Eating disorder treatment takes a village. Between a primary care provider, therapist, dietitian, and (possibly) a psychiatrist, your calendar will quickly fill up with appointments. It’s up to you and your providers to determine the level of care you need, but having a therapist and a dietitian is essential.
Here’s why a dietitian plays a key role in your eating disorder recovery:
It’s not about food, but it is
Eating disorder expert and Monte Nido founder Carolyn Costin likes to say that eating disorders are not about the food, but at the same time, they are. What she means is that eating disorders are not triggered by any food in particular, and there are many other factors involved, but part of every eating disorder is an unhealthy relationship with food.
You need to work with a dietitian if you have an eating disorder in order to repair your relationship with food. A dietitian can help you learn to identify hunger and fullness cues so you can work towards intuitive eating. They can also help create more flexible beliefs around food so that you can more comfortably eat what may have otherwise been forbidden.
You have to heal your body to heal your mind
Disordered eating and eating disorders take a toll on your physical health. It can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, and leave you fatigued, prone to fainting, and unable to regulate your body temperature. Without adequate nutrition, your brain will also suffer. With a malnourished brain, thought processes are delayed and feel draining, it is much more difficult to emotionally regulate, and recalling details feels like moving through a fog, making it that much more difficult to work through your eating disorder. A dietitian can help with the nutrition rehabilitation process, so you can be in a stable place. Once you are in a better place physically, it will be easier to tackle the mental illness.
Nutrition isn’t one-size-fits-all
A dietitian can determine what amount of food is “enough” for your unique needs. They will often create a personalized meal plan to help you meet your recovery goals, or provide you with general guidelines based on the different nutrients you need.
Accountability
Accountability is everything in eating disorder recovery. A dietitian can serve as an accountability partner for nutrition rehabilitation. They can encourage you on hard days, and celebrate with you on good days. Your dietitian can read your food diary or connect with you on an app like Recovery Record to stay up to date on how you are eating.
Nutrition myth-busting
With nutrition advice being doled out on social media, in magazines, and by diet companies, it’s hard to know what is and isn’t true. You’ve likely consumed a lot of misinformation about how you “should” eat. A dietitian can help bust any nutrition myths you have learned and give you the facts.
Relearning how to eat after an eating disorder has complicated your relationship with food isn’t easy to do alone. That’s why a dietitian is an invaluable part of your eating disorder treatment team.
If you are a California resident, you can work with one of our anti-diet dietitians who specialize in eating disorder treatment. We have two wonderful providers on staff available to meet with you via telehealth for nutrition counseling.
