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Best Books for Intuitive Eating

Posted on by Adison

Intuitive eating is a mindset shift in the way you think about food. In order to change your mindset, you have to educate yourself. The best way to become an Intuitive Eater is to practice Intuitive Eating, but gaining knowledge about the science behind Intuitive Eating helps… a lot. If you don’t understand WHY Intuitive Eating will solve your problems with food, it’ll be easier to go back to your old ways of restriction.

You don’t have to read any of these books to become an Intuitive Eater, I actually didn’t read #1 until I was pretty much fully intuitive and it still blew my mind! You also could read every book in this list and still not be practicing Intuitive Eating. I read #4 when I was still a bodybuilder and for some reason I couldn’t commit even though I agreed with everything the book was saying. You have to be READY to dive into Intuitive Eating. You have to hit diet bottom. You have to believe that dieting does not benefit you before you can begin your journey towards food freedom.

So here we go, I’ll start with the books I’ve read:

  1. Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch

Start here. Evelyn & Elyse are two RDs who created the concept of Intuitive Eating. They are absolutely amazing and every client who has read this book says “I swear they are talking about me.” I said they exact same thing when I read it the first time. I recommend getting the paperback version and highlighting the parts that speak to you. I wish I did this to go back and refresh my memory on the hard days. A few of my clients love Intuitive Eating for 365 days – I’ve not gone through yet.

2. Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight by Linda Bacon

If you REALLY want your mind blown, READ THIS ONE. It really gets into the science behind weight regulation and I feel like it’s beyond helpful for individuals who struggle to let go of the number on the scale. Once I read this, I never attached my self-worth to the scale again… It’s truly amazing how a little education can change your mindset SO MUCH.

3. Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating by Christy Harrison

The title of this one is spot on… you will reclaim all those things by becoming an Intuitive Eater. Now, I love the term “anti-diet” but you’ll probably never hear me say it because I find it a bit hard. I like “non-diet” better, but that’s just my opinion. Christy will convince you to become anti-diet by the time you’re done with this one lol.

4. The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy by Caroline Dooner

This is the first book I ever read on the topic. After I read it, it took me YEARS to actually dive into Intuitive Eating then a few more years to fully become an Intuitive Eater. This mindset shift takes TIME, but it’s the best decision I’ve ever made for my overall health and well-being.

5. Breaking Free from Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth

My clinical preceptor let me borrow this book during my time at the VA Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. Right before reading this book is when I took the plunge into Intuitive Eating. I thought it was a great read, but it’s been awhile since I’ve read it and my mindset has changed a ton since then. I had one person reach out to me on IG saying this book was triggering for her diet-brain so take that for what it’s worth. I personally feel like it helped me.

Ok, so that sums up the ones I’ve read. Let’s get into the ones on my list to read:

6. Body Talk: How To Embrace Your Body and Start Living Your Best Life by Katie Sturino

Again, I have not read this book BUT it is one I recommend to clients who are struggling with body image (which is all of them). I feel like the only reason I haven’t read this one is because I no longer struggle with body image. I have my days but they are sooooooo rare that I don’t really work to improve my body image anymore – thank you Intuitive Eating! Body image is the hardest part of this journey, be patient and respect yourself.

7. Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living by Jes Baker

Another body image one – do you see a theme here? BODY IMAGE IS THE TOUGHEST PART OF INTUITIVE EATING. I mean, why did you start dieting in the first place? To change your body… exactly. Well, body image actually has nothing to do with your body and more to do with the way you think about your body.

8. Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders by Jennifer L. Gaudiana

I need to read this one next. If you feel like you’re not sick enough to get help with your eating disorder or disordered eating behaviors, read this. You ARE sick enough. Anyone who struggles even the slightest with food deserves to be free. Ask for help, recover. Life is better over here I promise.

9. Unapologetic Eating: Make Peace with Food and Transform Your Life by Alyssa Rumsey

Alyssa is also an Intuitive Eating Registered Dietitian! Definitely on my list to read.

