Ep. 011: Jennifer McGurk on HEALTH at Every Size

The BodyLove Project with Jessi Haggerty

Jennifer McGurk, RDN, CDN, CDE, CEDRD is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist whose mission is to help people heal from diets, and find peace and balance with their food choices. She is the owner of Eat With Knowledge in Nyack, NY. She leads a team of dietitians who support the philosophy, “Feel fabulous about food!”

As a Certified Eating Disorders Registered Dietitian, Jennifer combines her expertise in medical nutrition therapy, psychology, and physiology to help clients understand their eating behaviors, and gain the insight needed to make positive changes for their health. She is an expert in the field of eating disorders and also supervises other Registered Dietitians. She is involved with the International Federation of Eating Disorder Dietitians, the National Eating Disorders Association, and the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp). She is the Co-Social Media Chair for the New York City Chapter of iaedp.

Like many other dietitians on a path similar to Jennifer’s, she was very frustrated at the beginning of her career. Starting at a diabetes institution most of her clients had the goal of weight loss and most of her clients were disappointed when this goal was not reached. During this time she read the book Intuitive Eating as she was working on her own relationship with food. After applying it to her own life, she decided to make a shift in her career.

After switching jobs and working with many college aged individuals suffering from eating disorders she decided she wanted to include Intuitive Eating in eating disorder treatment, which eventually lead to the opening of her private practice. Now in her private practice the goal of weight loss is not an option. Jennifer is a weight inclusive dietitian whose goal is to improve her client's relationship with food and with their bodies.

She uses a Health at Every Size (HAES) approach and really focuses on the health aspect of this approach. HAES does not mean you are healthy no matter what, it means everyone has the opportunity to be healthy. Jennifer stresses to her clients that health is wanting to eat foods that make you feel great, health is moving your body in a way that makes it feel great and health is respecting your body and practicing self care. She does not claim that this is an easy task especially with the diet culture of today, but assures it is rewarding and well worth the journey to get there.

Resources

• Jennifer’s Private Practice Website
• Petition to Include Health At Every Size (HAES) Principles in the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics Obesity and Weight Management Certification (all are welcome to sign, you don’t have to be an RD!)
• Jessi's Free Intuitive Eating Audio Course
• The BodyLove MasterClass information
• Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
• Pursuing Private Practice
• Growing Your Private Practice
• Food Psych Podcast
• Love, Food Podcast
• Body Kindness Podcast