Challenges with food and disliking your body can be an intense and persistent struggle, you may even start to wonder, do I have an eating disorder?

I would like to start by saying that if you are even asking the question of “do I have an eating disorder?” even if only in those far recesses of your brain, then you are struggling more than you have to and you could benefit from support regardless of whether or not you have a diagnosable eating disorder.

You have questions. You were just diagnosed with PCOS and you have no clue what to do next! Or you have been diagnosed for awhile, but still feel like you’re not exactly sure how to manage your PCOS symptoms. You have questions and are looking for professional nutrition support, but where to go?

How do you know who to talk to? Here are 3 things to keep in mind when looking for a dietitian to work with:

Did you know that dieting is the #1 risk factor for developing an eating disorder?

I didn’t know that when I was a teenager. And I suspect my parents didn’t either. We can’t guarantee that our kids will be safe from developing disordered eating or an eating disorder, but we can help reduce their risk by discouraging dieting in the first place.

What’s really awesome is that parents can be the first line of defense against dieting and disordered eating.

Our pool opened up this past weekend, which is both early and amazing because this weekend in Greensboro, North Carolina, we hit the 90’s ya’ll.

I don’t even want to think about what that means for this summer…

But Memorial Day weekend is USUALLY when swimsuit season officially begins.

Is your body “swimsuit ready?”

No, I’m not drunk on diet culture… I’m here to tell you that “swimsuit ready” is bullshit.

Has this ever happened to you?

You start getting into some sort of movement/exercise, you settle into a rhythm with it, you actually feel pretty good. You are sleeping better, your mood is elevated, you actually feel a little better in your body. You think you’ve got a good thing going.

Then you get on the scale… and it hasn’t gone down, maybe it has gone up.

So you stop. As far as you are concerned, if you are not losing weight, then clearly it’s not working.

Maybe you are someone that has had many previous New Year’s resolutions that were related to weight loss and fitness. In year’s past the excitement of a new beginning was palpable once the confetti settled - the promise of a new, fitter, thinner, healthier version of yourself. But maybe now you are someone that is beginning to question all the hype around weight loss resolutions.

After all, once that confetti does settle you are left with food rules that feel boring and you are finding yourself more and more “cheating” on your diet. But if you are someone that has relied on the “guard rails” of food rules from following a certain plan or diet to know how to eat, you may be finding yourself asking…

If I don’t diet, then what?