5 Reasons to Work With an Anti-Diet Dietitian
As the broader public has begun to recognize just how toxic diet culture is, a new type of dietitian is emerging: “anti-diet” dietitians. While on the surface, the meaning of “anti-diet” is pretty obvious - dietitians who are against using or prescribing diets to treat clients - what it means to be an anti-diet dietitian actually goes much deeper than that. Below, we’ve outlined a few reasons why working with an anti-diet dietitian might be transformational for you.
Put Weight on the Back Burner
We believe that weight or other weight-based metrics (like BMI) are not good indicators of health, and we will not ask for your weight - ever. Despite tons of evidence that BMI and weight cannot be used to define health, many traditional dietitians continue to use these metrics in their treatment. We believe this practice is not only not grounded in the evidence, but also contributes to weight stigma.
Ditch the Diets Forever
We believe that dieting is not only ineffective - it’s unethical. A whopping 95% of diets fail - and that’s why we’ll never advise you start a diet. Not only are they ineffective, but the process of weight cycling can actually lead to adverse health outcomes, both physiological and psychological.
Find Food Freedom
We promote the idea that there are no “good” or “bad” foods. We throw terms like “clean eating” and “cheat days” out the window, since all foods are morally neutral and all foods are allowed, anytime. When we stop restricting and start allowing all foods, we can start healing our relationship with food over time.
Regain Autonomy Over Your Body
We acknowledge that YOU are the expert on your body, and that your knowledge of your hunger, fullness and cravings comes first. The only person living in your body is YOU, which is why we trust YOU to know yourself best. We will never prescribe meal plans or tell you what you can or cannot do regarding your health. Instead, we’ll provide tools to help YOU feel empowered to make decisions around your body and food.
Work With Stigma-Informed Healthcare Providers
We have done, and continue to do, our own work around weight bias and stigma. Dietitians aren’t immune to societal prejudices and stigma, and in fact, are often some of the worst offenders. We continue to unlearn our biases so that we can better serve our clients in a weight-neutral, anti-diet way.
Working with an anti-diet dietitian may seem like a scary step if you’ve dieted and worked with traditional dietitians in the past. That’s totally understandable - it requires us to change our frame of mind, and it’s hard work! But working with an anti-diet dietitian can truly be life-changing. Hear how working with an anti-diet dietitian has helped Tory Stroker Nutrition clients:
“If you’ve had diet culture pushed at you your whole life there is a lot of work to be done to counteract it. It’s hard at first to open up about such personal issues like body image, but Tory is very easy to talk to… there is no judgment, she truly wants to help you.”
“I have worked with dietitians and nutritionists in the past that have left me feeling bad about myself… With Tory there is zero judgment - the goal isn’t to be told to lose weight… An emphasis on losing weight stopped me from listening to my body; previous professionals made that disconnect greater while Tory has helped me to relearn what my body needs.”
“It was a few years of thinking before I finally reached out to [Tory] and I truly wish I had done it sooner. The work may be hard at times but it’s very worth it.”
If you’re ready to take the next step, we’d love to help you on your journey towards body respect and acceptance. Reach out to Tory for more info on getting support!