On Monday morning I had an appointment with a nutritionist at a local hospital. It was… underwhelming. We discussed my emotional eating and he gave me some handouts about what/how much to eat. He suggested a number of calories to help me lose weight. But that was about it. No plan, no support, no follow up appointments unless I requested it. It wasn't until I left the appointment that I recognized what I was hoping for. I want something creative, specific to my life, and with ongoing support as I make this endeavor. With this at the front of my mind I went into my free consult with a naturopath on Thursday morning.
Equipped with this clearer sense of what I need and want, I made the most of a 15 minute conversation with one of the naturopaths at Rain City Integrative Clinic. We dove right into my desire for ideas and on-going support for weight loss, nutritional support for recovering from depression, dealing with stress, and a family history of heart disease. Dr. Viriginia was energetic, personable, informative. She made it clear that this process will start with information about me - my bloodwork, my lifestyle, and my preferences. (We even managed to talk about Little N and the support that a naturopathic approach could offer to his needs with Autism.)
In addition to Dr. Viriginia's approach to me, I really appreciated her approach to her work in general. She's decidedly non-judgey and works with a folks in a number of Seattle subcultures, like the "geeks and gamers" and the polyamorous folks. Besides being open to the different ways that people live and express themselves, she's also supportive in her approach to weight loss - caring less about the number on the scale or your body composition (though that does play a part) and more about how you fit in your clothes, your energy level, and your emotions.
My next step is a new patient appointment next Thursday, with Dr. Chrys. I'll have to fast for some fresh bloodwork and then we'll do a thorough history. Then, I expect there will be a food diary tracking what I eat and how I feel, both in terms of physical energy and emotionally. So far I'm excited about this really personalized, supportive approach to my health and healing.
I'm also, gradually, re-reading Christiane Northrup's Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, one of my "Bibles" from younger years. In it, Northrup asserts a union (or in my current case a reunion) of body, mind, and heart. She also addresses the medical model of health, such that the body is a location of disease to be battled and cured at any cost. The alternative view includes seeing the body as a place of health and messages about how we live, believe, engage with our lives, and live each day. I don't mean to suggest that there isn't also room for Western medicine, but that how we approach the body matters. (I'll write more about the book as I make my way through it again.)
This distinction makes sense to me as I approach my own health and healing today. I rejected the one-diet-fits-all from the nutritionist. It was blind to my current lifestyle, emotional health, and particular physiology. The naturopath seems to take these aspects into consideration and value the different roles these factors play in my health. My weight isn't something we aim a standard diet at and hope it obliterates the problem. My weight is part of a whole life, a whole person. It carries messages about how I'm living. Working with the naturopath, alongside the Beloved Therapist, I am optimistic that I can make whole life, whole body, changes. These changes will include diet and exercise, as well as listening to my emotions and why I eat what I eat when I eat it, how I feel when I move my body, the influence of my relationships and my work on my eating and so forth.
My health, my life, is multifaceted. Seeking to address my weight brings other angles into view as well. So I'm not just signing up for diet, I'm engaging as much of myself as I can to establish better health in multiple areas of my life. Bringing a naturopath onto my healthy-me-team is another exciting baby step.
This distinction makes sense to me as I approach my own health and healing today. I rejected the one-diet-fits-all from the nutritionist. It was blind to my current lifestyle, emotional health, and particular physiology. The naturopath seems to take these aspects into consideration and value the different roles these factors play in my health. My weight isn't something we aim a standard diet at and hope it obliterates the problem. My weight is part of a whole life, a whole person. It carries messages about how I'm living. Working with the naturopath, alongside the Beloved Therapist, I am optimistic that I can make whole life, whole body, changes. These changes will include diet and exercise, as well as listening to my emotions and why I eat what I eat when I eat it, how I feel when I move my body, the influence of my relationships and my work on my eating and so forth.
My health, my life, is multifaceted. Seeking to address my weight brings other angles into view as well. So I'm not just signing up for diet, I'm engaging as much of myself as I can to establish better health in multiple areas of my life. Bringing a naturopath onto my healthy-me-team is another exciting baby step.
RSS Feed
