Stop Dieting and Obsessing About Food and Find Peace and Balance
Do you...
- Find yourself thinking about what you should eat instead of what you want to eat.
- Spend much of the day worrying about what you ate (or didn’t eat) or what your body looks like.
- Struggle with all-or-nothing tendencies (aka you’re often either “on” or “off” the wagon - no in between)
- Have spent years trying to “fix” your eating habits, your body, or yourself - but nothing seems to work.
We get it.
As nutrition therapists, intuitive eating coaches, eating disorder dietitians, and body image specialists, my team and I have worked with hundreds of people to help them cultivate a healthy relationship with food and their bodies so they can live more authentic, unapologetic, liberated lives.
I know that forgoing dieting and the diet mentality is not an easy task. We live in a messed up, oppressive diet culture where every day you are inundated with messages about dieting, weight loss, and all that is “wrong” with your body.
But here’s the secret:
Your body is NOT the problem.
And it is possible to get to a place where you can eat what you want, feel free around food, and feel good in your body.
Because the problem is not you - the problem is with our oppressive culture. A culture that cages us in, teaching us to shrink our bodies and our lives: telling us that when we do THEN we’ll have health, happiness, acceptance, and love...except that we don’t, because this is a lie.
Through our one-to-one coaching work we help you break free from this cage so you can build more self-awareness, reconnect with your body’s inner wisdom, learn to trust yourself again, and feel comfortable and confident in your body - no matter what it’s size.
We help you move away from dieting, get out of the all-or-nothing mentality, and break free from the diet-binge-guilt cycle. That way you can take all the mental energy you spend on thinking or worrying about food and your body and use that time elsewhere.
So that you can live your most
unapologetic, liberated life.
Interested?
Here's how it works...
Divesting from diet culture and committing to healing is deep, brave, and oftentimes scary work. We work with folks so that we have enough time to spend together to be able to get to the root of what you're struggling with and work through everything that comes up together.
We’ll be by your side providing a safe, non-judgmental, supportive space for you to get curious and dig deep into your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about food and your body.
In addition to 1:1 video sessions with your dietitian, you also receive several additional forms of support including intuitive eating journal prompts and a variety of tools, practices, worksheets, and reflection questions tailored to you and your goals (we love a good journal prompt).
We practice through a weight-inclusive lens with the goal of body liberation for all people. (Which is to say: our approach is rooted in anti-oppression, equity, intersectional feminism, and inclusion of all bodies, races, gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations. Read more here.)
Intuitive Eating Coaching & More...
Our approach is highly individualized and includes work in intuitive eating, mindfulness, self-compassion, self-care, the principles of Health at Every Size (HAES), nutrition, and psychology including several therapeutic modalities such as ACT, CBT, and IFS.
We take a holistic self-care approach, meaning that we help you learn how to take care of yourself in all aspects of health – including food, movement, stress management, coping skills, sleep habits, boundary setting, and more.
In short: we help you go through the “mud” (as one of my clients likes to call it) that is divesting from diet culture, supporting and holding space for you as you sit with all the discomfort this brings up, and guiding you back towards your body and yourself.
Get Started with Nutrition Coaching
Alissa's caseload is currently full. She will be reopening for new clients in April 2025.
Join the waitlist below to be notified when appointments open up again with Alissa.
To learn from Alissa in the meantime, there are several other resources available:
75-minute Initial Consultation Session: $275
We’ll start with an assessment session where I'll ask you more about your goals and explore your relationship with food and body image throughout your life, including your diet history, current eating behaviors, and more. Then we'll discuss what a 'roadmap' of working together could look like.
Follow-up Visits: $165
These 35-minute follow-up sessions commonly take place weekly to start and then every other week depending on how you're feeling and progressing. We work together as you dig deep into the roots of your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about food and your body, and start to shift and develop new behaviors.
Follow-up visits are for clients who have already completed an Initial Assessment Session.
Sessions Also Include the Following:
Tools, Practices, Worksheets & Reflection Prompts
Hand-selected for you based on your needs and preferred learning style. After each session, you’ll get an email recap including notes from that day's session and recommended tools to help you continue learning and implement the work between sessions.
