DISCOVER INTUITIVE EATING IN AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS
Tired of diets that don't work?
Ready to make peace with food and trust your body again? Our Certified Intuitive Eating Counselors in Amherst help you break free from diet culture and build a healthy, sustainable relationship with food.
Why choose an Intuitive Eating dietitian?
Evidence-based, weight-inclusive nutrition counseling for the Pioneer Valley
Certified Intuitive Eating Counselors
We're trained and certified in the Intuitive Eating framework—not just familiar with it. You'll receive expert guidance grounded in 10 principles of Intuitive Eating.
Anti-Diet, HAES Approach
We reject diet culture and weight-centric care. Our Health At Every Size® approach focuses on wellbeing, not body size—helping you heal from years of dieting damage.
Personalized to Your Life
Whether you're a UMass student navigating dining halls, a busy Amherst parent, or healing from diet culture, we meet you where you are with practical, real-world guidance.
Most Insurance Accepted
Most major insurance plans cover eating disorder nutrition therapy—we'll help you navigate benefits so you can access anti-diet support without financial stress.
We believe you can trust your body.
Intuitive Eating isn't about eating whatever you want whenever you want. It's about rebuilding trust, honoring your hunger and fullness, finding satisfaction in eating, and making peace with food. Whether you're recovering from chronic dieting, healing your relationship with exercise, or simply want to eat without guilt, this journey is possible—and we’re here to guide you.
A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM AMANDA MITTMAN,
Registered Dietitian and founder of Happy Valley Nutrition
WE TAKE INSURANCE
Coverage depends on individual plans and benefits.
Did you know that you can use your insurance to cover visits with a Registered Dietitian, often with no copay?
Contact us to learn how and for any specific questions for using insurance to cover visits.
We do not accept MassHealth or Tufts Public/Direct plans as they do not credential private practice dietitians. We offer out of pocket rates for these clients.
While we do accept Medicare plans for nutrition counseling, only Diabetes (not “prediabetes”) and kidney disease are covered.
THE 10 PRINCIPLES OF INTUITIVE EATING
A framework for healing your relationship with food in Amherst, MA
Principle 1: Reject the Diet Mentality
Let go of diet culture's lies about good and bad foods, willpower, and weight control. We help you identify how dieting has failed you, not the other way around. And together, we’ll create space for a new, sustainable approach to nourishment.
Principle 2: Honor Your Hunger
Learn to recognize and respond to biological hunger cues that diet culture taught you to ignore. We work together to rebuild trust in your body's signals and ensure you're adequately nourished throughout your day in Amherst.
Principle 3: Make Peace with Food
Give yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods without guilt or shame. We help you dismantle food rules, challenge the "good food/bad food" mentality, and find true satisfaction in eating.
Principle 4: Challenge the Food Police
Silence the critical inner voice that judges your food choices. We identify diet culture messages you've internalized and develop compassionate self-talk that supports your wellbeing instead of sabotaging it.
Principle 5: Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Find pleasure and satisfaction in eating, something diet culture steals from us. We explore how to create eating experiences that truly nourish you physically, emotionally, and socially, whether dining at Amherst restaurants or cooking at home.
Principle 6: Feel Your Fullness
Reconnect with comfortable fullness signals and learn to honor them without judgment. We practice tuning into your body during meals and understanding what "satisfied" feels like for you.
Principle 7: Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness
Develop healthy ways to process emotions beyond using food. While emotional eating is normal and human, we help you expand your coping toolkit so food isn't your only comfort strategy.
Principle 8: Respect Your Body
Accept your genetic blueprint and treat your body with dignity, regardless of size. We work on body respect and neutrality. You don't have to love your body, but you deserve to treat it with kindness.
Principle 9: Movement—Feel the Difference
Shift from punishing exercise to joyful movement. We help you find physical activities you genuinely enjoy, whether that's walking around UMass campus, hiking in the Pioneer Valley, or dancing in your living room.
Principle 10: Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition
Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel good. Nutrition matters, but it doesn't require perfection. We incorporate practical nutrition knowledge without returning to diet mentality.
You were born an intuitive eater. We'll help you find your way back.
We don’t do diets.
At Happy Valley Nutrition, we believe your body is worthy of trust, respect, and nourishment—exactly as it is today. We've seen how diet culture damages relationships with food, erodes body trust, and creates cycles of restriction and guilt that steal joy from eating.
Intuitive Eating isn't a diet—it's the anti-diet. There are no meal plans, no forbidden foods, no calorie counting, and no weigh-ins. Instead, we help you tune into your body's wisdom, challenge diet culture's toxic messages, and build eating patterns that are sustainable for life.
This journey takes time, patience, and compassion. There will be messy moments and learning curves. But on the other side is food freedom, body respect, and the ability to nourish yourself without constant mental warfare. That's worth the journey.
HOW IT WORKS
Step 1
LET’S TALK
The first step can feel like the hardest and we totally get that.
We’ll begin with a free clarity call where you get a chance to tell us all about you! We’ll discuss your health goals, and what type of support will best suit you.
Don’t want the call? No problem- we can just book an initial appointment!
Step 2
LET’S WORK
During your first session, we'll complete a comprehensive nutrition assessment, discuss your recovery goals, and begin building your personalized treatment plan.
During the session we’ll create a plan that best suits you and discuss the ideal ways we can support you until our next appointment.
Step 3
LET’S GO
Recovery takes time—we're committed for the long haul.
Creating a bold, healthy life on your terms is a life-long journey that is equal parts amazing, inspiring, and honestly…sometimes downright terrifying.
It takes bravery, dedication and sometimes a little audacity to get where you want to go.
Nutrition counseling services can be done in-person (Amherst office) or via Telehealth.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT INTUITIVE EATING
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Intuitive Eating is not a weight loss plan, and it's not a weight gain plan. Some people's bodies settle at a lower weight when they stop dieting, some at a higher weight, and some stay the same. The goal is to find your body's natural, healthy set point—not to manipulate your size. We focus on behaviors and wellbeing, not numbers on a scale.
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Intuitive Eating can be adapted for diabetes, high cholesterol, digestive issues, food allergies, and other health conditions. Gentle nutrition (Principle 10) allows us to honor your health needs without returning to diet mentality or restriction.
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No. Intuitive Eating is about rebuilding attunement to your body's signals—hunger, fullness, satisfaction, and how foods make you feel. It includes all foods AND nutrition knowledge. You learn to make choices that honor both your taste buds and your wellbeing without rigid rules.
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This fear is completely normal and actually shows how much diet culture has impacted you. The restrict-binge cycle and feelings of being "out of control" around food are symptoms of restriction, not character flaws. Through our work together, you'll learn that giving yourself permission actually reduces chaotic eating patterns over time.
START YOUR INTUITIVE EATING JOURNEY TODAY
Let's talk about how anti-diet nutrition counseling can help you break free from diet culture and find lasting food freedom right here in the Pioneer Valley.
Ready to reject diets for good?