Nutrition by RD

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Nutrition by RD

My mission is to empower you to take charge of your health utilizing an anti-diet approach rooted in
(4)

Nutrition by RD was created by Rebecca Ditkoff, a Registered Dietitian (RD)/Nutritionist in NYC. For more information please visit Rebecca's website: www.nutritionbyRD.com.

09/08/2023

Intentions are everything!✨
Just like with intuitive eating where self-care, joy and focusing on how you *feel* and want to feel is key - the same goes for joyful movement! Activities that bring you joy that also make you feel good in your body is much healthier for your physical AND mental health than those intended to manipulate and/or shrink your body. Additionally, intrinsic motivation for movement tends to last a lot longer than the short-term motivation often paired with dieting.
These days joyful movement for me looks like stroller walks with my son👶🏼 or physical therapy/strength training (an important part of my self-care routine) with 🥰🏋🏻‍♀️What are some of your favorite ways to move your body?
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12/07/2023

Morning PSA🚨your weight, shape or size does not determine your worth as a human being.
Additionally, you don’t need to earn your worthiness. You already are worthy just as you are. Diet culture wants us to believe that we are only worthy when we are at a certain weight and if we are not there we need to be continuously striving for it (sigh!🙄) Not only is this a lie and straight up🤬💩but it’s the driving belief keeping people stuck in the diet cycle and allows the billion dollar diet industry to remain profitable😡

10/07/2023

What to expect when you first start intuitive eating➡️➡️➡️ **keep in mind everyone is different, but these are some common themes I see come up in a lot of my client discussions!
For those of you on your own intuitive eating journey— what has your experience been relating to expectations vs reality when it comes to healing your relationship with food?

07/07/2023

No disrespect to coffee (love it just as much as the next guy!), but coffee is *NOT* breakfast. Gentle reminder to pleaseee have some breakfast with your coffee this morning if you haven’t already!

21/04/2023

When is it appropriate to comment on someone else’s body? Never❌
We live in a culture where all too often weight loss is perceived as “good” and weight gain is seen as “bad.” This assumption is inherently flawed and harmful. Not only does weight loss or gain tell you nothing about a person’s behaviors, health, happiness or anything else for that matter, but the comment could either be interpreted as a sign of success/failure and either potentially perpetuate unhealthy disordered behaviors or send someone into a shame spiral. More specifically, the individual that you are praising for weight loss could be suffering from an eating disorder, cancer, depression, grief etc. You never know what is truly behind a weight change! Alternatively, the person that you are judging for weight gain may be happy, healthy, on a new medication that is helping them or in recovery from an eating disorder. Instead of appearance-based comments try to focus on qualities about them such as their character, personality, or sense of style👗💃🏽

06/01/2023

Cannot believe that today already marks 8 weeks of maternity leave🥹👶🏼💙Feeling grateful for this very special time with my sweet son, for my husbands support as we navigate our new roles as mom & dad👨‍👩‍👦and for the ability to work for myself and return to a flexible schedule with incredible clients that I absolutely LOVE working with🥰
Special shout out to Melissa, my amazing associate, who took excellent care of the clients at NBRD while I was out, and to all my wonderful colleagues who also helped out during this time!
I’ll be easing back in to work part-time next week and look forward to reconnecting with you all🤗 Additionally, some exciting news ‼️ Melissa has opened up more slots in her schedule for January and February and we’d love to have you work with us if interested! Please apply on our website (using the link in bio) or send me a DM if you’d like to set up a discovery call to learn more☎️ Wishing everyone a happy & healthy New Year

23/11/2022

A few reminders for Thanksgiving tomorrow🧡💛🤎 Wishing everyone a great holiday!

