Finding Peace with Food and Your Body: How Registered Dietitians Can Help
If you've ever felt trapped in a cycle of dieting, struggled with negative thoughts about your body, or felt confused about what "healthy eating" really means, you're not alone. At Northern Nutrition Group, our registered dietitians (RDs) are here to help you build a healthier, more peaceful relationship with both food and your body, without focusing on weight loss
A Different Approach to Health
We practice from a weight-inclusive, Health at Every Size® (HAES®) perspective. This means we believe that health and well-being are possible at every body size, and that your worth is not determined by the number on the scale (Franco et al., 2025). The HAES approach is built on five core principles: weight inclusivity, health enhancement, eating for well-being, respectful care, and life-enhancing movement (Franco et al., 2025). Instead of focusing on weight loss, we focus on sustainable health-promoting behaviors that help you feel your best physically, mentally, and emotionally.
What Body Image Work with an RD Looks Like
Reconnecting with Internal Cues
Many people have spent years ignoring their body's signals, which can look like eating by the clock, following rigid food rules, or restricting certain foods entirely. RDs who specialize in body image help clients reconnect with their body's natural hunger and fullness cues through approaches like intuitive eating. A large meta-analysis of 97 studies found that intuitive eating was inversely associated with eating pathology, body image disturbances, and psychopathology, while being positively associated with self-esteem and well-being (Linardon et al., 2021). Research in Canadian adults confirms that intuitive eating is positively correlated with self-esteem and negatively correlated with disordered eating behavior and cognitive restraint (Gödde et al., 2022). A recent randomized controlled trial found that an 8-week intuitive eating intervention delivered by registered dietitians significantly reduced disordered eating behaviors, including binge eating and compensatory exercise, with 89% retention and high participant satisfaction (Casgrain et al., 2026).
Cultivating Body Appreciation
Body image work isn't just about reducing negative thoughts, it's about developing genuine appreciation or neutral respect for your body. RDs help clients shift focus from what bodies look like to what bodies can do. Studies show that mindfulness and self-compassion interventions demonstrate moderate to large effect sizes for enhancing positive body image, with 94% of studies showing significant improvements (Gutiérrez-Cabrero González-García, 2025).
Challenging Diet Culture Messages
Diet culture has taught many of us to fear food, distrust our bodies, and believe that thinness equals health and worthiness. RDs who work with body image help clients identify and challenge these harmful beliefs, replacing them with evidence-based information about health and nutrition that doesn't center weight. Research demonstrates that brief non-dieting interventions significantly improve body image dissatisfaction and intuitive eating, with effects maintained at follow-up (Wilson et al., 2020).
Body Image Support is Part of Nutrition Care
The relationship between food, body image, and mental health is complex and deeply personal. Registered dietitians who specialize in this area understand that healing takes time and requires a compassionate, non-judgmental approach. Whether someone is recovering from years of dieting, navigating disordered eating, or simply wanting to feel more at peace in their body, this type of specialized nutrition care can be an important part of the healing process. At Northern Nutrition Group, we're committed to providing care that respects your autonomy, honors your lived experience, and supports your well-being in all its dimensions.
References
Casgrain, J., Njeim, P., Hajj-Boutros, G., Karelis, A. D. (2026). Effect of an intuitive eating intervention on disordered eating behaviours and dietary quality in young adult Canadian women: A randomized controlled trial. Eating Behaviors, 60, 102067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2025.102067
Franco, J. V., Hindemit, J., Guo, Y., et al. (2025). Weight-neutral interventions for people with obesity and the perspective of patients, carers and healthcare professionals: A mixed methods review. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 5, CD016107. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD016107
Gödde, J. U., Yuan, T. Y., Kakinami, L., Cohen, T. R. (2022). Intuitive eating and its association with psychosocial health in adults: A cross-sectional study in a representative Canadian sample. Appetite, 168, 105782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105782
Gutiérrez-Cabrero, A., González-García, M. (2025). (Re)connecting mind and body: Efficacy of mindfulness and self-compassion interventions for enhancing body image. A systematic review of randomized trials. Body Image, 55, 101974. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2025.101974
Linardon, J., Tylka, T. L., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M. (2021). Intuitive eating and its psychological correlates: A meta-analysis. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 54(7), 1073-1098. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23509
Wilson, R. E., Marshall, R. D., Murakami, J. M., Latner, J. D. (2020). Brief non-dieting intervention increases intuitive eating and reduces dieting intention, body image dissatisfaction, and anti-fat attitudes: A randomized controlled trial. Appetite, 148, 104556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104556
Written by Jessy Griffel, RD, LN, CNSC
Jessy specializes in: Oncology - supporting individuals through cancer treatment, remission, malnutrition, food aversions, focused nutrition care and enteral nutrition support therapy (tube feeding support) and preventive strategies. Athletes/outdoor enthusiast, plant-based (vegetarian/vegan) diets, nutritional deficiencies and abnormal lab values, and weight concerns.