Why I Started Sustainable Nutrition
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Sustainable Nutrition Office 2018
This week marks the two year anniversary of Sustainable Nutrition! People often ask why I decided to go into private practice. The short answer? To help people. The long answer?…..
Right after becoming an RD I began working at a combined acute care center and nursing home where I saw people coming in with massive complications that started out as 100% preventable diseases that could have been cured with simple life style changes. I was also seeing people who were far beyond the help of medicine and living their final years of life in poor health, again from preventable diseases. I realized that I could do little to help these people and it broke my heart.
In my daily life I was also watching people stuck in the diet loop all the while developing these same preventable chronic diseases. People were chasing perfect bodies and not health, being mislead by diets that promised quick fixes, and yo-yo dieting that resulted in weight gain. I saw people flat out defeated from all of the misinformation.
I myself had previously been stuck in the diet loop for several years that resulted in binge eating disorder. My relationship with food was an all or nothing mentality. If I couldn’t eat perfectly then I was a failure. Several years of practicing intuitive eating healed my relationship with food and after feeling this sense of wholeness, on the other side, I knew THIS was what could change people’s lives.
The more I opened up to others about my previous struggles with food the more people started to admit they were using food to cope with emotions and felt out of control with their relationship with food.
And so I created Sustainable Nutrition. The name was born out of watching people struggle, and my own personal struggle, with finding a way of eating that was not only healthy but SUSTAINABLE.
I don’t want people to struggle through the years of trial and error that I did. I want people to feel nourished and satisfied with their food choices. I want to provide people with tools to understand their body, not rules that restrict them.
I created Sustainable Nutrition to give people space to rethink their relationship with food and their bodies. Helping people step into control of their own life and health! Because food should never be a source of anxiety or mystery. It is simply a pleasurable way to nourish our body.
And so here we are two years later! I have had the privilege of helping people drastically change their lives for the better. One client writes:
“I had been stuck in a rut and couldn't seem to figure out how to make positive nutritional changes. I was in need of lasting lifestyle changes that would fit in with my busy lifestyle. In addition to someone who could help me interpret the symptoms of my body while acknowledging the role that the mind, behaviors and hormones have on eating habits.
Rachael has this vast database of cutting edge research as she is constantly learning mixed with sincere compassion and care for her clients. She was always searching and learning more to help me solve the most obscure and complex issues.
Rachael really is using her true gift- with kindness and respect she called out behaviors that were sabotaging my success (and that other providers did not pick up on). Then from there, she helped me create a plan that I felt confident to put into action.
She does not give you the cookie cutter answer, she will give you the keys to the vehicle so you can confidently drive your own health and wellness. I am forever thankful and would recommend this powerhouse of a dietitian to anyone who is looking for lasting solutions. “
- Sara, Age 36
I am truly grateful for every client, every reader, every person who has taken the time to encourage me or allowed me to be apart of their health journey.