10. The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery: Advice From Two Therapists Who Have Been There by Colleen Reichmann & Jennifer Rollin

Ok last one! If you don’t already follow Colleen & Jennifer on IG, definitely do. Even if you haven’t been diagnosed with an eating disorder (me either), following ED recovery professionals is very helpful. This is probably #2 on my list of books I need to read. They are brilliant individuals.

Woah, lots of knowledge above but these books will change your life if you let them. Comment any books you’ve read that have helped you overcome diet culture, disordered eating or your eating disorder!

The RD Exam: How to Pass on Your First Attempt

The RD Exam: How to Pass on Your First Attempt

Posted on by Adison

If you’re reading this, congratulations! You’ve made it this far in your journey toward becoming a Registered Dietitian and you should be so proud of yourself! One more giant hurdle and you will begin your professional career as a dietitian, HOW EXCITING! The exam is the most stressful part of the entire journey with applying to internships and the stress of match day being a close second. I hope this blog post gives you all the tips you need to feel confident going into the exam. I will tell you right now, CONFIDENCE is 50% of it. If you are not confident in your knowledge as a dietitian you will fail. You are so smart, believe in yourself.

Be sure to leave a comment to let me know if this helped you, ask any questions, and above all else let me know when you pass the exam!

Study Materials

“What did you use to study?” This is my most frequently asked question and for good reason. There are so many guides, tutors and resources out there – where do you even begin?! All you really need is Jean Inman Study Guide which comes with a written guide and audio recordings and I highly recommend Eat Right Prep which is a 3 month online program consisting of 5 practice exams, 400 practice questions, 468 flashcards, and explanations for every single question. Inman is around $400 and Eat Right is around $200, but all the information you need is there. Just make sure you’re purchasing the most up-to-date version as the exam changes every 5 years.

There is also an RD Exam Facebook Group that I am in, but honestly I only looked through it one day. I feel as though this can be more harmful than helpful because I found myself comparing myself to others in the group. If you are someone who feels like you need a tutor, Kimberly Kramer is wonderful! I personally felt as though I wanted to try on my own before I invested in a tutor. Everyone is different though, do what feels right for you!

Aside from the study materials themselves, there are a few things you will need: lot of notebook paper, a few pens, flashcards, highlighters, sticky notes, a calculator, google, time, and unlimited coffee lol.

Study Schedule: Time

You have everything you need, so now what?

First things first, give yourself plenty of time. I know this is not what you want to hear, but in my opinion it is worth the wait. I studied for about three months. I started casually looking at my study materials around May 4th, 2021, got serious around the end of May and took my exam August 14th, 2021. I know of people who studied for 1-2 weeks and passed on their first try but I absolutely do not recommend doing that. I would rather take 3 months to study and pass my first attempt than study for a few weeks, possibly fail my first attempt and destroy my confidence. When you are prepared, you do well. If you are stressed or worried you aren’t prepared enough you may not do so hot. Three months goes by faster than you think, I promise. Enjoy this time – it’s the last big exam of your educational career!

How much time per day should you study? I studied for roughly 3 hours per day, about 5-6 days per week. You need to have at least one day per week completely away from studying. Rest is productive.

Your brain can only retain so much knowledge at once so studying for 6, 8, or even 12 hours a day is not the best use of your time. You are truly going to be brain fried after studying for 3 hours a day, be efficient! I recommend splitting up your 3 hours of studying. If you can, do an hour here, an hour there, and an hour later. If you can’t do that, at least take 15-20 minute breaks between each hour. After about an hour of studying, you begin to lose focus and it’s difficult to retain all the information you just learned. Work smarter, not harder.

Closer to exam day you may increase your time to 4-5 hours per day depending on how you feel. The two weeks leading up to my exam, I studied for a little longer each day but it was all review! Do not add any new information in the week leading up to your exam.

