What is an anti-diet dietitian?

Written by Cara D’Anello, MS, RDN, LDN, RYT

An “Anti-Diet” or “Non-Diet” Dietitian…Say What? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

Whenever I am interacting with folks outside of my job they are caught off guard when I don’t engage in conversation about the latest diet trend, “bad or sinful” foods, or  recommend staying away from “fill in the blank” food. Cue the confusion and blank stares. The inevitable question is:  If I am a dietitian and don’t recommend diets (aka weight loss)....then what exactly do I do??? 

It’s a good question, right?

Over the past couple years it has become more common to find social media influencers or  dietitians who describe themselves as “anti-diet” or “non-diet.” Perhaps you’ve even heard of Intuitive Eating, which is often linked with these terms. You may have some concerns, questions and mistaken beliefs around what this may mean. So, I am here to provide some clarifications:

What does Anti-Diet (or Non-Diet) mean? 

Anti-diet is a way to describe being against diet culture. Diet culture is a 72 billion dollar industry that focuses on marketing weight loss as a way to reach health. Despite popular opinion, nutrition and weight do not always go hand in hand. We can be interested in health without being focused on weight changes. Studies have shown since the 1950’s that intentional weight loss does not work, and 95% of people who do lose weight will regain it back (and then some). You heard me!  Let that sink in for a moment.

Anti-diet is against the use of diets (even clean eating or eating “whole” may fall into this category) for the purpose of losing weight or being “healthy.” I put this in quotations as health does not only include physical but also mental, emotional, social factors, including those that fall outside the control of our lifestyle (environmental, genetics). We call these social determinants of health. 

Please note that therapeutic diets are used within medical nutrition therapy to support medical conditions such as IBS, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. We utilize these too, however we support our clients implementation by ADDING foods (rarely taking away unless an allergy or intolerance) and never with the purpose of losing weight.   So we are against the use of diets for size manipulation but not anti-YOU if you decide to diet.

So the big question is: What should I expect when working with an anti-diet dietitian?

 Dietitians who practice from an anti-diet approach prioritize your unique relationship with food that in the long term is sustainable, pleasurable, and supportive to your own definition of health. 

You may expect work around the following:

• Relearning how to honor your body’s intuitive hunger and satiety cues

• Practicing permission to have personal, cultural, and unique food preferences without guilt or shame

• Recognizing where diet mentality may get in the way of making food choices

• Respecting your body’s nutritional needs while incorporating pleasure as a form of self-care

• Addressing body image and working with the goal towards body acceptance of your here-and-now body

What about weight loss? I still really want to lose weight. Can we talk about that?

I want to preface that anti-diet does NOT mean anti-dietER. There are so many reasons why people pursue dieting and due to societal pressures, especially on folks of larger bodies, dieting in pursuit of weight loss is the only way to be granted health care. (Yes, very f*cked up, indeed). There is nuance to this conversation as the desire for weight loss is completely understandable. Being in a smaller body grants us access to surgeries or medical care, accessible seating in airplane travel, restaurants, or other events, and less prejudice on a daily basis. The problem is, we do not have a way to go about it that is sustainable long term and that  is mentally,emotionally, and physically safe. Intentional weight loss has a variety of harmful side effects. Not to mention…the culture of dieting/weight loss is steeped in racism, which you can learn more about here.

So…. is it bad that I still want to lose weight? 

In a word…no.

The purpose of an anti-diet dietitian is never to shame you for valuing weight loss or to convince you otherwise. Our job is to provide support and sit in that uncomfortable space alongside you  as you figure out what is best for you.  Because we focus so much on weight being a predictor of health, we forget how actual health promoting BEHAVIORS* are what has the most impact. This could look like the following:

-working on sleep hygiene

-incorporating movement that is accessible, intentional, and sustainable

-improving intake of different macro and micronutrients to support organ function

-nourishing your body consistently throughout the day to support metabolic and mental health

-improving true health indicators like glucose, lipids, cholesterol, blood pressure via nutrition and lifestyle changes (without weight loss- and yes, this can be done).

*And also, please let us be the first to say that you do not owe health to ANYONE. As fat activist Ragen Chastain says, “Health is not a moral obligation.” And your value as a human being is not dependent on how well, or if at all, you pursue “health promoting behaviors,” because truly, what is health? Ask 100 different people and you’ll get 100 different answers.

What if I am not sure about doing this work? 

At Happy valley Nutrition we will be the first to say,”That is an absolutely valid answer.” A lot of the work that anti-diet dietitians do with their clients is sit in this suckiness (as Amanda’s mentor and body image expertBri Campos (@bodyimagewithbri) would say). This means supporting you in processing how dieting has served you, what are your concerns and fears of letting go of dieting, and navigating changes in how you feel about your body. Body image work is an important piece to navigating your relationship with food and may be a conversation that you would like to address with your dietitian. At the end of the day, you need to do what you find is best for yourself. You can value being against dieting while also not feeling sure if that is the next step for you. Either way, we are always here to support you.