It's never just about food.

If you had asked me years ago what nutrition counseling looked like, I probably would’ve said we’d spend most of our time talking about food.

What to eat.
How to build balanced meals.
How to navigate restaurants.
How to add more fiber or protein.

And don’t get me wrong, we absolutely talk about those things. But after years of working as an intuitive eating dietitian, I’ve learned that some of the most meaningful conversations have very little to do with what’s on someone’s plate.

They happen after a routine doctor’s appointment.

While someone is packing for a vacation.

During a fertility journey.

Or when they realize they’ve been carrying around a food rule for so long that it never even occurred to them to question it.

That idea came up during a recent podcast conversation in a way that perfectly captured what this work actually looks like.

The Find Food Freedom® client I was speaking with admitted she expected every session with her dietitian to revolve around food. Instead, she found herself spending just as much time talking about body image.

That probably surprises a lot of people, but it’s something we see all the time.

People often come to us thinking they need help figuring out what to eat. Sometimes they do. But just as often, what they’re really looking for is someone to help untangle everything food has become connected to over the years.

Maybe it’s the fear that one number on a scale suddenly means something about your worth.

Maybe it’s believing every meal has to look a certain way to be “healthy.”

Maybe it’s wondering why packing for a vacation feels more stressful than exciting.

Maybe it’s navigating fertility, pregnancy, or another life season that suddenly changes the way you think about your body.

Food is part of the conversation.
But it’s rarely the whole conversation.

There was one part of her story that especially stood out to me.

She had spent years doing this work on her own. She had read the books, listened to podcasts, challenged diet culture, and genuinely felt like she had a healthier relationship with food.

Then she went to a routine doctor’s appointment and decided to look at the number on the scale.

Later, she told me she doesn’t even think the number itself mattered. It could have been higher. It could have been lower. What mattered was how quickly she found herself assigning meaning to it.

For a couple of weeks, old thoughts started creeping back in. Hunger and fullness felt harder to trust. She found herself analyzing everything she ate. Food became the first thing she thought about when she woke up.

I think a lot of people would hear that story and assume all of her progress had disappeared.

I didn’t.

What I heard was someone who had become incredibly self-aware.

Instead of slipping back into years of dieting, she recognized what was happening, reached out for support, and kept moving forward.

That’s a very different response.

Healing doesn’t mean difficult thoughts never come back. We’re still living in a world that constantly tells us our bodies need fixing, so it makes sense that certain situations can stir things up again.

What changes is how we respond—and having someone to help you navigate those moments can make all the difference.

She also shared something I think so many people will recognize.

She realized she was still carrying around a quiet little food rule: every meal needed a designated protein source.

No one had told her that in years. She wasn’t consciously trying to follow a rule. It had simply become part of the background noise.

That’s one of the things I love about this work. Sometimes you don’t realize you’re carrying a food rule until someone gently asks, “Tell me more about that.”

Not because protein is bad. Protein is wonderful.
But so are carbohydrates. So is fiber.

The goal isn’t to replace one food rule with another. It’s to get curious about where those rules came from and whether they’re actually serving you anymore.

By the end of our conversation, she was telling me about a recent vacation.

Years ago, preparing for a trip meant trying to lose weight before she got on the plane. She’d spend weeks worrying about swimsuits, what she’d eat, and whether she’d feel comfortable enough to enjoy herself.

This time, the preparation looked completely different.

She and her dietitian talked about what she valued. What she wanted to remember about the trip. They made a plan for what she could do if difficult body image thoughts showed up while she was away.

When she came home, the story she told wasn’t about what she ate. And it wasn’t about her body.

It was about learning to surf, spending time with her family, and being present.

To me, that’s what this work is really about.

Yes, we talk about food.

We also talk about body image. Doctor’s appointments. Vacations. Fertility. Old beliefs. The quiet food rules that stick around long after dieting ends.

Because healing your relationship with food has never been just about food.

If you’d like to hear the full conversation, you can listen to the episode here. I hope it gives you a little glimpse into what working with an intuitive eating dietitian actually looks like…and maybe helps you realize that nutrition counseling can be about so much more than what’s on your plate.

And if you’re ready to take the next step, our team would love to support you! You may even have sessions covered by insurance, so we invite you to submit a quick insurance benefits check. ⬇️

• Click here to get your Insurance benefits checked if you have never worked with the Find Food Freedom® team before!

  • If our team is credentialed in your state and we accept your insurance plan, then you will be able to book an appointment with a provider right away (YAY)! *We may need to collect more info to do a more thorough benefit check depending on your coverage. If that is the case, we will collect the info and be in touch via email ASAP with your coverage details!

• Click here to get your insurance benefits checked if you have worked with the Find Food Freedom® team in any capacity and already have an account set up with us!

  • This includes: past and present Membership participants, Online Course participants, Group Coaching clients, Mastermind Coaching clients, 1:1 Coaching clients, or anyone who previously had an Initial Consultation but did not move forward with support.
    

In good health,

Sam
Founder of Find Food Freedom®

Spotify

Apple

YouTube