A non-diet dietitian is a dietitian who won’t put you on a diet — ever. While it might feel contradictory, we actually believe it’s the best way we can help our clients support their health. Diets are often restrictive, prescriptive, time-consuming, and focused on numbers (calories, body weight, body measurements, etc.), setting the stage for all-or-nothing thinking, stress, and inconsistent, erratic eating. Instead of diets, non-diet dietitians help clients focus on the bigger picture surrounding health behaviors such as stress management, sleep, balanced nutrition, adequate hydration, and joyful movement.
 
The non-diet approach may integrate principles of Intuitive Eating. Instead of teaching you how to control portions, non-diet dietitians will teach you how to listen to your hunger and fullness cues. Instead of counting calories, non-diet dietitians will help you discover a way of eating where you are mindfully able to tune into the needs of your body. 

Because non-diet dietitians believe that health cannot be measured by body weight alone, they will help you understand how to support your health in other meaningful ways. This could look like noticing changes in your energy level throughout the day, helping you reduce your preoccupation with food, focusing on specific biomarkers or blood levels, getting a lost period back, or more.

The short answer is that it depends! Depending on your insurance plan, your 1:1 visits with your NourishRX Dietitian may be covered in full. While NourishRX is in network with many insurance companies, whether your insurance company will pay for nutrition counseling services depends on your individual plan for coverage, the reason you are seeking nutrition counseling, and whether or not your insurance places a limit on the number of covered sessions per year. Occasionally, your insurance plan may have copayments, deductibles and coinsurance applied to your visits with NourishRX. 

NourishRX programs are designed to offer an elevated patient care experience, which goes beyond what insurance will typically cover. Your NourishRX Registered Dietitian will carefully assess your needs and goals, prescribing a plan of care to best support you. Your care plan may be covered up to 80% by your insurance. We will work with you and your insurance company to make sure you get the most coverage for your 1:1 visits that you can, with the lowest (if any) out of pocket costs to you. 

Contact us to find out what your coverage looks like for NourishRX services. 

NourishRX is in network with the following insurance companies: Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harvard Pilgrim, Aetna, Allways Health Partners, and United Healthcare. If NourishRX does not take your insurance, you may still be able to get coverage. You can submit a receipt for services (called a Superbill) to your insurance company and they may be able to reimburse you for some or all of the total cost that you pay out of pocket for “out of network” services.

A Registered Dietitian (RD or dietitian for short) is a credentialed professional who has received extensive education and training in the field of nutrition. In order to use the title Registered Dietitian, RDs must complete a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in nutrition science, match to a competitive internship and complete 1200 hours of supervised practice, pass a registration board exam, and maintain continuing education certification every 2-5 years. Many RDs go on to specialize in various areas of nutrition — from eating disorders to diabetes to sports nutrition.

While a dietitian can call themselves a nutritionist, not all nutritionists are dietitians. In fact, there is very little regulation around who can call themselves a “nutritionist” and it’s very common for people to receive very little education before selling nutrition services using the title of “nutritionist” or “nutrition coach.” 

Be aware of the letters someone uses after their name. If they don’t use RD, RDN, LDN, CD, or CDN, they may not be a registered dietitian.

RD = Registered Dietitian
RDN = Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
LDN = Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist
CD = Certified Dietitian
CDN = Certified Dietitian Nutritionist
CEDS = Certified Eating Disorder Specialist

While your nutrition care will be 100% personalized to you, your needs and your goals, we can give you a general idea of what to expect working with a dietitian at NourishRX. Your first session will be with one of our intake coordinators (also registered dietitians!), who will review your reasons for seeking out nutrition support, your medical, mental and relevant family health histories, your current relationship with food and other health-related behaviors. You may discuss movement or exercise if that is relevant to you, your body image, and any other aspects of your life that interfere with your ability to peacefully and adequately nourish your body. Our intake dietitian will then give you plenty of space to ask questions before you discuss long and short term goals. 

You will be matched with one of our team of non-diet dietitians for follow ups based on your goals, and will be provided with a list of resources to get you started with the right amount of support. In follow up sessions, your dietitian will get to know you, continue to assess your nutrition status and provide guidance to help you make progress towards your long term goals.

Learn more about nutrition counseling for anorexia recovery, bulimia recovery, binge eating disorder recovery, ARFID recovery, OSFED recovery and intuitive eating.

That is a great question! Dietitians can help with so many different types of concerns, and the answer to this question likely depends on how much knowledge and support you have to make changes on your own. We are big believers of having a support system, and don’t believe there are any stupid questions in the world of nutrition. In fact, there’s so much nutrition misinformation out there, some of our favorite conversations with clients revolve around simply clearing up any confusion about the latest fad or pop nutrition topic. 

We would love to chat with you about your concerns and help you decide whether it is important for you to work with a dietitian. Please reach out to our client care coordinator and set up a free questions & clarity call. 

The amount of appointments you need with your dietitian will depend on your goals and how much support you need to reach them. We’ve worked with some clients for a season, and some clients for years! For individuals in eating disorder recovery or working to heal their relationship with food, the nutrition work is often part of a bigger, longer journey and can take years of sessions before you feel ready to “fly solo.” For others with more specific or shorter-term goals, you may find that you’re able to make steady progress by working with a dietitian and feel ready to move on in just a few months.

Using our Measurement Based Care tools, NourishRX Registered Dietitians will walk you through a thorough assessment process so you know where you stand in the treatment process. This information, along with information gathered in the initial intake, your NourishRX dietitian will be able to identify concerns and create a personalized plan specific to your needs. Our screenings are conducted in consistent intervals so that we may shift protocols and interventions depending on your treatment outcomes, throughout your course of care.