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PCOS and high cholesterol: do you need to go on a diet?
All you heard your doctor say was that you have PCOS and high cholesterol and your ears shut off. Your mind is going a mile a minute. Your period has been a little wonky, and you're worried what that would mean for your ability to conceive. You were dismissed at first by your doctors and told to lose weight. You’ve been trying so hard to watch what you're eating and “be better” with your nutrition. Every time you try to diet, it backfires (like it always does). This has left you guilt-ridden and deep into your binge-restrict cycle extremes. At last, your doctor finally started investigating the causes. Since it’s one of the most common causes of female infertility, your doctors...

a nutrition label worksheet for intuitive eaters (PDF included!)
Did you go shopping with your mom as a kid and stroll the aisles with her? She picked up a snack and stared at the label, she hung her head, “too many calories”, “not low fat” and put the item back on the shelf. What if she had a nutrition label worksheet for Intuitive Eaters to help guide her choices at the grocery store…instead of the latest diet guide or restrictive app? I bet things would have been a lot less restrictive for your whole family! Instead of the guilt and shame for choosing certain foods, she could feel confident that she made an informed choice for herself, based on her own personal goals. Intuitive Eating is about listening to your body, but we can’t deny that nutrition...

how to find fat-friendly doctors and healthcare professionals
You are on a mission, the “find a great fat friendly doctor near me” mission. Why? Because too many times, you’ve shown up to the doctor with a cold, or a sprained ankle and you’ve been told the treatment was to lose weight! Wait, what? Isn’t there a list of body-positive doctors or fat-friendly healthcare professionals so I can show up to my medical appointments knowing that I’ll be heard for real, not judged for how I look? You feel like the doctor just sees you for your weight. Do they even care about your habits or history? The last time you went to see him about your knee pain, he just went off about keto and told you to give it a try. Did he even think about your history of...

how to reverse your prediabetes (without a diet!)
I’m going to tell you a story about Sara. At Sara’s last doctor’s appointment, her doctor told her “you need to reverse your risk of prediabetes”; “lose weight and stay away from carbs”. The doctor gave her a handout as she walked out the door and wished her luck. Sara grew up in a multi-generational home. Her father and grandmother both had diabetes. She was constantly being told, “watch your weight”, and “if you eat sugar, you’ll end up with diabetes”. Now she’s terrified of ending up with diabetes and what could go wrong if she can’t control her blood sugars. She’s thinking, “But all my life I’ve been watching what I eat and trying to lose weight – where did it get me?...

is a damp january better than a dry january?
Are you ringing in the new year with the “new year, new me” mentality? Two weeks ago during the celebrations, you were thinking “enjoy it while it lasts”, and “have another glass of wine”, after all you are doing a dry January. Does the idea of a dry January sound like a way to start the year off strong, even virtuous? I’m going to discuss 3 reasons why a dry January may NOT be the best fit for your long-term relationship with alcohol, or even virtuous, as you may have been led to believe. A damp January may be a better fit…or no change at all may be best. To be clear, this blog is not pro-drinking (or pro-NOT-drinking). As a Registered Dietitian, I’m pro-you making informed...

did you grow up in a family obsessed with weight and dieting?
If generational dieting trauma impacts your relationship to food and body image today, you're not alone. I'm Melissa, Registered Dietitian offering 1:1 nutrition therapy and body image coaching that takes into account your lived experience with disordered eating, eating disorders, and body image concerns.
After the 1x1 program with Melissa, I have stopped dieting and no longer feel the need to. I have learned to trust my body and eat without guilt, a concept that baffled me during our first call.
I have talked about my journey and healing my relationship with food with others, being vulnerable about something that would normally cause me to put up a wall. I’m learning my boundaries and how to cope with negative and positive emotions more than ever before without leaning restricting and binging.
Melissa helped me change my life and learn to take care of my body after over a decade of learning to do the opposite - without dieting.
- Amanda S., former client