09/11/2022

PSA: YOU NEED CARBS🧇 Your brain actually 🧠 uses glucose (which is broken down from carbohydrates) **exclusively** as fuel. Contrary to what those who promote “low carb diets for health” say a meta-analysis study from 2019 found that those eating the lowest amount of carbohydrates had the highest risk of heart disease, cancer and stroke. Instead of limiting carbs, they should should actually make up the majority of your diet for maximum functioning (roughly 45-65% of total intake, varying depending on individual).
More specifically, for our brains to function optimally you need AT LEAST 130grams of carbohydrates per day. To put this into a fact that is easier to visualize this is equivalent to 8 slices of bread!
Fearing carbs is a common theme I see among my clients when we begin working together…(i.e thinking “carbs are bad” or “carbs will make me gain weight” thanks but NO thanks to diet culture speaking under the guise of “health”.
Instead, restricting carbs to “feel in control” of your health typically has the opposite effect and makes you feel like you cant control yourself during the times you do “allow them” (which makes total sense due to a scarcity mindset). You may subsequently eat carbs larger quantities when they are available out of fear of not knowing when you’ll have access to them again!
As noted above - our bodies and brains NEED carbs to run efficiently. Plus carbs are delicious and avoiding them takes the joy out of food! And while it is true that some carbs are more nutritious (oatmeal, quinoa, whole wheat etc), whereas others are more so considered “fun” foods (cookies, cakes) - a balanced and satisfying diet includes ALL of the above as there is a a place for all foods in your diet if you want to include them and they make you feel healthy & happy!😊
Moral of the story: stay away from any health professional that offers fear-mongering “health” advice & tells you to avoid one of our bodies main and most important energy sources. All 3 macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) are important and required to create a balanced diet! Drop your favorite carb emoji below!🍿🍰🧁🍎🥧🍇

09/11/2022

Although Melissa has been a part of Nutrition RD team since this summer…they say “it’s not official until it’s instagram official” soo here were are… I’d like to introduce you to Nutrition by RD’s newest addition, Melissa Gingold, RD CDN!🥳🎊🎈
Melissa is a registered dietitian in Westchester County, NY. She is passionate about helping clients on their journey towards making peace with food and body, using a non-diet and weight-inclusive approach. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University, and completed the Cornell Dietetic Internship. She has several years of clinical nutrition experience and her special interests include eating disorders, disordered eating, and gastrointestinal issues.
Her passions outside of nutrition include music, hiking, and dance. She takes and teaches ballet classes, and therefore has a strong understanding of adequate fueling for sports in addition to navigating the physical and emotional pressures these activities can place on our bodies. Her dance experience exposed her to an interest in dietetics. She believes that a healthy relationship with food, movement and body image is transformative, and looks forward to helping clients at Nutrition by RD on their journey! She is currently seeing clients in the Tri-State area virtually. If you’d like to learn more about how to work with her visit our website: https://nutritionbyrd.com/nutrition-counseling/

02/07/2021

As we head into the holiday weekend…🎊🏖☀️here is your reminder that “hot girl summer” is a *MINDSET*🧠 and not a body type!

29/06/2021

According to shame is “an intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging”😔
Body shame is one specific and prevelant form of shame and jt is important to address that body shame is learned and not something we are born feeling. Children often move/dance/run freely in their bodies without a care or insecurity in the world until one day that changes and they learn about the narrow beauty standards in our society. In book “More than a body” they use a metaphor for this called “more than a body beach” and the “sea of objectification”. This metaphor explains the onset of body shame so clearly... where all children are described as starting out on the “more than a body beach” and then with age they make their way over to the treacherous waters in the “sea of objection” which is filled with not only narrow standards of beauty, but unrealistic ones created by the beauty and diet industry whose ultimate goal is to profit off of our insecurities.
If we don’t meet these standards (which most of us don’t), we begin to feel that something is inherently “wrong” or “flawed” with us (i.e shame). Just as we have learned that something is “wrong” with our bodies and we need to “fix” it we can also UNlearn this in order to have more peace with our bodies and to respect/care for them just as they are.
The unlearning process starts with awareness of where the beauty standards we’ve internalized even come from. Some great resources include “the beauty myth” by Naomi Wolf, “more than a body” by Lindsay & Lexie Kite and “beyond beautiful” by Anuschka Rees. After unlearning comes self compassion work as well as providing yourself with the daily reminder that you are enough as you are❤️

25/06/2021

What to expect when you first start intuitive eating (a thread➡️)

