How can a dietitian help me?
Can you relate to any of these thoughts?
I’m fed up with dieting.
My eating feels disordered.
I want to find food and body freedom
I want to improve my health
My eating feels restrictive
My eating feels ‘out of control’
I’m struggling with body image issues
In a society where diet culture is everywhere, these concerns are so common. You’re not alone if you’re feeling these things.
As a HAES® practitioner, I provide weight inclusive, non diet nutrition counselling. Supporting clients to navigate these concerns (above) and find food and body freedom.
HAES® aligned care means, in part, that the focus is on your health, not your weight. Which might feel new! We live in a society where our weight is tied up with our self-worth. And everywhere we look, we are being told to ‘lose weight for health’ – including from health care professionals.
How would it feel to instead be told that your weight is not the problem? That you do not need to lose weight? None of this is your fault. And you do not need to shrink your body, to be ‘healthy’? For most, it feels like a huge relief. And it’s not something they’ve heard before.
And this is where we start. Combining evidence based practice alongside clients lived experience to achieve their goals. Food rules, beliefs and eating behaviours have often been engrained over years. Undoing this, takes time. It can feel like a bit of a rollercoaster as we navigate things together. And it’s worth it in the end - to free up so much mental space that previously was taken up with thoughts and worry about calories, food and dieting. As Christy Harrison puts it, diet culture is the ‘Life Thief’. Get your life back. Find you again. Find food and body freedom.
If you’re interested in working together, click here to learn more. I’m based in Hamilton, Waikato but all sessions are online via telehealth. So I work with clients New Zealand wide. I’d love to hear from you.
DID YOU KNOW: There is research to show health markers (such as cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugars etc) can be improved through changes to eating and movement, irrespective of any change in weight. Research also shows longterm weight lost is not maintained past 2-5 years in most people. And there are negative impacts to yoyo dieting. Impacts of weight stigma/bias and discrimination are also shown to negatively impact health. The Health At Every Size® paradigm advocates for body diversity, joyful movement, gentle nutrition and social justice, with a strong focus on health, not weight. Take a look here for suggestions for further learning.