This involves a lot of reflection:

• Is this desire coming from who YOU are or from what you feel like your weight should be?
• What health outcomes do you think will happen from losing weight? Do you think this could be improved by focusing on behaviors?
• Is weight actually going to fix what you are hoping it will? (eg: body image)
• Can you pursue weight-loss without falling back into old maladaptive behaviors?

And a lot of education:

• The nuance of weight science. Weight can impact health, but it’s one piece of a really big puzzle.
• Weight can change when making behavior changes, but it’s hard to know for sure what direction it will move in.
• Some people find that their health markers improve with weight loss, but whether its actually needed varies from person to person.
• Weight-cycling is very taxing on the body and is a very real risk associated with pursuing intentional weight loss.
• There are a lot of variables that effect weight that are out of our control. Genetics, access to food and health promoting behaviors, etc.
• Our bodies like to stay around a certain weight, so looking at where our weight settled in adulthood when we did not have maladaptive behaviors is a good indicator of what our set-point weight is.

You may be thinking “this seems VERY biased towards anti-weight loss…” The reason I primarily educate on these points is because you are very well-versed on the pro-weight loss rhetoric. We hear it at the doctors, on tv, at gyms, in our social groups.

My goal is to move you towards more of a neutral standpoint on weight. I don’t want you to feel backed in a corner, where weight loss is your ONLY option to feel confident, improve your health, have good relationships etc.

Still unsure?

“But whenever I try to give myself permission to eat foods I like, I go crazy and gain weight. So maybe this isn’t right for me?” I get it. I promise. But if that happened in the past, it’s likely you didn’t have the right tools.

If you are still unsure, my inbox is ALWAYS open! Feel free to email me with questions, thoughts or concerns on how to move forward with healing your relationship with food!

Weight-inclusive healthcare is like learning a new language in our weight-centric society. It will feel weird and take some practice, but slowly we can replace your old diet culture beliefs!