24/06/2021

Hands down one of my favorite lunches🐟🍞🧀 PLUS some salt & vinegar chips🥔🧂🤤🤤🤤 Chips tend to be a tough food for a lot of my clients. When I say “tough” - I mean some of my clients struggle in their relationship to chips aka the trust they have in themselves when around this food is lacking. I can relate — I used to tell myself chips were “off limits” and were never something I’d allow in the house. The result?! Anytime I was around them..like at a friends house or a party etc, I felt absolutely out of control or stressed around them. ⏩Fast forward to the present day where now I can keep a bag of chips in my pantry and practically forget about them until a craving comes up. Allowing them to be a regular part of life has been a gamechanger. Once a food is no longer off limits or deemed “special” or “forbidden” it essentially loses it’s allure and it just becomes food. This is the beauty of FOOD FREEDOM🎊 If this post resonates with you and feeling stress around food is relatable — know that A) you’re not alone! And B) help is available! Highly recommend reading about and/or reaching out in case you’d like more individualized help❤️

21/06/2021

Truth💣 Your plate, your business🍽

18/06/2021

Your body is always “summer ready”😎👙⛱

15/06/2021

Do you ever feel like you’re hungry when the clock says you “shouldn’t” be?🤔💭⏰
This may be because in our society dieting behaviors are so normalized that rules around “the timing” of our eating has become seemingly more important than actually listening to our body (ridiculous when you actually say it out loud🤯!).
Even if you’re not dieting, you may have conscious or even subscious rules around food such as how long you “should” go without eating, how often you “should” be eating, when it’s too early to eat, when it’s too late to eat, etc. The clock becomes the external factor that you are encouraged to use to control your food intake as opposed to listening to your own internal cues. This can be confusing and make you overly reliant on external factors (such as the time of day) as opposed to your actual hunger cues.
This is where intuitive eating and its framework can be really helpful since it helps promote using the body as a guide to address hunger and fullness cues while removing minimizing use of external factors.
However, one important thing to note about this is some people who have struggled with disordered eating or a long history of dieting may be very disconnected from their hunger cues and then therefore relying on the clock to remind them to eat meals/snacks can be an act of self-care. As with everything I say - it all goes back to INTENTIONS…if you are using the clock as a form of self-care to aid in nourishment that can be helpful if needed. If you are using it as a form of restriction (intermittent fasting Im looking at you🙄) then perhaps your relationship with food needs some care❤️ Oh and stop “should’ing” yourself😝

14/06/2021

📣Important Reminders to help to start your week:
🌻ALL bodies are good bodies & deserve EQUAL respect and care.
🌻Your worth is NOT determined by your size.
🌻Bodies are MEANT to change.
🌻Weight gain is NOT a moral failing.
🌻Clothes are meant to fit YOU, not the other way around.
🔸Moving away from toxic diet culture and the thin ideal starts with ourselves by examining our self-talk and the conversations we have with have with others. Messages that imply “thinner = better” come from all directions (family, friends, healthcare, the media etc) and are extremely harmful to the way we view our self-image and worth. Additionally, these messages focus on weight as a proxy for “health”, when in reality so many people that pursue the thin ideal do so at any cost and often at the expense of their health (both physical and mental).
🔸Start by thinking about how you think and talk about your own body as well as other people’s bodies. What sort of thoughts or talk do you notice? When examining these thoughts try to be gentle and come from a place of curiosity and compassion instead of judgement.

11/06/2021

Intentions are everything!✨
Just like with intuitive eating where self-care, joy and focusing on how you *feel* is key - the same goes for joyful movement! Activities that bring you joy that also make you feel good in your body is much healthier for your physical AND mental health than those intended to manipulate and/or shrink your body. Additionally, intrinsic motivation for movement tends to last a lot longer than the short-term motivation often paired with dieting. Recently during the pandemic, I’ve fallen in love with outdoor cycling again What are some of your favorite ways to move your body?
graphic by

