Philosophy and Approach
Food-Relationship and Body-Connection First is our jam.
We believe that the connection we have with our bodies drives our behavior, our emotions, and our feelings. It influences our thoughts and our health. If we are out of touch with how we feel, then we are out of touch with what we need. A large part of this sense of feeling is having interoceptive sensitivity and accuracy- being in touch with the internal senses of hunger, fullness, and somatic emotional sensations as well as understanding our avoidance to feeling these sensations and how this avoidance shows up in our behaviors (such as emotional eating).
So can we help with weight loss (if that is your desire)? Sure. But we will also touch base on your sense of feeling restricted or frustrated about food or body image. We seek to understand why you want to lose weight, and what this urge may bring up for you. We help you identify what food is satisfying, and encourage this body connection with hunger and fullness to be the main driver behind meal choices (instead of counting calories! Who wants to do that?!).
We also take a weight neutral, Intuitive Eating, "food relationship first" approach where we tackle any cooccurring concerns (blood sugars, hormonal imbalance, fertility, desire for weight loss, elevated cholesterol, ect) by healing the food and body relationship as a priority and then discussing nutrition changes through the gentle nutrition lens.
This is a self-compassionate lens that also values your pleasure and body trust. The discussion of how you feel, what you want, and what you need are always first and foremost.
What is 'Weight Neutral'?
Even though we will support whatever goals you have (like weight loss), we do strongly believe in a weight-neutral approach. Confusing, right? Let's break it down. A weight-neutral approach means we recognize that:
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weight stigma is harmful psychologically and metabolically
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telling someone to lose weight is a form of weight stigma
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dieting increases the risk of eating disorders and disordered eating habits
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dieting rarely causes sustained weight loss
Being weight neutral means we don't focus on weight loss as a means to "improve your health". We recognize that dieting is harmful, and that you are not defined by a number on a scale.
Let's look at an example client who was told to lose weight for their heart (we'll call her Jane). So Jane desires weight loss for heart health. She has chronically dieted her whole life and has body image issues as well as is perimenopausal. Instead of giving Jane a 1,200 calorie "diet" (a weight-centric, not weight-neutral, thing to do), we will look at:
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current intake and movement, sleep, and mindfulness habits
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history with food and movement
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weight and health history
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current goals and medical concerns
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current routine and schedule
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stress and management of it
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food relationship
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body image
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boundaries and roles in your life
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current nutrition and health knowledge
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desires, goals, hopes for your health
We take all this information, and we work to help her understand:
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what is going on with her hormones and heart health medically and nutritionally
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what a heart healthy dietary pattern that is also adequate and satisfying looks like
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what a helpful nutrition approach to perimenopause and root causes of her symptoms
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what she actually wants to eat
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how she wants to move
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how she wants to feel and manage stress
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if she has any unmet needs and how to meet those needs
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how to balance her food values with her life and health values
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how to prepare the meals in the time she has and enjoy them
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how to release any harmful or unhelpful thoughts or feelings about food and body
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helping her get in touch with body cues and somatic wisdom
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A weight-neutral approach is SO much more than counting calories and macros! It awakens body trust and appreciation and long-term, sustainable health and nutrition plan. We heal and we feel amazing.
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