A Non-Diet Approach to Health
Each month I hope to bring you some knowledge and awareness from a non-diet, intuitive eating perspective. In addition, as a yoga instructor and essential oil user, believer and distributor, I’ll incorporate an asana (pose) and an oil of the month hoping to expand with curiosity your understanding of health. A recipe may pop up every now and then too! Full disclosure- I'm a dietitian who doesn't like to cook so most of my recipes are adapted from others and tweaked to a vegan version.
First, I should probably explain what I mean by a non-diet dietitian. Well, a dietitian, which is different from a nutritionist, is someone who is an expert in dietetics, a branch of knowledge concerned with diet and its effects on health. Commonly a dietitian will alter a client's diet by designing a plan based on evidence based nutritional interventions to treat medical conditions.
Dietitians are governed by an academy, follow a code of ethics, have at least a bachelor’s degree (soon to require a master’s), have completed an internship and passed a national exam. Continuing professional education is required each year to maintain board certification. On top of that most states have licensure so you must be licensed in the state you wish to practice just like most other health care practitioners.
Having said all that, many people correlate a dietitian to those who primarily give you a set of rules (eat this; not that and/or a meal plan) to follow in hopes that your body will transform into what you (or a medical practitioner, coach or family member) hope, or that you’ll be cured from whatever you suffer. While there is definitely a place for therapeutic nutrition (also called medical nutrition therapy), there is an alternative to how that advice is offered… which is what intuitive eating is, a non-diet approach to nutrition.
Where does the “non-diet” (or “anti-diet”) come into play?
Our culture is bombarded with messages, albeit mixed messages, telling us what to eat, what not to eat, how much to eat and when to eat. It sends messages geared towards telling us how to look, how we should feel about our bodies if we’re not the societal norm or ideal, and how we should feel about the things we eat. How many times a day do you read or hear the word “guilt” associated with food?!? Drives me nuts… unless you stole the food, you’re not committing a crime!
The messages are fear based and flooded with inaccurate information creating a toxic system of beliefs. Some of these cultural beliefs include: thinness equating to health and one’s value; weight loss as a means to attain higher status, even though research is very clear that almost no one (<5%) can sustain intentional weight loss for more than a few years; certain foods demonized while others elevated on a pedestal; and oppression to those who don't mirror the picture of “health” that we created. These messages might not be so obvious until you really start paying attention. Once noticed or lived as first hand experience, they become internalized, causing shame for many and even leading to external stigma and discrimatination towards others.
So non-diet/anti-diet is more than just someone who is opposed to diets (also disguised as “lifestyle” within the wellness industry), meal plans or weight loss. It’s someone who is against and has walked away from diet culture… the subtle messages blasted in our every life like the Covid-15 memes, jokes; remarks in movies, TVs shows and books; marketing tactics such as those geared towards beach, gym or postpartum bodies; a relative telling you not to eat a certain food because it’ll end up on your hips; and yes, even your doctor telling you that losing weight is the first step in lowering your blood pressure or decreasing the pain in your knee.
Doesn't that sound like a relief?!?
What “non-diet”/”anti-diet” does not mean is anti-health; nor does it mean anti-medical nutrition therapy. There is a place for therapeutic nutrition. I entered this field because I am passionate about nutrition, am interested in health and find it fulfilling to serve people. I just found a more ethical manner in which to counsel people that pursues health using a non-fear and weight-centered approach. I treat people where they are now, not where they or others dictate them to be based on a societal or flawed belief system. I serve to promote size and body acceptance, help people feel freedom with food, and reject cultural obsession with weight loss and thinness in the name of health.
That’s pretty radical.
So what is Intuitive EatIng? I’ll save that for next month! Stay tuned....
First, I should probably explain what I mean by a non-diet dietitian. Well, a dietitian, which is different from a nutritionist, is someone who is an expert in dietetics, a branch of knowledge concerned with diet and its effects on health. Commonly a dietitian will alter a client's diet by designing a plan based on evidence based nutritional interventions to treat medical conditions.
Dietitians are governed by an academy, follow a code of ethics, have at least a bachelor’s degree (soon to require a master’s), have completed an internship and passed a national exam. Continuing professional education is required each year to maintain board certification. On top of that most states have licensure so you must be licensed in the state you wish to practice just like most other health care practitioners.
Having said all that, many people correlate a dietitian to those who primarily give you a set of rules (eat this; not that and/or a meal plan) to follow in hopes that your body will transform into what you (or a medical practitioner, coach or family member) hope, or that you’ll be cured from whatever you suffer. While there is definitely a place for therapeutic nutrition (also called medical nutrition therapy), there is an alternative to how that advice is offered… which is what intuitive eating is, a non-diet approach to nutrition.
Where does the “non-diet” (or “anti-diet”) come into play?
Our culture is bombarded with messages, albeit mixed messages, telling us what to eat, what not to eat, how much to eat and when to eat. It sends messages geared towards telling us how to look, how we should feel about our bodies if we’re not the societal norm or ideal, and how we should feel about the things we eat. How many times a day do you read or hear the word “guilt” associated with food?!? Drives me nuts… unless you stole the food, you’re not committing a crime!
The messages are fear based and flooded with inaccurate information creating a toxic system of beliefs. Some of these cultural beliefs include: thinness equating to health and one’s value; weight loss as a means to attain higher status, even though research is very clear that almost no one (<5%) can sustain intentional weight loss for more than a few years; certain foods demonized while others elevated on a pedestal; and oppression to those who don't mirror the picture of “health” that we created. These messages might not be so obvious until you really start paying attention. Once noticed or lived as first hand experience, they become internalized, causing shame for many and even leading to external stigma and discrimatination towards others.
So non-diet/anti-diet is more than just someone who is opposed to diets (also disguised as “lifestyle” within the wellness industry), meal plans or weight loss. It’s someone who is against and has walked away from diet culture… the subtle messages blasted in our every life like the Covid-15 memes, jokes; remarks in movies, TVs shows and books; marketing tactics such as those geared towards beach, gym or postpartum bodies; a relative telling you not to eat a certain food because it’ll end up on your hips; and yes, even your doctor telling you that losing weight is the first step in lowering your blood pressure or decreasing the pain in your knee.
Doesn't that sound like a relief?!?
What “non-diet”/”anti-diet” does not mean is anti-health; nor does it mean anti-medical nutrition therapy. There is a place for therapeutic nutrition. I entered this field because I am passionate about nutrition, am interested in health and find it fulfilling to serve people. I just found a more ethical manner in which to counsel people that pursues health using a non-fear and weight-centered approach. I treat people where they are now, not where they or others dictate them to be based on a societal or flawed belief system. I serve to promote size and body acceptance, help people feel freedom with food, and reject cultural obsession with weight loss and thinness in the name of health.
That’s pretty radical.
So what is Intuitive EatIng? I’ll save that for next month! Stay tuned....