How to Use Your Materials: Inman

Begin with Inman. I know you’re feeling overwhelmed with the giant book of Inman and thousands of practice questions. Deep breathe. This study guide has so much information it’s unbelievable. I will probably keep this book forever to refer back to whenever I need it.

Break it up into sections: Domain I, Domain II, & Domain III & IV – READ, HIGHLIGHT & STICKY, LISTEN, ANSWER. Read through the section and highlight information that is important to you (it’s all important, but highlight things that stick out to you, things you don’t know about, and things you may need to memorize). I recommend adding a sticky note to each subheading as you go – this will make it easier to find explanations on questions you missed. For example: where it says Gastrointestinal Disorders in Domain II – add a sticky note that says “Gastrointestinal Disorders” so you can easily find it. If you come across a word you don’t know, google it and write down what it means.

After you read, highlight, and sticky the domain, listen to the audio recording that is provided when you purchase Inman. I recommend listening to the audio recording while re-reading the section. Anytime she says “NOTE” write down that piece of information in your notebook paper. Once you have gone through all of that, flip to the very back of the guide and answer all the questions in Domain I. Grade yourself (read through every question and answer as you grade yourself). For each question you missed, make a flashcard. On the front of the flashcard, write the question. On the back, write the answer at the top. Under the answer, write the explanation to the answer (this is where stickies come in handy – you will find the explanation in Inman). You ALWAYS want to figure out WHY the answer is what it is. Memorizing the questions and answers will absolutely not be helpful. This is the most important part of studying for the exam. Repeat this strategy for each domain.

I recommend having 3 total copies of the questions in the back of Inman. You will use the first copy as explained above. After you complete the above strategy for all domains, answer all the questions again (second copy). I think there are about 1200 questions total. Grade yourself again, and make a notecard for the ones you missed + the explanation. You will use the third copy later.

How to Use Your Materials: Eat Right Prep

After you’ve finished Inman, now you can dive into Eat Right Prep. It took me about a month and a half to get through Inman and about a month to do Eat Right Prep. It is only offered as a 3 month program, but it is so worth it.

I recommend starting with the practice questions. There are 100 questions for each domain. As you go through the practice questions, write down every single questions, answer, and explanation whether you missed it or not. You will go through a lot of notebook paper. These are going to be very different than Inman’s questions, but more similar to the exam itself. When answering ALL questions, trust your instinct and do not change your answer unless you KNOW it’s wrong. Once you’ve completed one domain of questions, go back through and do it again. This time, only write the questions, answers, and explanations you missed (there should only be a few, if any). Every time you complete a set, be sure to re-read through all the questions and answers, not just the ones you missed. The program allows you to reset it as many times as you want. Repeat this strategy with every set of domain practice questions.

Once you’re done with all the practice questions, move on to the flashcards. I’m not sure how to feel about these if I’m being honest. I never really quizzed myself with them, more so used them for information. All I did was re-write them all and thats really all I recommend doing at this point. I don’t feel like they were THAT helpful, but I recommend going through them anyways.

After you’re done with the practice questions and flashcards, begin practice test 1. You’re going to use the same strategy on all the practice exams as you did on the practice questions. Take the exam, go back through and write all the questions, answers, and explanations whether you missed them or not, and then take it again. The second time through only write the questions, answers, and explanations for the ones you missed but make sure you read through all of the questions, answers, and explanations. Repeat this for all 5 practice exams.

Don’t get too hung up on your score. The reason you’re doing these exams is so that you learn from them and are more prepared for the actual test! These scores don’t reflect exactly how you are going to do on the RD exam. If you get a 60 something, don’t let it ruin your confidence. I’ve heard averages are in the 60s. My initial scores were all between 68-74%.

There are other things in the Eat Right Prep Program, but I honestly didn’t use them. There are games and links to articles but I don’t feel they are necessary. If you have time, go through the articles but if not, don’t stress about it.

