The benefits of dessert may surprise you. When people learn I am a registered dietitian, they automatically assume that I must eat a very specific way. They think I must not enjoy diet culture’s latest nutrient victims, namely carbs, and certainly not anything sweet, soft and gooey (the way I like my chocolate chip cookies). I love the surprise on their faces when I share I eat everything, including an abundance of carbs (it’s our body’s preferred fuel source, after all) and

Discovering your pregnant often marks the beginning of an overwhelming flood of information, especially regarding what to eat or avoid. This period, already filled with emotional intensity, can become even more complicated for those with a history of eating disorders. During my own pregnancy, I found comfort in relying on intuitive eating—an approach that helped me stay grounded and connected to my body throughout those transformative nine months. Although intuitive eating du

The first time I encountered the term "mechanical eating" was during my nutrition studies. It was presented as a clinical, somewhat rigid method—primarily used in treating acute eating disorders and supporting eating disorder recovery. The approach was portrayed as formulaic: a strict mechanical eating meal plan that had to be followed precisely for any progress in eating disorder recovery to be made. But through my experience as an eating disorder dietitian, I’ve come to see

Did you have to cancel your dream vacation before the world shut down in 2020? Chances are good there was at least one trip the pandemic prevented you from taking. Although COVID is still with us, it is now much safer to travel, international borders are open, and world travel has a proceed-with-caution message, since places have different risk levels and entry/exit testing requirements, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Whether you are staying nea

Navigating emotions may be the hardest part of being a human. Over the last couple of years, it's safe to say we have been collectively living in a particularly emotionally turbulent time. In my work as a registered dietitian and nutrition therapist, I have certainly seen the use of disordered eating behaviors increase in attempts to manage hard emotions since the pandemic started. Today, I'd like to talk specifically about emotional eating, a concept that is often misunderst

Today, I am co-writing with my longtime friend and fellow intuitive eating dietitian (and yoga teacher!) Letal Garber, MS, RD, LD, RYT. Like myself, she is a registered dietitian nutritionist who sees nutrition through a non-diet lens and practices the original intuitive eating philosophy. Unlike myself, she is an expert in Diabetes (DM) management! So, we decided to join forces and explain how a non-diet, intuitive eating approach can absolutely be taken when it comes to man

Hello, Happy June, and thanks for reading. Today’s blog topic is one that has been on my mind for quite some time – even well before this global pandemic, which has undoubtedly amplified pre-existing anxiety in many people, and created the perfect storm for brand-new cases in others. As a believer in a collaborative approach, and the merging of Western & Eastern medicine, I am certainly not suggesting that nutrition is to be used in place of therapy, and/or medicine to manag

Today, I’m embracing my inner science nerd and talking about a women’s health topic that I really care about—losing your period—which is clinically termed functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA). I'll speak to topics like hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery signs, risks, and solutions, and hope to break down some of the science for you. Basically, hypothalamic amenorrhea is the loss of a period for three months or more. It comes with a host of consequences seriously affecting w

Hello, hello! In the spirit of National Eating Disorder Awareness week, I want to highlight some of the major factors about eating...

On Thanksgiving morning, my mom and I were finishing up some food we were making to share later on with our relatives. My mom knows my...

I feel very fortunate to share that I just got back from a freakin’ awesome vacation last week – spent two weeks in Europe. Ate all the food and drank all the wine – the photo on this post is the most amazing cheesecake I’ve ever eaten in San Sebastian, Spain (visit my IG page to see some photos of more delicious-ness). Food was absolutely one of the best parts of the trip. Now, back to reality. If I was still entrenched in a diet/disordered eating mindset like I was many ye

I am pleased to announce that this is another guest blog post by my lovely and talented intern: Lauren Tinkey s about to graduate from...

First, I have to say that the quotation marks around “Unhealthy” in the title of this post are not to be taken lightly. We live in a...

Hands-down, the number one macronutrient (carbs, fats, protein) that I hear people say they’re avoiding are carbohydrates. From my clients – with AND without eating disorders – to family members to friends and next-door neighbor, this fear and avoidance of carbs does not discriminate. Constantly, I hear statements like, “My weakness is English muffins,” “I’m afraid of how many calories are in grains,” or “I’ve just always heard carbs aren’t good for me.” I’ve also noticed th

D oes your relationship to food get in the way of you living your best life? If your answer is yes, please know it is really common in our culture to get distracted by the latest diets and fitness obsessions, and then led down into a rabbit hole of life-sucking behaviors that certainly don’t help us live into our values. They actually do the opposite, and take us away from what is really important in life. That’s why, today, I want to talk life values – the reasons why we fe

This is a time of year when I feel like it is really easy to disconnect from our bodies. Whether it’s trying to tie up lose ends at work,...

Take a moment to ask yourself: What motivates me to eat well? If your key motivators behind eating a healthy diet are weight control...

Did you know that one in three U.S. consumers are following a specific diet? According to the 2018 International Food Information Council...

Hello there people. This is just a super quick post to celebrate calories. One of the many things that I think our culture gets wrong is...

The term literally makes me cringe. Search the hashtag “cleaneating” on Instagram and you will find images of super-lean women taking...