The team of Dietitians at Mind Body Well proudly use the Non-Diet Approach to assist our clients who present with a range of concerns related to eating and wellbeing. Given the Non-Diet approach may be unfamiliar many people, we’ve put together this post to answer some of the more frequently asked questions.
How could a Dietitian possibly be Non-Diet?
To keep us on the same page, we’re using the following definition of diet: any manipulation or control of food intake with the goal of weight loss or change to body shape or size. Dieting is something many people have experience with, because our culture presents it to us as a cure-all for health, self-esteem and general happiness. However according to overwhelming evidence, dieting most often leaves people more dissatisfied with their bodies, at the same level or higher than their original weight, and dealing with unhelpful eating behaviours and ideas about food.
So, what do the Mind Body Well Dietitians do that’s different?
Our team utilise the principles of the Non-Diet Approach, along with Health At Every Size® and Intuitive Eating to help guide people toward ways of eating that are more natural for them. This means eating in line with their body’s cues rather than restricting foods, and learning to accept and embrace their natural body weight and size. This can be particularly helpful for those who have experiences with yo-yo dieting, disordered eating and body image concerns. Through this approach eating can become a source of nourishment, joy and satisfaction, rather than guilt, obsession and shame.
Non-Diet Dietitians can also use evidence-based Medical Nutrition Therapy to help people presenting with a wide variety of medical conditions including PCOS, insulin resistance, Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol and triglycerides, GORD/reflux, nutrition deficiencies and support with balanced vegetarian/vegan eating. All of these (and many more) conditions can be assisted through nutritional guidance, without focussing on calorie restriction and weight loss.
Why do we practise this way?
Overwhelming evidence shows that intentional weight loss attempts through diet and lifestyle changes don’t reliably lead to long-term changes in weight. Instead, diets most often lead to cycles of weight loss then regain, and poorer health outcomes than if we never dieted at all. Ongoing dieting can also exacerbate body image concerns and take a toll on our mental health.
Weight loss dieting also perpetuates a diet-culture preoccupation with thinness rather than health and wellbeing, and makes assumptions about weight which are often inaccurate, and almost always unhelpful and unkind. Non-Diet Dietitians focus instead on helping people find a level of nutritional freedom which enables them to feel well nourished and more comfortable with food.
The team of Dietitians at Mind Body Well encourage people to consider what they would choose for their health and wellbeing if weight was out of the picture. This allows us to develop common goals around nutrition, food and eating that are achievable and sustainable.
The Non-Diet Approach allows people to experience the freedom, wellbeing and complete transformation that letting go of dieting can offer. Through finding peace with food and their bodies, people can make space for what they truly value.
If you’re interested in working with one of the Dietitians at Mind Body Well, please click the link/s below.