D was exactly what I needed. In fact, what I got from her was what I thought I was going to get from the counselor I started seeing last month about my eating/food issues. My counselor highly recommended that I see D. (Initially I scoffed at the idea of a nutritionist because I didn't need someone to tell me what to eat; I need someone to focus on the "why.")
D is more than a nutritionist. She deals with lifestyle issues as they relate to nutrition, eating disorders (in the broadest sense of that term), as well as nutrition. When I first contacted her she asked what we would be working on. I detailed what I wanted ("I want to lose weight and I need someone to help me do it") and what I didn't want ("I don't need an eat-this-don't-eat-that meal plan").
She was very easy to talk to and I opened up quickly about the things I had already uncovered with my counselor and where I suspected my eating issues had started and why. She was on the same page, and understood that where I was coming from wasn't a load of BS.
She asked about my favorite foods and how they made me feel before, during and after eating them. She asked me to describe those go-to foods as if she had never had them. With the descriptions I used for those foods, she offered several techniques for redirecting myself -- much like you might do with a child who was adament about having something.
One of the great things we discussed was not depriving myself of my favorite foods and snacks. She wants me to focus on portion control when it comes to junk food. "So it's OK to have two Oreos," she said. "But you have to focus on stopping at two." In fact, for the time being, she wants me to have a "sweet" (15-30 grams of carbs) with each meal in the hopes that it will cut down on my mid-day and evening snacking. So far I haven't felt like I needed or wanted a sweet with each meal, but at least I know that option exists.
I'm very happy with how things went at the meeting and I feel like I have some solid direction for how to get myself on the right track. Even though I feel really good about where I am right now and the food choices I'm making, I know I have a long way to go.
"It's gonna be hard," she said. "Really hard."
