I’m doing this right now

never have had a nutritionist outside of a treatment center but i know it would be a really big help.  having one when I am in treatment helps me stay on track with my meal plan and helps me see food in a different way and hopefully gain a healthy relationship with food.

My dietitian encourages me to try new foods and helps me see that I won\’t just gain a ton of weight from eating all of my meals and snacks.

First attempts were not helpful because they were not tailored to my brain chemistry and actually made me sicker advising foods that were detrimental to me. Since receiving specialized advice with brain chemistry consideration, it has been miraculous.

This was a vital part of my treatment. The psychoeducation I received about dieting and body weight was crucial to me changing my thoughts about my eating disorder.

Along with that my treatment center had patients eat 2 meals and a snack there daily while in partial hospitalization program. We had strict meal plans with calories set based on our recovery plan and the expectation of getting that set amount of calories in daily. We did meal plans on a computerized system which assisted in retraining my mind as to what consisted of a meal because we had to make sure to plan an entree for each meal and a combination of food to add up to our set calories. I learned that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie no matter what form. A pound of broccoli does the same thing in your body as a pound of chocolate. [Editorial comment: That is, calorically speaking!] Of course you would be eating a lot more volume of broccoli to get a pound and it won’t be as enjoyable but it does no different in your body then that chocolate bar.

   Without the help of a nutritionist to make a meal plan and to add further increases when needed I do not believe I would have ever got on the road to recovery. Having somebody else tell me what to eat and when and to explain the science behind starvation and the need for calories helped me a lot. Also my nutritionsist enabled me to work through unrational and destructive thoughts regarding my weight and diet myths.

Had OP nutrition consult 5 years ago briefly.  And one consult about 2 weeks ago for body comps., but other than that, just usual in-patient stuff.  I think my nursing background makes me not so clueless about the chemistry and physiology.  I can look at a label in the store and easily determine the value of a food by glancing at the ratio of carb:fiber:protein:fat.  My ED psychiatrist and therapist get more out of the IDEA that there is a nutritionist on the team than I do.   So 2 weeks ago I had the body comps done to give the drs some numbers they wanted.  Happy happy.

No, I do not currently have health insurance and it is not a priority for me.

Not helpful at all. I met with a nutritional counselor a couple of times during my years of treatment before recovery, and I found it only helped to add more rules to the foods that I “shouldn’t eat”. I think that unfortunately, those in the Health Care field, except those who specialize in eating disorders, really know very little about what an eating disorder is really about. It’s NOT about food!!!

it would have been good to work with a nutritionist one on one instead of through a therapist. My therapist spoke directly with the nutritionist and I only had secondary contact. I was given supervision for one meal each day for a total of three days. I felt this was vastly inadequate but unfortunately it was all that was available. I wish that I could have gone to a residential facility where support during and after meals would have been given