KELLY DEMERS, MS, RD, LDN (SHE/HER)
NUTRITION THERAPIST AND REGISTERED DIETITIAN
If you choose me as your dietitian, we will work collaboratively as we dig deep into the roots of your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about food and your body. We will challenge the diet mentality, cultural beauty ideals, and deconstruct what it means to live in an oppressive diet culture. I see myself as not just your dietitian, but as your co-facilitator and fellow human along with you for the ride. I do not subscribe to the hierarchal belief that: “You are the client and I am the expert here to tell you what to do”. Though I may challenge you, this is still your journey – your personal values will guide all clinical decisions, and I will help coach you along the way to achieving your individual goals.
I strive to create a safe, non-judgmental, and supportive environment for my clients to get curious about themselves and their core beliefs about food and their bodies. I will hold space for and help you process the discomfort that inevitably accompanies personal growth. Together we will dissect your past and present relationships with food, while also exploring the concepts of body trust, Intuitive Eating, and self-compassion, so that you may move not just toward a more peaceful, liberated relationship with food and your body, but also toward a more rich, satisfying, and fulfilling life – free from the limiting constraints of diet culture.
Professional Bio
Kelly Demers MS, RD, LDN is a registered and licensed dietitian based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kelly specializes in eating disorders/disordered eating, body-acceptance work, and chronic dieting recovery. She is passionate about helping her clients let go of external food rules and discover a more peaceful relationship with food and their body.
Kelly practices from an anti-diet, Health At Every Size® (HAES®), and social justice informed lens. She utilizes the principles of Intuitive Eating and the practice of mindful self-compassion to help her clients establish a practice of self-care and cultivate a sense of self-worth that is not reliant on a number on a scale. Kelly uses these and other techniques to guide her clients toward a more nurturing, healthy relationship with themselves and their bodies.
Prior to her work in private practice, Kelly worked as a clinical dietitian and has experience providing Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) and nutrition counseling at various levels of care. She has worked as an acute care and outpatient dietitian for the VA hospital in Portland, OR, as well as for Monte Nido & Affiliates Eating Disorder Treatment Center - first as the lead dietitian for their residential home in Springfield, OR, and later as the lead dietitian for their PHP/IOP program in Eugene, OR. Kelly has also worked as a public health nutritionist at the state administration level for the NYS WIC program. Current areas of interest include polyvagal theory and somatic processing in the treatment of eating disorders, as well as the co-occurrence of chronic GI issues in clients with eating disorders/disordered eating.
Kelly earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Russell Sage College in upstate NY and completed her Master of Arts degree in Nutrition, with a strong focus on culinary nutrition and food psychology, from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR. She is currently pursuing training to become a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and has nearly completed the rigorous requirements needed to become a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian (CEDRD). In her free time, Kelly enjoys reading, hiking, listening to podcasts, and exploring the Minneapolis food scene.