What is an anti-diet dietitian?
You may have heard the term “anti-diet” dietitian. Maybe you have not heard this term and it sounds a bit like an oxymoron to you. At SD Nutrition Group, we consider ourselves anti-diet or non-diet registered dietitians. But you may be wondering, what does an anti-diet dietitian do that is different than a traditional dietitian? There are a few key differences in the way that anti-diet dietitians view health and how they provide support to those that they work with.
Anti-diet dietitians hold a belief that restriction and dieting are NOT required in order to achieve health-related goals. This includes
Not prescribing diets or weight loss plans as a way to promote or improve health
Not considering body weight as an indicator of health
Permission to include and eat ALL foods
Experimentation with how different foods make our bodies feel
Belief in body respect and joyful movement
Improving relationship with food
Does not count calories, macros, or define foods as “good” or “bad”
Anti-diet dietitians help people improve behaviors that can impact health, but ultimately find peace and joy in their relationship with food. This means supporting people in their own journeys to unpack diet culture and redefine how they view health. As non-diet dietitians, we hope to empower the people we work with to let go of dieting and process how diet culture has shown up in their lives.