From weight-loss dietitians to non-diet specialists
Ariana and Cassie, the founders of Embody Health London, met two years ago at a nutrition weight loss clinic in Central London.
Clients in this weight management clinic presented with a history of chronic dieting, poor relationships with food and their body, confusion about nutrition information, low self-esteem and poor emotional regulation.
The reason these clients were sitting across from us in the first place is because they were led to believe that what they needed to achieve long-term happiness & success was yet another diet.
We identified a pattern.
What we did behind closed doors was different from other dietitians in the field.
We counselled. We got results.
We were able to get into the nitty gritty of how our clients thought, what led them to think that way and what motivated them to change.
We are different to most dietitians in that we practice from a Health At Every Size (HAES) and Intuitive Eating framework.
We consider our clients as a whole and we aren’t just talking about food.
We get to understand our client’s lives, including their social life, family system, environment, hobbies, work or school… you name it!
When we do this this enables us to provide more helpful and realistic support. We endeavor to understand different experiences with food, body and exercise.
We weave principles from Neuro-Linguistic Programing (NLP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
We work in partnership with our clients.
We dive into the how and why our clients engage in certain behaviours.
We like to say, if you don’t pull the weeds out from the root they will just keep growing!
We focus on intuitive eating rather than fad diets to empower our clients to find food freedom and never diet again.
There are over 100 peer reviewed articles on Intuitive eating now and it has been shown to improve health by:
- Decreasing LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol levels
- Reduce blood pressure, thus lower cardiovascular risk
- Improve blood glucose regulation
- Decrease weight to healthy set point – decreased BMI (although we don’t like to emphasise this measure)
- Make more healthful choices
- Weight is de-emphasised as an indicator of success and patients feel more empowered [Bush et al., 2014}
- Greater unconditional self-regard
- Lower levels of depression and disordered eating behaviours [Denny et al 2013]
Interestingly, research consistently shows that attempts at dieting are often unsuccessful and do not predict weight loss or maintenance, but instead predict weight gain and over- weight status [Denny et al.2013].
After a few “good” days or weeks on a diet, ‘forbidden foods’ become a little more enticing. As these foods are “not allowed” we binge and feel out of control. Then we feel like rubbish for breaking the diet and falling back into restriction (dieting). **Cue the restrict-binge cycle.
This is where we knew we had to do something about it.
And then we birthed EMBODY HEALTH LONDON!
An anti-diet, Health at Every Size, Weight Inclusive, private clinic, specialising in eating disorders, disordered eating and body image work.
We are a part of the movement to challenge diet culture and help women find food freedom and body acceptance. And it feels pretty powerful!
So, if you’re new around here, thanks for being here.
If you’ve been following along for a while, we have loved sharing this journey with you and we can’t wait for what’s to come!
Here’s to the future – because we can all use a little bit of optimism and hope at the moment.
If you want further support, we teach you how to move away from boring diets and nurture a more positive relationship with food.
CHECK-OUT our 12-week online group programme here!
In this programme we address the ins and outs of putting an end to the restriction-binge cycle, teach you how to nurture a positive relationship with your body and food AND guide you towards food freedom.
Enquire today!
Team EHL x
