What can a nutritionist help you with? As a nutritionist, I can help you get in touch with your body and its individual needs. I do this by assessing lifestyle factors like sleep and stress, medical and family history, current symptoms, conducting a Nutrition Focused Physical Exam, looking at the foods you eat, and lab work. This helps me to determine an area of focus where I can make evidenced-based recommendations that best apply to each specific case. This can be anything from specific food recommendations, lifestyle changes (like working on sleep habits or finding ways to cope with stress), sometimes supplementation or additional lab work is necessary. I do not diagnose and I do not prescribe medications. If necessary and at the permission of the client, I will coordinate care with their health care providers or provide referrals to other health professionals.
What is Intuitive Eating? Intuitive Eating is an evidenced and mind-body based approach to health created by Evelyn Tribole, M.S., R.D., & Elyse Resch, M.S., R.D., F.A.D.A., C.E.D.R.D. It is based on 10 principles that help people realign and rebuild their relationship with their body, learn how to understand their hunger and fullness cues and break away from the diet cycle and mentality. If you would like to learn more about Intuitive Eating click here.
What does an Anti-Diet based approach mean? A non-diet based approach to health has been studied and shown to be effective in improving eating behaviors, weight, and psychological related factors among people struggling with body weight. I do not recommend diets for the purpose of dieting and weight-loss. Yes, there are times when a therapeutic diet may be necessary for a set of symptoms or a specific condition. This will be determined after a thorough intake and assessment has been done and consideration for the clients needs and lifestyle.
Can you help me lose weight? To be straightforward, no. I have a weight neutral practice, which means that I do not focus on weight loss, use it as a measure of success or marker of health. Sure, some people might lose weight, other's do not, but weight loss is never a guarantee. I understand that many people want to lose weight and feel like they have to in order to be “healthy.” Heck, who hasn’t been there and I am empathetic to that desire.
My practice is aligned with Health At Every Size (HAES) because science has shown that body weight and size is not a valid indicator of one’s health and intentional weight further perpetuates weight stigma, weight cycling and eating disorders, making us sicker. All bodies are deserving of proper health care and respect.
Do you take insurance? At the moment I do not take insurance.
Sweet! I don’t live in Colorado and want to work with you, but it doesn’t matter right? Yes and no. Yes, I can work with people living outside of Colorado, for the most part. This depends on your state laws regarding nutrition practices. Certain states only allow Registered Dietitian’s to practice nutrition, which I am not. However, we live in a world where laws are constantly changing and there is a lot of advocacy happening to allow CNS (Certified Nutrition Specialists) to practice in more states. If I learn of any forward changes, I will make sure to update this list. I know, it’s a bummer. You can follow my website for new posts and information, schedule a Discovery Call to learn more (maybe I can help you find a practitioner who can work in those states), take courses from me, etc., but I cannot provide medical nutrition therapy.
Tessa O'Toole Nutrition
Integrative Nutritionist
