This post was written by Jessica Steinbach, MPH, RD. Jessica is an associate dietitian at Taylor Wolfram LLC and specializes in eating disorder recovery. Learn more about Jessica here! Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder or ARFID is a diagnosable eating disorder that was added to the DSM-5 in 2013. But what is ARFID? Let’s dig a little deeper into this eating disorder! ARFID is commonly (not always) diagnosed earlier in life than other eating disorders as it will often develop in early childhood and present as extreme “picky eating.” ARFID must be diagnosed before diagnosis of a co ..read more

Tune out the noise of New Year dieting and weight loss programs with these 10 tips! Imagine a January without food rules, an extreme exercise regimen or weigh-ins. You can honor your health and care for your whole self without dieting or trying to change your body! Many people feel a sense of motivation and aspiration at the beginning of a new year. And there is nothing wrong with that! However, the slimy marketing tactics of the diet and weight loss industry prey on that and convince us that we need to buy their program in order to be happy and healthy. This is far from the truth! In actuali ..read more

  This post was written by Jessica Steinbach, MPH, RD. Jessica is an associate dietitian at Taylor Wolfram LLC and specializes in eating disorder recovery. Learn more about Jessica here! Veganism can contribute to personal connections with yourself and others but how do you navigate veganism impacting your cultural connection? This blog will share some ideas of how to utilize veganism as a way to connect with your ethnic and cultural roots. Taylor and I recently spoke on a panel held by activist group The Raven Corps called “Zoomers to Boomers” on the health implications of dairy. D ..read more

Having a healthy relationship with food as a vegan allows you to nourish yourself without stress and fuel your animal rights activism. Here are specific action items for keeping veganism about the animals and not turning it into a restrictive diet! First let’s talk about what a healthy relationship with food is and why it’s important. I’ll share with you my thoughts on this concept but I’d love for you to consider what a healthy relationship with food means to you and how that works in your unique life! Here are some key characteristics of a healthy relationship with food: Consistency (eatin ..read more

When you think “meal prep” does something specific come to mind? The truth is meal prep just means preparing food ahead of time. There are no rules about what that needs to look like! You don’t have to: Prep a week’s worth of food at once Use fancy matching containers Measure your food Stick to a calorie limit Adhere to a specific diet Make complicated recipes Spend half of your weekend in the kitchen So erase whatever diet-culture-driven vision of meal prep you have because I want you to create your own personalized vision of meal prepping that has nothing to do with dieting and everything ..read more

This post was written by Jessica Steinbach, MPH, RD. Jessica is an associate dietitian at Taylor Wolfram LLC and specializes in eating disorder recovery. Learn more about Jessica here! Being thin in a world that actively discriminates based on body size is a privilege. In this post, we explore thin privilege and how to be an ally to the fat community! By the way, we use the word “fat” as a neutral descriptor for body size. Aubrey Gordon (she/her), aka Your Fat Friend, explains why “fat” is not a bad word.   I am a provider with thin privilege. It is important to note this privi ..read more

As I sat down to write out my thoughts and reflections on the past year as a dietitian business owner, I noticed one core theme: nurturing! I’ve been focusing a lot on nurturing my business, my clients, my employees, myself and my family.  I re-read my post about my second full-time year in business and thought, “Wow, I did so much last year. I didn’t accomplish nearly as much this year.” And I paused. Because that kind of thinking does not align with my values or intentions as a business owner. And I did accomplish a lot, it was just different. The truth is I don’t agree with the goal o ..read more

This post was written by Jessica Steinbach, MPH, RD. Jessica is an associate dietitian at Taylor Wolfram LLC and specializes in eating disorder recovery. Learn more about Jessica here! Mechanical eating and mindful eating are terms often used in eating disorder recovery when describing “structures” of eating. This blog post explains these terms and can help you develop a better understanding of how mechanical and mindful eating can play a role in your eating disorder recovery.  What is mechanical eating? Mechanical eating is often described as following a specific meal plan, typical ..read more

You probably know that you don’t need to consume animal-based dairy to get enough calcium. But do you know how to meet your calcium needs as a vegan? The truth is, just because you can get enough calcium as a vegan doesn’t mean it’s effortless.  As a vegan registered dietitian, I feel that it’s super important to be honest and straightforward about vegan nutrition.  What I mean by that is, it’s unhelpful to tell people that they don’t need to think about nutrition as a vegan, or that they’ll automatically get enough nutrients just by eating plant foods or just by eating enough calor ..read more

This post was written by Jessica Steinbach, MPH, RD. Jessica is an associate dietitian at Taylor Wolfram LLC and specializes in eating disorder recovery. Learn more about Jessica here! The hunger/fullness scale is a commonly used intuitive eating tool that is intended to help folks connect to their internal cues related to hunger and satiety. This tool can be complicated for those recovering from an eating disorder, especially when hunger and fullness cues may feel inaccessible, confusing or overwhelming. This blog post will help you navigate hunger and fullness as you learn to understan ..read more