07/06/2021

Did you “fall off your diet this weekend”? If so, here’s a reminder: you did not “fall of” or “fail” the diet, the diet failed YOU! If a way of eating (the true definition of the word diet) is not adequate, sustainable, realistic AND enjoyable - it is not going to last!
So maybe you’ve heard this before and know that unsustainable diets don’t work and cause harm, but you’re still having trouble wrapping your head around how to fully reject the diet mentality.
First, give yourself some grace and compassion. Diet messages are everywhere and many of the individuals I work with remember being negatively influenced by such messages before the age of 11. This means many of us (you are certainly not alone!) have decades of unlearning to do. This takes time and does not happen overnight.
Start by reflecting on your own experience with dieting (for most it works…until it doesn’t😑)..and consider learning more about the harm dieting can cause (such as disordered eating, weight cycling, decreased metabolism, food preoccupation etc).
Next, free up your mental space and get rid of tools such as the scale, calorie-counting apps, and diet books. This can help immensely and allow you to reconnect with your internal cues versus external ones which have led you astray and further disconnected you from your body.
People eat food for many reasons besides nutrition. Psychological satisfaction is equally important. When you ignore or neglect this by practicing what feels like “self-control,” you become more unsatisfied. This mindset can lead a person to have more cravings.
Last, consider exploring the intuitive eating framework (books and podcasts can be a great place to start — if you need recs feel free to DM me!). If you find yourself needing additional support consider working with an anti-diet dietitian who specializes in intuitive eating.
Last, recognize that you are so much more than a body! Consider your values and what makes you unique. All human beings deserve health, happiness and respect no matter their size or body shape.

06/06/2021

Saturday🍦🍒🌈 🌅

02/06/2021

Raise your hand if you’ve ever identified as the “healthy” one in your group of friends or family?🙋🏻‍♀️ If this resonates - I feel you. I used to think being being the “healthy one” in the group was a “good” thing. However, too much of anything can often be problematic. Specifically, when it comes to being obsessive about out health and food - this can get to the point that it actually negatively impacts your health - especially your mental and social health. In fact, there’s actually a name for this: orthorexia. As an RD, I am of course pro- incorporating healthy behaviors into our routine, with the caveat that this does not become rigid or turn into an obsession that negatively impacts both your emotional and social health.
What is concerning is that those with an unhealthy obsession with health, food and exercise are often applauded for how “good” they are when it comes to their food and exercise behaviors and are additionally told what great “willpower” they have. This sort of praise often continues to fuel someones disordered behaviors and can be quite harmful.
Someone struggling with orthorexia may be really focused on “clean” eating, ingredient lists, and food planning to the point where their health starts to suffer. Below are some warning signs & symptoms of orthorexia (source )
“WARNING SIGNS & SYMPTOMS OF ORTHOREXIA
* Compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels
* An increase in concern about the health of ingredients
* Cutting out an increasing number of food groups (all sugar, all carbs, all dairy, all meat, all animal products)
* An inability to eat anything but a narrow group of foods that are deemed ‘healthy’ or ‘pure’
* Unusual interest in the health of what others are eating
* Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events
* Showing high levels of distress when ‘safe’ or ‘healthy’ foods aren’t available
* Obsessive following of food and ‘healthy lifestyle’ blogs on Twitter and Instagram
* Body image concerns may or may not be present”

26/05/2021

#1 tip for “managing” hunger: EAT❗️
“Tips/tricks/hacks” from diet culture for “managing” hunger is really just a form of disordered eating. Hunger is a biological cue, and just like any body cue, it gives us important information allowing us to take care of our bodies and their needs. You wouldn’t hold in your p*e after receiving a signal from your body that it is time to use the bathroom🚽...so why would it be acceptable to ignore signals from your body that you need to eat🥪?
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26/05/2021

Evening reminder✨🍿

20/05/2021

Yesterdays lunch➡️today’s lunch. Sharing this because it is a great example of food freedom!🎉Some days food freedom is having a cheeseburger 🍔 for lunch because that is what you want/what is going to make you *feel good* and other days it is going to be choosing a salad🥗because you *want* it and it will make you *feel good* (not because diet culture told you to😖) Another way food freedom can work is that food choices dont need to be black & white/all or nothing - for example... you can have both the burger and a salad! There is no “right” or “wrong” or “good” or “bad” it is all about asking yourself what you *need* in any given moment!
What does food freedom mean to you?!
@ Manhattan, New York

13/05/2021

If your weight feels tough to maintain it is likely not the right weight for you. Although it may feel like your body is working against you it is actually a sign your body is working hard to protect you❤️