Reviewing

About two weeks before your exam, you should be done going through Inman and Eat Right Prep. At this point, I don’t recommend adding any new information because honestly you don’t need anything else and it would probably just add stress.

You will want to review Inman and Eat Right Prep from here on out. This is where the third copy of Inman questions come in to play. Go through all ~1200 questions one more time. You may miss more than you did the second time around, it’s ok. Remember, it isn’t about memorizing them, it’s about understanding them. Read through every question and answer. For the ones you missed write the question and answer in your notebook then go back through Inman and write the explanation. As you’re reading through Inman for explanations, you may come across other items you want to write down, definitely do it! Anything you feel slightly unconfident in, write it down. Do this one domain at a time.

Once you are done with Inman, move on to Eat Right Prep. Do all the practice questions again. Write down the ones you missed and their explanation. Be sure to read through every question and answer, even the ones you got right. Run through the flashcards one more time. Then go through each exam again. Write down the questions you missed and the explanations. Read through each question and answer, even the ones you answered correctly.

The day before my exam I reviewed a few things I felt I needed to and I read over the questions I missed in Inman Domain I & II. You’re going to want to study all day the day before your exam, don’t. I think it’s fine to review a few items you feel unsure about, but overall you already know the information! You got this!

Day of Exam

My exam was at 8am. Personally, I wanted to just get it over with and I didn’t want to think about it all day. Schedule strategically based on what works best for you! You will get an email that walks you through the steps to schedule the exam. I know I function best early in the morning. I woke up at 5:00am, did my morning routine – washed my face, drank water, ate breakfast, had coffee, and went for a short walk. Trevor dropped me off at the testing center and so it began! All I brought into the exam was my ID and my purse. I threw a pen in my purse but they will give you materials to write on and with and a calculator.

I recommend wearing something comfortable to the exam. I wore athletic shorts, a tank, sneakers + brought a hoodie with me incase I got cold (I didn’t need it). This piece of info is probably irrelevant to most but I was definitely concerned with this haha.

GO INTO THE EXAM EXCITED! Own that shit!

I wrote down “Adison Barnhart, MS, RDN, LD” on the dry erase board the testing center provided prior to starting my exam. I told myself “This is easy, I got this!” and took a few deep breaths before I began. Confidence is everything on exam day, go into the exam knowing you’ve worked your booty off for those credentials!

Test Taking Tips

Take you time on the exam, you have plenty of it. I finished all the practice exams in about an hour, but made sure to slow way down on the real exam. I finished the exam with 18 minutes to spare and honestly was freaking out a bit around question 121 because I knew if I had to go over I would probably run out of time. My exam stopped at question 125 (which usually means you’ve passed) because I took my time on every single question. So take your time!

Trust your instincts when answering questions. From doing practice questions, you’ll learn not to change your answer unless you are confident you’re changing it to the right answer. Same thing on the exam, do not change your answer unless you KNOW your initial answer is wrong.

My three biggest tips when it comes to answering questions:

1. Read every question a few times and read slowly. Be sure to read through ALL the answers too. Some questions you may want to fly through, go slow and read every word.

2. Rule out two of the answers you know are incorrect. There are usually two answers that could be correct and two that you can easily rule out. For the two that could be correct, rationalize which one is MOST correct. Talk yourself through the why behind each answer.

3. Turn the answers into true/false statements. This is very helpful when you are stuck between two answers. Remember, always go with your gut, your first choice, your instinct.

If there is a question you absolutely do not know (which there will be), pick your best guess and move on! Don’t spend too much time on those questions. There are 25 questions that are not graded but you don’t know which ones they are. Whenever I got to a question that was completely out of what I studied, I assumed it was one of the ones that wouldn’t be graded, did my best to answer it logically, didn’t worry about it, and moved on to the next.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll get a little bit of anxiety when you don’t know the answer to a question. Do not let this takeover you! When you feel that anxiety come on, stop what you’re doing, take a deep breath and recenter yourself. You absolutely cannot let the questions you don’t know mess with you! Pick an answer, breath, and move on without thinking about it.

