Background: Heidi Schauster, MS, RDN, LDN, (CEDRD-S pending) takes participants through a process designed to help clients build healthier relationships with food and body. The workshop includes discussion and experiential work on balanced food principles, intuitive mindful eating, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques, and creation of sustaining self-care practices. Ten non-linear healing steps assist clients in listening to their inner wisdom in making decisions about food, movement, and other life/recovery work. Two decades of nutrition therapy practice and a book by the presenter (Nourish: How To Heal Your Relationship with Food, Body, and Self, available Fall 2017) inform this workshop.
Objectives: 1) Identify and describe 10 non-linear steps that facilitate healing clients’ relationships with food, body, and self 2) Increase understanding of mindful, intuitive eating principles, as well as common sense nutrition for healing disordered eating 3) Build their toolbox for assisting clients in listening within for decisions around hunger, movement, and values-based living in recovery
Content Outline:
Introduction: Food is Love (But Don’t Eat Too Much) — Why This Mixed Message Hurts
STEP 1: Ditch Dieting for Good
STEP 2: Body Acceptance, if not Love
- Working with Negative Body Thoughts
- The “More Weight = Poor Health” Myth and Health At Every Size (HAES)
- Working with Thin Privilege
- Body Appreciation Practice
- A Word about Trauma and the Body
STEP 3: Awareness Before Action
- Examining the Long-term Relationship with Food
- Noticing before Changing
- Curiosity Instead of Criticism
- Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Thought Diffusion
- Neuroplasticity
- Leaning into Feelings
STEP 4: Body Trust and Deep Listening
- Slowing WAY Down
- Role of Meditation in Recovery
- Trusting the Wisdom of the Body
- Mindfulness
- Connecting to Hunger/Fullness
STEP 5: Mindful Eating and Nutritional Common Sense
- Mindful Choices
- Macronutrients: Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats
- Food Quantity
- Water
- Blood Sugar Balance
- Meal and Snack Patterns
- Intuitive Mindful Eating
STEP 6: Conscious, Joyful Movement
STEP 7: Values Clarification to Live a Life You Love
- ACT Values Clarification
- Understanding Universal Human Needs
- Soul Nourishment
STEP 8: Sustaining Self-Care Practices
- Self-Care Deficits
- Role of Stress in Challenging Healing
- Creating Daily/Weekly Practices
STEP 9: Goal-Setting with a Pinch of Self-Compassion and Patience
- Explorations Instead of Resolutions
- Vegetarian and Plant-based Eating
- To Gluten or Not to Gluten?
- Other Food Sensitivities and Allergies
- Food Addiction, Really…?
- “Spot-Clean” Eating
- Self-Compassion
STEP 10: Know the Company You Keep: Building a Support Tribe
Proposal Abstract:
Heidi Schauster, MS, RDN, LDN, CEDRD-S takes participants through a 10-step process of helping clients build healthier relationships with food and body. The workshop will include didactic and experiential work; including topics such as balanced food principles, intuitive mindful eating, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques, and creation of sustaining self-care practices. Special topics of interest like gluten-free diets, plant-based eating, and “clean” eating will be discussed in the context of recovery from disordered eating. Ten non-linear healing steps assist clients in accessing and listening to their inner wisdom in making decisions about food, movement, and other life/recovery work. The workshop builds on Health-at-Every-Size, intuitive-eating, and mindfulness-based skills and practices that can be incorporated into nutrition therapy and behavioral therapy work. Two decades of nutrition therapy practice and a recently published book by the presenter (Nourish: How To Heal Your Relationship with Food, Body, and Self, available Fall 2017) inform this workshop about learning to trust the body and heart’s wisdom.
Heidi Schauster, MS, RDN, LDN, (CEDRD-S pending) is a nutrition therapist and registered dietitian with 20 years of experience in the field of eating disorders and emotional eating issues. She is a counselor, writer, consultant, and clinical supervisor, based in the Greater Boston area. In her work, she feels called to assist her clients and readers in improving their relationships with food and their bodies. Her training includes nutrition science, psychology, mindfulness-based training, and elements of yoga therapeutics and dance. She holds a holistic view of nutrition, the body, and her clients. Heidi is also the author of Nourish: How to Heal Your Relationship with Food, Body, and Self.
