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If you are looking for support on your own intuitive eating, non diet, body image journey:
I hope you consider joining my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/161977207814083/
and liking my business page: https://www.facebook.com/lisarutledgeRD/
and following my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/lisarutledgerdn/
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I have to admit that I often prefer the terms wellness coach and food behaviour expert since the registered dietitian and nutritionist titles feel wrapped up in stigma (assumptions like I only teach the food guide or that I am the food police.).
I take a “radical” or outside the box approach to nutrition by focusing on the WHY instead of the WHAT. Most people know what healthy eating means (although, these days it can be a loaded word), they require digging deeper to find out why they are overeating (or why they think they are overeating) or why they are not making the changes they desire.
Everyone has experiences that help to shape them into the person they are today. Here are my experiences and why I choose to work with repairing people’s relationship with food in private practice:
Once I started working as an RD, I was introduced to the workout & fitness world. I thought that in order to influence clients, I had to be a shining example of fitness and health. The problem is, what the workout world and media claim are healthy (skinny, abs, perfection) and what is actually healthy are two different things. After living and breathing this fitness world that focused on shape, slowly the obsession with weight loss and food crept into my life. I started scrutinizing what I ate, how much I ate; constantly asking myself “when I will eat next?”, “should I have eaten that?”, “did I exercise enough today?”. These questions became overwhelming and all-consuming. I was deciding if I was good enough (a good enough friend, a good enough dietitian) based on calorie intake, the number of pounds lost and minutes spent exercising. When the binges and eating in secret started I felt crazy! Like I was the only one in the world who could not “get a handle” on food. The more I tried to cut back on food, the more I craved everything!
Perhaps the most upsetting is the fact that I was a dietitian. I should have seen the signs of disordered eating. I literally didn’t know what was wrong with me and had no idea that all the dieting and restrictions were inciting these symptoms. I got up the courage to do some googling and came across the idea that dieting and hating one’s body can lead to eating in secret, feeling out of control with food and feel shame with your weight. It was a relief to find a solution but far more difficult to put the non-dieting approach into practice. At first, stopping the restrictive diet and returning to normal exercise patterns felt like giving up on my dream of being the perfect weight and the perfect RD but the more I re-embraced a normal way of eating, the more normal I felt. And to my surprise, despite not reaching my “perfect weight goal”, I actually felt better in my skin (and in my mind). I felt free of the diet prison and felt as if I had gained my freedom to live life happily again.
I know the pain of hating your body, of feeling out of control with food and eating, of feeling unable to trust your food instincts. AND I know the feeling of rediscovering that confidence in food choices. It is freeing, self-esteem boosting and allows time to be dedicated to all areas of your life (rather than full focus on food and exercise).
Helping others find the courage to abandon diets – the very thing that is leading to disordered eating (like binges) and body hate, low self-esteem and shame/guilt- is my goal. To help others find a fresh new way of eating for health and wellness- not just healthy bodies, but healthy minds too!”
I would love to hear about your journey! Are you just starting out or have you been practicing intuitive and mindful eating for a while? What or who inspired you to pivot your focus from weight to wellbeing? Any words of wisdom for peers?