What to Expect When Working with a Dietitian

Perhaps a more accurate title would be "What do Expect when Working with Emily" because I certainly can't speak for all dietitians but I thought it might be helpful to briefly walk through how I approach my work with clients and what you can expect in our sessions together.

Approach

In almost every consultation call or initial session, a client will at some point ask "so what will we talk about? Do you just tell me what do eat?". And the answer is no! While I will absolutely provide examples or brainstorm ideas for meals and snacks when needed, working with me is a lot more than that. My ultimate goal is to teach you how to increase trust with yourself and your body so that you have the confidence to feed yourself in the way that works and feels the best for you in any given situation.

I help clients wade through nutrition misinformation, debunk any potential untrue or disordered beliefs, and understand that the most important foundation of adequate nutrition is to make sure they are first eating enough. If we work together you will inevitably get tired of hearing me say "something is always better than nothing." We will focus on improving nutrition by making sure you are eating enough, building a pattern of eating that helps you feel your best, learning what foods work well for your body, and how to add nutrients without it becoming an obsession. This applies whether you are looking to recover from an eating disorder or how to fuel for your sport.

I also tell clients off the bat that I practice from a weight neutral perspective. That doesn't mean you aren't allowed to struggle with your body or want to lose weight!! It means that as a dietitian, intentional weight loss is not one of my focuses. I firmly believe (and evidence supports) that improving health outcomes is possible regardless of body size and that there are so many other indicators of improved health (both physical and mental) besides just the scale.

Initial Session

In our first session together I will likely ask you to take me all the way back to your first memories around food and body. Then we will go through your life stages and discuss what your relationship with food, body, and exercise looked at various points in your life and how that has impacted you today. We will also dive into your medical history, existing nutrition knowledge, any potential disordered eating habits or behaviors, and current food intake patterns. Lastly, we will discuss your overall goals in working together and I will aim to leave you with 1-2 tangible goals to work on before we meet again.

Follow Up Sessions

In our follow-up sessions we will discuss how things have been going since we last spoke, touch on how the goals we set went, and address any concerns you might have. Sometimes sessions look a bit more conceptual, where we discuss beliefs about food you may have, talk about your relationship with food and/or your body. Other times sessions lean more towards practical things like brainstorming meal and snack ideas or making a grocery list together. Most often sessions are a combination of the two, depending on what will be most helpful to you!

Hopefully this helped provide a bit of clarity around what the process working together might look like. I know talking with a dietitian can be a tad terrifying but I promise I'm cool! But in all seriousness, it is such an honor when a client chooses to work with me, open up about a vulnerable part of their life, and allow me to be a part of bettering their physical health, mental health, relationship to body, and relationship to themselves.

If you are hoping to recover from an eating disorder, optimize your sports performance, get off the diet train, or improve your nutrition without obsession, I would love to work together! Please don't hesitate to get in touch.