Self-Care

You can study your ass off and do everything right, but you can’t let the stress of the exam derail you because you’re not taking care of yourself.

We’re dietitians, make sure you’re eating! It was so easy for me to forget to eat while I was studying and even due to stress of the exam. Force yourself to eat. Set an alarm for every 3 hours to eat. Make something nutrient dense and give your brain plenty of carbs! Make sure you eat before your exam too, nobody wants to take a huge test like that hungry lol.

Do something for you before the exam. A week before my exam I got a 90 minute deep tissue massage and it was amazing. If you do a massage, make sure you schedule it a few days to a week before your exam because you’re going to be sore a feel a little sick. I did anyways. I went on a long hike because those really clear my mind. The day before the exam I laid by the pool for a few hours to get some vitamin D and improve my mood. Swear by this. You could get your nails or hair done, go to a spa, read a book, watch your favorite show, or hang out with some great friends. Whatever gets your mind off the exam and off of stressing about it. Remember, the work is done – now it’s time to perform.

I made sure to keep my blood flowing the week leading up to my exam but I didn’t do any crazy workouts that would leave me super sore and my body under a lot of stress. Went for a lot of walks, did light lifts, stretching, and just did what felt good to me! Definitely recommend moving your body everyday, use it as a stress reliever (:

Look good, feel good, do good. I painted my nails, did my toes, and washed my hair the day before. All those little housekeeping things that make you feel human again.

Best of Luck from Your Fav RD!

You freaking got this, I believe in you – believe in yourself! If you have any questions about the exam, please comment down below! LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU’RE A REGISTERED DIETITIAN!

My Journey: Health & Fitness

My Journey: Health & Fitness

Posted on by Adison

What better way to kick off my blog than with a summary of how I got here. Where do I even begin… I think this is the first time I’ve ever sat down to write my story in its entirety, so this might be a long one.

Childhood: Where it all began

It’s only right to start from the very beginning… Growing up I was a competitive gymnast. I competed from the age of 8 to 18. My career as a gymnast came to an end my senior year of high school when I found out I had been competing on a fractured back (L4 stress fracture) for two years. I competed level 9 those two years and I got to a point of pain where I just could not continue. I took six months off of any activity that hurt or required me to bend my back, but I knew I didn’t have the skill level to compete at the college level after healing so I decided to “retire.”

As a child I was always into fitness and nutrition. Some of my interest probably originated from gymnastics but there were also other parts of my childhood that may have influenced me to focus on those aspects of health such as family, TV shows like The Biggest Loser and My 600 Pound Life, other forms of media (I recently scrolled through my camera roll and have TONS of images of “body goals” that I would screen shot and use as motivation), and other things that I don’t feel comfortable talking about yet. Many of these influences made me believe that weight and the way I looked (being small and muscular) was associated with health. Anyways, I was always googling “how to eat for more energy,” “what are the best foods for health,” probably something about weight and being skinny, and other random things like that. I remember reading tons of magazines, websites, instagram pages, documentaries, literally anything that related to nutrition and fitness. I wanted to figure out how to be the healthiest person I could be, especially when my career as a gymnast ended. I defined health by the way I looked at this point in my life.

College: Where it escalated

After gymnastics I knew I wanted to still be active and have goals to work towards. It’s strange coming out of athletics and not knowing what to do for exercise. I’m a very goal oriented person and I also love doing physical work. That’s when I got into weightlifting. I remember my first lift was at the YMCA where I did gymnastics. I had no idea what I was doing, but I enjoyed it and I wanted to continue. I watched fitness YouTubers and Influencers to learn. I continued lifting weights regularly throughout my freshman and sophomore years of college. Along with lifting I started running… a lot. I would run anywhere from 3 to 10 miles most days of the week and THEN go lift weights for an hour or two lol. I don’t know what my primary motive was during this time, but if I had to guess it was weight loss, “self improvement,” and thinking I was doing what was best for my health.

