The evolution of Dietitian At Your Table

The humble kitchen table; where food served nourishes the body and conversations and laughter shared around it, feed the soul. A place friends and family gather. The centre of the home.

This was the initial thinking behind Dietitian At Your Table (DAYT) - encouraging clients to ‘eat well, at their table’. While well meaning, I now see, meeting clients ‘at their table’ can look very different to my privileged view of it.

‘Eat well’ is an ambiguous term, looking different for everyone (for so many reasons). And peoples ‘tables’ can range from non-existent (literally and figuratively), to ‘in need of some serious empathy, self compassion, support and care’. Supporting people to navigate their relationship with food and eating behaviours, is not a linear process.

Because there’s another side to this story – one of food insecurity, body shaming, diet culture, disordered eating, and eating disorders. The story of how food does not bring us together, but rather, can tear us apart - significantly impacting physical and mental wellbeing along the way.

For many, a lifetime surrounded by food rules and dieting lends to a huge sense of confusion around how ‘best’ to ‘eat well for health’. Trauma can also have a profound impact on how we eat; with food often turned to/serving as a means to protect ourselves - to numb, dissociate and distract. Both can lead to disordered eating and diagnosed eating disorders; ‘taboo’ topics, so many silently struggle with.

It is in this space, amongst clients feelings of confusion and ‘stuck-ness’, that Dietitian At Your Table has evolved and I have found my purpose as a dietitian; aligning with Health At Every Size (HAES®) and Trauma Informed Care. Offering weight inclusive, non diet nutrition counselling. Supporting people towards a place where food choices and eating can feel more flexible and free. Whether that’s around the kitchen table, socialising with others, or tucking into fish and chips on your favourite beach.

The work is challenging, rewarding and very much non linear - navigating (often) a lifetime of diet culture and disordered eating takes time.

So, while the name (Dietitian At Your Table) has remained, there’s been a lot of growth happening in the background. I’m a very different dietitian to the one that would have shown up a few years ago. And I’d love to work alongside you ‘at your table’ – whatever shape or form your table takes. And if you don’t have a table, that’s ok too!