“Eating Competence is being positive, comfortable, and flexible with eating as well as matter-of-fact and reliable about getting enough to eat of enjoyable food.” It is going to meals hungry (not starving!) and eating until you are full. It is eating foods you enjoy in amounts that make you feel satisfied. It’s thinking about what will support your nutrition needs, but not being so controlling that you don’t eat foods that bring you joy. It’s eating nutritious foods and stopping when you’re full, and it’s also eating until you’re stuffed at a holiday; it’s overeating sometimes and underrating others because you aren’t perfect, and that’s okay. It’s eating something because you want more, or it’s stopping because you know you can have more another time. It’s being okay with eating in response to your hunger, what you have on hand, your feelings, your schedule, or any other reason. It’s being flexible and trusting yourself.

Research shows that those who are more eating competent end up being better nutritionally, are more active, sleep better, and have better medical tests.

For more information on Eating Competence, visit The Ellyn Satter Institute.

Each session is individualized based on YOUR needs and goals. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. 

To ensure I can best understand your needs and goals, we’ll spend the first session reviewing your intake paperwork, diving deeper into your goals, and creating actionable steps for you to start implementing right away.

In follow-up sessions, we will continue navigating your challenges relating to food, implement realistic solutions that fit your needs, and practice skills around food and eating that support your goals.

I use a non-diet approach based in the Eating Competence model, a research-based approach to healthy relationships with food and eating. This approach includes practicing being in our bodies while eating. Often, we have the knowledge about what we need to eat, but it doesn’t translate to our bodies and truly experiencing trust with ourselves around food.

Instead of creating more food rules, I will help you attune to your internal cues and trust yourself with knowing what, when, and how much to eat no matter the situation.

I’ll also help you figure out where the nutrition research fits with the reality of your life.

For example, let’s imagine someone is regularly extremely hungry at night and feels out of control with food during that time. We discover that they don’t eat breakfast. They explain they aren’t hungry in the morning, they don’t have time to eat, or [insert reason].
Eating more earlier in the day will likely help, and also there are valid reasons this isn’t happening.

The recommendation: Eat breakfast.

The reality: no hunger, no time, etc.

Here’s where this person and I work together to figure out where research meets with reality in their life.
It’s easy to say “do this.” It’s harder to figure out if and how that actually fits in your life. I’ll get into the nuanced areas and work with you to figure out personalized solutions.

Yes! Research shows that those who are eating competent have better diets, better metabolic profiles, lower BMIs, and have higher levels of physical activity. Read more here.

You deserve to be confident and competent with feeding yourself, too!

If you need to follow a specific diet because of allergies, intolerances, or a health condition, but it feels like it isn’t going well, building your eating competence can help. Learning the building blocks of eating and eating competence can set you up for success with meeting your individual needs.  

Yes! I accept Aetna and Cigna in multiple states. Click here to find out if this is you!

For all others, I can provide you with a receipt after services that you can submit to your insurance provider. I recommend calling your insurance company to ask about your specific coverage and what information will be needed to possibly receive reimbursement.

FSA and HSA are accepted.

I currently see clients who live in Colorado, Indiana, New York, Michigan, California, Arizona, and Virginia.

I work with all clients virtually. We’ll meet via video call and communicate through a HIPAA-compliant platform.

If you live in a different state, please reach out so I can file the proper state paperwork to work with you!