What is a Non-Diet Dietitian? Intuitive Eating Dietitian

There’s a lot of confusion about what dietitians do.

I once told a friend I was a dietitian and they thought I was working in a cafeteria, serving food at schools or hospitals.

• What will this person think of what I eat?
• Will I be told what I can and can’t eat?
• Will I be judged for my weight or eating choices?
• Will I be lectured about nutrition the whole time?

It takes a lot of courage to trust someone with something as personal as your relationship with food. This is especially true if you’ve had a bad experience working with dietitians, nutritionists or other healthcare providers. Most people’s expectations of working with a dietitian are colored by this idea of us as the food police, so it’s hard to imagine working with someone who says that’s the opposite of what they do.

I hope that, through this post, we can calm some nerves and you can have an idea of what to expect walking into a new experience. So here’s what to expect in working with a dietitian at iLiveWell Nutrition.

What to Expect in Your Nutrition Session

If you have never met with a non-diet dietitian, you might have a lot of questions about what it actually is like. Shoot, if you have never met with a dietitian in general, you might have a lot of questions of what the session will look like.

Here is a quick rundown of what your time with a dietitian at iLiveWell Nutrition might look like:

• We want to get to know YOU! What brought you in to chat with us.
• Lots of listening to you.
• We want to understand your thoughts about food without judgment. All foods fit – no good, bad, right, or wrong food list in our office. We slowly guide you toward intuitive eating.
• A space that’s safe for all people. Your body is not a problem to be solved, and in honoring that, we’ll work with your body and not against it.
• You can’t get this wrong.
• Nutrition! We love to share the fun and sciences of food to help you understand the WHY behind everything.

We are Still Dietitians!

We may be non-diet dietitians, but we’re still dietitians! Depending on your individual needs, nutrition may be more or less emphasized, and will likely look different than the kind of nutrition you usually see, but nutrition therapy will still to be part of your care. We strongly believe in evidenced-based practices and will always provide science and up-to-date research for you along your journey.