During this time, I used MyFitnessPal but not strictly. I didn’t weigh my food or try to hit a specific macronutrient goal, I just logged my food to keep tabs on what I was eating. I don’t think I even tracked calories at this point. But this is when my poor relationship with food took off. I remember going vegetarian for awhile because I thought that was the healthiest diet to be on. I was always looking for new diets and the “right” way to eat. I went through an orthorexic phase of obsessing over only eating whole foods and no processed, packaged, or less nutrient dense foods. Eating at the dining halls in college was the worst. I would either get a salad with grilled chicken or I’d go all out and have unlimited ice cream with cereal on top and feel guilty for days. I remember sitting in my dorm room binging on protein bars at night because I was so hungry from restricting all day. At one point I thought the amount of food (calories) mattered more than the quality of food so my diet was basically donuts and french fries, but very limited quantities. I probably tried everything haha, I can’t even remember them all. During this time I worked at a smoothie shop and remember binging on all the leftover smoothies my entire shift. I so food focused, but that was just the beginning of my horrible relationship with food and I didn’t even realize that these habits weren’t normal.

Bodybuilding

My junior year of college is when I got into bodybuilding. I was going through a breakup and I truly needed something to get my mind off him, a confidence booster, and some more self improvement. What better way to work on yourself than put all your focus into your body and “health?” – absolutely not a good way to work on yourself – I thought bodybuilding was the healthiest thing I could do because I was focusing on my weight and the way I looked which equates to health… The smaller I was, the healthier, the better. Nope, not exactly how being healthy works…

My best friend at the time introduced me to a guy who recently graduated from OSU with Masters in Dietetics, became an RD, and had just started his business coaching bodybuilders through contest prep. We clicked immediately, he became one of my best friends, my mentor, my boss, my bodybuilding coach and ended up coaching me all the way to my IFBB Pro Card. He is definitely good at what he does, much respect for him even as our views differ entirely now.

Once I started bodybuilding, I realized nutrition, fitness, and health was my passion. I wanted to teach others how to live their healthiest lives (and still)! I also wanted to figure out this nutrition thing for myself, so I could stop guessing which diet is the right one. I wanted all the answers when it came to being healthy. What better way to do that than a formal education? So I switched my major from Pre-Dental to Human Nutrition Science; Dietetics. I began my journey towards a Registered Dietitian and a Professional Bodybuilder. What a combo lol. My obsession with health essentially led me to the career path I am in now.

Bodybuilding was great at the beginning. I truly learned a lot about nutrition, the human body, and myself through this time. I obviously began bodybuilding with a negative relationship with food and exercise. I think at the beginning of my body building career, my relationship with food and exercise improved because I started eating more, learned how to fuel my body, and did less cardio (at the beginning). But at the end of the day it became so extreme and made my relationship with food so much worse. Tracking macros will not heal your relationship with food, but it may feel that way at the beginning. I don’t have any regrets because if I didn’t go through this, I wouldn’t be where I am today, helping the people I was put here to help. I do believe I (and anyone) could’ve learned what I needed to know about nutrition and fitness without going to the extreme of bodybuilding, counting macros, and exercising a TON, but you live and you learn. Everything happens for a reason.

I competed in my first show (September 23rd, 2017) and won overall in bikini which is pretty incredible for a first timer. I was good at bodybuilding, really good. I naturally have a pretty athletic build due to gymnastics, an immense drive for all things I do in life, and a very obsessive, all-or-nothing, extremist personality. These things definitely set me up for success in the sport. I went on to do 7 more shows during my time as a competitor. I did three regional shows and five national shows. I became an IFBB Bikini Pro at USAs in Vegas on July 28th, 2018. From my first show to my last show, I went pro in just under a year which still blows my mind and I am proud of myself for this accomplishment. It’s ok to be proud of yourself if something even if you disassociate yourself with it now.

