First Foods

My story starts when I was 7 years old.

I grew up watching the women in my life pursue weight loss. I can remember sneaking my mom’s Jenny Craig candies when I was 8 (at the time I just thought they were tootsie rolls!) My grandmother, my mom, these women who I loved and adored so much were constantly in pursuit of a smaller body. I was heavily influenced by this. I saw my body grow as I aged (a natural human experience) and I was programed to think, “this must be wrong.” I hated my body.

Fast-forward to college and I became obsessed with dieting.

Tracking my food, cutting out entire food groups (no carbs! no sugar! no grains! you get it…) and exercising obsessively became part of my identity.

The funny thing is, I never thought I was on a diet. I insisted that this was a ‘lifestyle’ and that it was ‘healthy’.

The problem with that ‘healthy lifestyle’ were those late night binges I spent in the dark kitchen eating peanut butter until I felt sick. I was too mortified to order what I really wanted to eat when I went on dates or out to eat with friends, ordering a salad only to binge on whatever I could get my hands on in my cabinet the minute I got home.

My game-changer

Fast-forward once more to the summer of 2018. Working long (boring) hours at the library, I stumbled upon a blog from another dietitian. In it, she described what she called a disordered relationship with food (sounded eerily similar to the one I had). She described something called ‘Intuitive Eating’. My life was never the same. I discovered these 10 principles and read just about every blog post she had that summer. It was the first time I realized that what I was doing wasn’t normal and it didn’t have to be that way. If you can relate, I want you to know right now that it doesn’t have to be this way for you either.

I wish I could say that from that point on I never struggled with body image or food rules again. Just as I had settled into my body and began respecting it, I got married and pregnant. My body immediately began to feel and look different. I was immediately challenged to put those IE principles to the test.

Pregnancy, birth, postpartum, motherhood, another pregnancy, birth, postpartum, motherhood… I’ve been on what feels like a body image roller coaster over the past 4 years. Through the different seasons of motherhood I’ve learned new ways to become an Intuitive Eater and developed more tools to cope with hard body image days.

I’ve also been in charge of feeding and nourishing two tiny humans. Figuring out what to feed my kids, how to do it, and how to address picky eating hasn’t been easy. I’ve developed tools and a framework to guide me (it’s what I’ve taught many individual clients & in online courses). But, one thing is for sure: I absolutely could not nourish my kids well if I hadn’t also learned how to nourish my own relationship with food.

Through healing my relationship with eating and my body, I am able to convey that to my kids. It’s in the way I talk about food, eating, and our bodies. They learn it by how I serve foods, what foods I serve them, and what my expectations are for them. I’m raising my kids to trust their bodies, love the bodies they have AND feel safe to try new foods and become an adventurous eater.

You’re not alone, and you can get food freedom

If you’re someone who feels you would benefit from working with a Registered Dietitian to promote food freedom, ditch dieting and learn to eat with confidence from a non-diet perspective, I’d love to connect with you.

Click here to schedule a free consult to discuss your unique needs and find out if we’re a good match.

Coaching sessions start at $124 per session, with discounts available for pre-paid in full packages. Pricing plans also available. I do not currently accept insurance but will be able to do so very soon.