Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with many different types of clients as they journeyed toward weight loss & wellness.  I was self-motivated to eat well & exercise, so I made the naïve assumption that empowering people with knowledge would naturally lead to better choices and hence weight loss.  Sadly, this assumption has been proven wrong time and time again in my personal experience.  The great majority of clients actually possess quite a bit of nutrition knowledge, however, knowledge does not always translate into action.  A person struggling with obesity does not want to be told how to count calories when they have been doing it unsuccessfully for years.  There are actually many examples of this “preaching to the choir” type nutritional education, but at some point in my career, I assumed that perhaps I just wasn’t teaching them right & nevertheless, I persisted.

My epiphany came when I attended an eating disorders conference and learned about Intuitive Eating. Intuitive Eating is an evidenced-based, mind-body health approach, comprised of 10 Principles and created by two dietitians, one of whom lead the conference session. I walked away from this conference feeling completely inspired and ready to change the way I approach nutrition education.  The transition to an intuitive eating approach has not been easy; changing your relationship with food and your body is certainly scary. And despite my best attempts I still get many requests for “strict meal plans” and “tell me what to eat since I don’t trust myself.”

To date, my most successful outcome was with an overweight client who learned to love herself.  While she may not have lost many pounds on the scale, she learned how to embrace her genetic blueprint & focus on the strength of not only her body but also her mind. “Healthy” eating & exercise” came as a natural consequence to the more internal changes she made in her life.

Lastly, I wanted to share these points made by an RD who embraces the philosophy of Intuitive Eating.

Enjoy food..all food

  • Tap into your intuition and listening to what you need. If that means that meal prep stresses you out or you have to choose to take a nap over going to the gym, that’s ok!
  • Believe that people of all shapes and sizes can be healthy and that you don’t need to lose weight in order to improve your health
  • Believe that you can feel calm and confident around food without counting calories, weighing or measuring anything
  • Believe that in order to truly heal your relationship with food, you have to completely leave nutrition out of it (at least to start with)
  • Believe that any kind of external factor including diets, meal plans or calorie restriction of any sort will result in diet backlash including guilt, shame, stress, overeating and binging.
  • Don’t  believe in labeling food as “good”, “bad” or “forbidden”
  • Don’t believe that it is your lack of willpower that has caused you to “fail” at dieting or losing weight (hint: it’s the diets fault)
  • Don’t believe that there is any good diet
  • Don’t believe in shaming people into making changes to their eating

CONTACT US

4944 Old Boonsboro Rd.
Lynchburg,VA 24503
434.384.3663

Human Resources
hr@merig.com

Want to talk Business?
partner@merig.com

CONTACT US

4944 Old Boonsboro Rd.
Lynchburg,VA 24503
434.384.3663

Human Resources
hr@merig.com

Want to talk Business?
partner@merig.com

Testimonials

Cooking from very early in the morning to late at night daily, having it be real food and fit everybody’s needs is very hard.
I feel very lucky to have such careful and caring chefs like you guys.
Student Foxcroft School
Student

The food is just incredible! I really mean it…I hope you know that I am not just saying this. It’s so colorful, fresh, and delicious…so special every day!”

Faculty Member 
Faculty Member

Just a note to say thank you for all of the delicious food you and your staff serve each day. I never knew kale could taste so good!

Administrator 
Administrator

Outstanding food, outstanding service, outstanding people. I brag about MG to my peers at other schools, and even to my friends and family!

Administrator 
Administrator

Thank you so much for all the gluten-free options this year! All of your staff have been so helpful. They make a point to come up to me at meals and let me know what options you have for that meal. Salads are great, but sometimes a warm meal is just what you need!

Faculty Member 
Faculty Member

Thanks for all of the good work you and your team did to ensure that last night’s welcome gathering for new faculty went off without a hitch. I’m so grateful for Team MG working so hard to make sure things are done the right way.

Head of School 
Head of School

I just want to thank you for always having such wonderful healthful choices that taste absolutely amazing! You have truly inspired my palate and given me new love for foods that were once far from comfort for me.

Guest 
Guest

Many times I find a favorite thing out of the many items served during lunch, and although the featured spinach and fruit salad was visually stunning; the SHOUT OUT winner of the day hands down was the very delicious unassuming Vegetarian Pinto Beans!!! The onions were glistening and the peppers served as a complimentary color to the two different shades of beans…I have one regret and that is I didn’t think to take a picture!

Administrator 
Administrator

Thank you for making pimento cheese today! It not only is divine, but also hit the spot. I now regret wasting 62.5 years of life on this planet in which I did not eat this heavenly mix. As I explore different recipes in my home kitchen I will try my best to live up to the standard demonstrated by what I had today.

Faculty Member 
Faculty Member

Everything was wonderful…as usual! The food was scrumptious…and the weather was gorgeous!

Conference Client 
Conference Client

I would not change a thing! Your staff was not only professional, but warm and caring. They truly set the tone for a memorable night. The food was delicious…our family and friends left with hearts and bellies full!

Catering Client 
Catering Client

Thanks for the delicious soup and the new harvest salad – and thanks for removing half the calories out of the Farm Basket brownie…haha.

Resident 
Resident

THANK YOU for your help today with the open house! Our visiting families raved about the personalized environment. We had a student tell us that Guilford went from his 3rd to 1st choice!

Administrator 
Administrator

Thank you for all of your hard work on the meals and breaks for the Alumnae Board. The food was outstanding; everyone raved about each meal. Favorites included the grits on Saturday morning and the butternut squash soup on Sunday. YUM!!!

Administrator 
Administrator