As soon as I stepped off stage at USAs I knew it was going to be my last show ever, but I didn’t tell anyone that until two years later because I wasn’t sure how to stop or completely confident in my beliefs. I spent those two years still training and eating like a professional bodybuilder because I had no idea how else to do life. This is when I became aware of my disordered eating (or undiagnosed eating disorder) behaviors. During my time as a competitive bodybuilder, I didn’t really think about it as disordered. I think it was out of pure ignorance. I had no idea life could be done any differently. I thought every person in the world wanted to look amazing and cared about their physique as much as I did. I thought that was everyone’s goal. I thought everyone was as obsessed with food as I was. Absolutely not. But you’re the average of the five people you surround yourself with. Choose wisely and watch what you consume on social.

Coaching Career & Education

Not only was I a competitor, but I was also a coach during this time. A few months after my first show, my coach hired me on to be a “lifestyle coach.” I coached a couple competition prep athletes later on in my coaching career, but for the most part I coached the general population towards their weight loss goals. I made good money especially for being in my undergraduate education. I remember thinking how I would never have to worry about money or my career again. This made it so difficult for me to walk away. A lot of my confidence was in my career and the amount of money I was making at such a young age. To walk away from that knowing I was about to be making zero dollars for awhile and had no plan as to what I was going to do in life was very difficult. I am forever thankful for the three years of coaching experience because of the counseling skills I gained.

I think this is a good place for me to remind you that it is absolutely ok to change. Be aligned and you will never go wrong.

In August of 2019 I moved up to Kent, Ohio for my Dietetic Internship and Masters of Science in Nutrition. This is when my life changed forever. My coach and I had “plans” of competing in my first pro show in November of 2019. I knew it was not going to happen because my relationship with food, body and exercise was absolutely horrible. I’m pretty sure I made up some lame excuse like “I need to focus on school, my internship, and coaching for these next two years so I am going to take time off competing.” Which was true because getting a masters, working for free, and having clients was exhausting and time consuming, but I simply knew I couldn’t put myself through competing again and I didn’t know how to tell my coach (or social media).

At the beginning of my masters program, I had to start thinking about what I wanted to do for my masters thesis/project which was the very last assignment of my masters, but it is that big of an assignment that it takes two years from start to finish. I went to my advisor knowing I wanted to do something intentional, something that would help others, but I wasn’t set on what I wanted to do yet. I was still tracking macros, dieting, and in the precontemplation stage of Intuitive Eating, not really knowing it was a thing yet. I thought about doing something in the realm of macros/dieting because I knew the ins and outs of it, I was a professional dieter, and this ginormous project would’ve been so easy. After talking to my program mentor about topic ideas, she advised me to do my thesis on something I was interested in, but something I didn’t know much about, something outside of my comfort zone, something I’ve never done before. So my original thesis/project was on the topic of thyroid disorders because I was born without a thyroid and it was the only thing I related to in the realm of nutrition aside from chronic dieting.

My Intuitive Eating Journey

Instead of competing in 2019, I knew I needed to work on my relationship with food, body, exercise, and life for the next two years. There was absolutely no way I could continue living hungry, in fear of food, constantly thinking about food, and stressing about when I was going to get my workout done. I figured out how to become normal (intuitive) again piece by piece through social media, books, blogs, podcasts, etc. over the course of two freaking years. I absolutely do not recommend this, which is why I do what I do now. It was a painful and confusing two years, but I made it and I’m better than ever!

Here we go. So when COVID-19 hit the United States in March of 2020, things got real. Before this I was in the contemplation stage of Intuitive Eating. I wanted to do it and knew it was best for me but I had absolutely no idea what the heck I was doing or how to do it. I didn’t even know there was a term for “eating like a normal human” lol. All I knew was that I could not continue living life the way I was living life. Something had to change and it took a worldwide pandemic for me to dive head first into this journey. My internship and masters program went completely virtual during this time and I moved to Columbia, Missouri. My boyfriend, Trevor, moved out there for work just one day before my program announced we were going virtual. On March 12th, 2020 I packed up my apartment and move in with him for the summer.