13/05/2021

Essentially the set point theory holds that your body will fight to keep you within a certain weight range, which is essentially a form of homeostasis. This is why sustainable weight loss below your bodies set point is so hard because your body is fighting to keep you where it feels safe and not where society deems it “acceptable” according to the BMI chart which we know is 💩.
When someone loses weight and ends up below their natural set point, both appetite and metabolism adjust to try and return the body to its baseline. We often see that those that restrict food intake (no matter their size) tend to have sluggish metabolisms since the body is trying to protect itself by conserving energy. This explains why restrictive diets often end up leading to a return of the weight plus some extra in the long-run. I don’t share this to add to the negative bias around weight gain, but instead to explain the biological reason why diets fail us and lead to opposite results from what is intended.
So how might you know if you’re at your set point? You are likely there if you are…
- not performing any disordered behaviors (i.e restricting, binging, purging)
- you’re moving in ways that you enjoy given your bodies current ability
- you’re getting adequate sleep
- -you’re adequately managing stress
- you’re eating intuitively
Everyone has their own individual set point based on factors such as genetics and set points can also change overtime from medications, hormonal changes and disordered eating patterns to name a few. Moral of the story is your weight is not something that you need to micromanage and can not be dumbed down to a simple equation of calories in calories out (also💩). Your body is already has that under control and can be trusted to keep you in a safe range if you honor its signals (i.e honor and fullness). In conclusion, a set point is written into your body and designed to protect you and not go against you. Our body is really smart - smarter than our minds which try to control weight (and diet culture🤬) which do not get a say in our bodies set point.

10/05/2021

Monday PSA… You do not need to “start over” today. This mindset is not only unhelpful, but it just fuels the endless diet cycle as well as disordered eating.
The “diet starts Monday” thought pattern fits in with an “all or nothing mentality” and when it comes to food (and life in general) it is really important to focus on meeting somewhere in the middle (i.e living in the grey). Not only do we know that diets can cause harm & DO NOT WORK IN THE LONG RUN, but If you associate Mondays with “starting fresh/beginning a diet/restriction this also in turn will make you start to associate weekends with binges which creates extremes instead of balance❌⚖️
In order to break this cycle one must a) recognize that is an occurring pattern and causing more harm and leading to the opposite of what the desired results may be and b) next, rejecting the diet mentality is key, which is also the 1st principle of intuitive eating.
Something to think about or answer below if you’re comfortable. How has dieting impacted your relationship with food and yourself?
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08/05/2021

Weekend reminder: honor your cravings & move on (without the guilt!)💕 It is far worse to beat yourself up for having dessert, than it is to have said dessert (or whatever food you may be craving). Instead, enjoy the food, savor it mindfully, and move on with your day! No one food can make or break your health. Our health (both mental & physical!) is based on multiple decisions and factors and rooted in how we care for ourselves overall!

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08/05/2021

After a few weeks of feeling uninspired in the kitchen I think I got my mojo back😍👩🏻‍🍳✨🦑🐟🌿 Happy weekend everyone🎉🎉

06/05/2021

Today is INTERNATIONAL NO DIET DAY🍩🎉which was created in 1992 to raise awareness about the potential dangers of dieting and promote a healthy lifestyle with a focus on body acceptance and Health at Every Size ( ) .
Below I’m sharing 3 (of many) reasons for why diets = a PROBLEM for both our physical and mental health.
1. Diets give us a false sense of control and distract us from more important things in life. Diets often leave the individual to feel at fault for “failing” diet after diet, but in reality it’s the DIETS that are failing us.
2. 95% of diets don’t work and lead to more weight gain in the long run. Did you know research shows that 95% of people who diet end up gaining the weight that they lost back. Of that 95% 2/3 of people will even end up gaining more weight than what they started out at.
3. Diets are not only harmful for our physical health, but our mental health too. Feelings of guilt and shame are common when it comes to dieting and can lead to disordered eating behaviors. A person with disordered eating behaviors may isolate themselves for fear of socializing in situations that involve food, and this isolation may contribute to low self-esteem and significant emotional distress as well.
Soo...if not dieting… then what?! I’ll give you a hint: self care > self control❤️ Check to read a post of mine from 2019’s to learn more❤️ May all day’s be No diet day💯
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