Out in Missouri, I started to dip my toes into intuitive eating. I contemplated it for so long and realize it was the only way to achieve freedom. I began the journey of pulling myself out of the black hole of dieting around May 3rd, 2020, on my weekend birthday trip to Lake of the Ozark’s. I stopped counting calories, deleted MyFitnessPal, and threw away my food scale that weekend. Of course change happens extremely slow when you begin your intuitive eating journey directly out of tracking macros or any other dieting tactic. I remember making breakfast sandwiches for everyone that morning (I had to be the one in control of food), but I made mine differently. I only used one slice of bread instead of two like everyone else and only used half a slice of cheese. I was holding off on eating breakfast as long as I could even though I was STARVING and Trevor ended up eating my sandwich by accident. I got extremely upset and yelled at him for eating my sandwich out of pure fear that I had to eat the bigger sandwich with two slices of bread. I literally cried the entire time I ate it. This is just one example of how hard Intuitive Eating was for me. I couldn’t “just eat.”

I knew I had to get this figured out. I had to do my research and figure out how to heal my relationship with food. It was so embarrassing that I was this messed up over a simple thing we all need to survive. I continued healing without any guidance, just doing what felt safe for me after a previous failed attempt at “Intuitive Eating” early in my competition career (when I thought intuitive eating meant eat donuts and cookies all day everyday). I was not going to give up this time, no matter what. I was committed to this journey. So committed that I quit my “lifestyle” coaching job and finally told my coach I was never going to compete again. Ethically, I could no longer help someone diet and I myself could not diet again knowing the consequences. Sometime around early June of 2020 I broke the news to my coach and took the most challenging step towards being aligned with my beliefs and values. Doing what was best for me, what felt right.

Live Intuitively

Then came the idea for my Master’s Project. I was set on doing something related to Intuitive Eating since I was already researching the heck out of it and BEYOND interested in it. I decided to do on a project instead of a thesis because I wanted it to be intentional. I wanted it to provide immense value to the lives of others. I decided to create a program to guide women towards Intuitive Eating. Just the idea of this program was so exciting to me. I am so passionate about this topic and want everyone to find the freedom I was beginning to find. IT IS POSSIBLE!

When I started my my Masters project I was researching, reading, writing my literature review, all the stuff that isn’t very much fun. I was learning about the topic and going through the intuitive eating process myself. I read over a hundred research articles about Intuitive Eating and a few books related to the topic. Let’s just say, this program is backed by a ton of research. Evidenced-based is something I value. I started creating the actual program once I was fully intuitive and confident that this method worked! There was about 9 months from the time I had the idea for my project to the time it was done. My professors LOVED it and I am so proud of the hard work I put into it.

Now as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I help women heal their relationship with food and learn how to live a healthy lifestyle without obsession. I went through this process completely alone and second guessing everything I was doing even though I knew this was the right path for me. I am here to support and EMPOWER women to do what is best for their mind and body. To teach women they are unique, beautiful, and worthy of a full life even if they don’t fit societies unattainable standards. To show women they can live a healthy lifestyle without going to extremes and teach them how to do just that. Every person deserves a healthy relationship with food. I believe it is a prerequisite for living an overall healthy lifestyle. Health is much more than the way you look and a number on the scale.

Click here to apply to work with me 1:1 through Live Intuitively!

Thank You!

Wow I know that was long and if you made it this far, thank you for being here and supporting me every step of the way. I feel like I could write forever, but I’ll save the rest for another blog post. If you have any questions or comments be sure to leave them below and if you liked this post let me know by clicking the star like button (: Also let me know down below what other blog topics you would like me to write about!

xo Adison