Intuitive Eating Journal Prompts & Feedback
You'll have access to our Intuitive Eating Journal, which includes open-ended prompts to help you build awareness and process your thoughts and feelings related to food and your body. This assists us in seeing patterns in your eating behaviors and if you're using it (it's totally optional!) we'll review it with you in session.
Coordination of Care with Other Providers
We love to connect with our client's other care providers! If you're working with a therapist or any other health care provider, if you provide us permission we are happy to speak with them to make sure we are collaborating effectively to provide the best care for you.
Ready to get started?
Alissa's caseload is currently full. She will be reopening for new clients in April 2025.
Join the waitlist below to be notified when appointments open up again with Alissa.
To learn from Alissa in the meantime, there are several other resources available:
Payment plans and sliding scale rates are available on a limited basis based on need. Please email hello@alissarumsey.com for more information.
Note: we are not in-network with insurance, however, if you have any out-of-network nutrition benefits we can provide you with a Superbill to submit to your insurance company and you may be able to get partial or full reimbursement from them. Learn more about out-of-network insurance coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
We are born natural intuitive eaters. Babies cry, they eat, they stop until they're hungry again. Kids innately balance our their food intake, eating when they're hungry and stopping once they feel full. As we grow older and rules and restrictions are set around food, we lose our inner intuitive eater. We learn to finish everyone on our plate. We learn that dessert is a reward or can be taken away if we misbehave.
Intuitive eating is a non-diet approach to wellness that helps you break the cycle of dieting, heal your relationship with food, and get back in touch with the intuitive eater inside you. Intuitive eating is not a diet. It's a way to eat outside of diet mentality, with a focus on using your internal cues to guide eating choices. But it's so much more than the "hunger-fullness diet" - we'll explore your food beliefs, behaviors, and self-talk while delving deep into what food means to you. Learn more about intuitive eating here.
Intuitive eating is NOT a diet. Diets don't work. 90-95% of diets fail, yet you are often blamed - not the diet. In reality, it's the process of dieting that is the problem.
Intuitive eating is different. It helps you break free from the cycle of dieting and learn how to make peace with all foods (and movement).
While many of our clients are not happy in their bodies and would like to lose weight, this is not the focus or goal of our sessions.
We will talk about your desire to change your weight and your feelings about your body. We will not be using weight as an indicator of success or progress.
This is a very common concern. It's important to recognize that is is the diet mentality that causes overeating and binging. Once you learn to make peace with all foods - and your body knows you can have these foods whenever you want - you'll be able to truly listen to your body's feelings of hunger, satisfaction, and fullness.
It depends. Intuitive eating is the opposite of dieting. While dieting is easy to learn and adopt at the beginning, it gets harder (or impossible) as time goes on. Intuitive eating is much harder up front. You have to unlearn all of the diet mentality and food rules in your head, get rid of your internal food police, and create new habits. It takes a lot of time and introspection. While it's hard at first, once eating normally becomes actually normal, you'll reach a place of eating and caring for yourself intuitively - for life.
Life doesn't have a pause button, There's never going to be a time where things are suddenly easier. Often we throw the baby out with the bathwater and if we can't do it all the way, we don't do anything.
Intuitive eating isn't about perfection - that's the beauty of it! Many of my clients are busy professionals, mom's with days that are non-stop, or people who travel constantly. When you work with us, you'll learn how to make changes - and maintain them - in the midst of your normal, busy, life. We take care of our families and others we love, so why not do something to take care of ourselves?
General FAQs
Absolutely! We work with all of our clients virtually. You will meet with your dietitian via video conference and communicate between sessions using email. You get the same high-quality coaching support without having to leave the comfort of your own home or office.
There are two ways to get started:
1. Book your initial assessment visit now.
2. Schedule a free discovery call to chat with me and figure out if we're a good fit to work together.
Email us at hello@alissarumsey.com
Insurance FAQs
Our practice is out-of-network with insurance providers and payment is due prior to your appointment.
If you have out-of-network insurance benefits, these may apply to nutrition services. Find out more here.
We can provide you with a Superbill receipt that you can submit to your insurance company. Depending on your benefits, you may be able to receive full or partial reimbursement for your nutrition counseling sessions.
These benefits vary considerably between insurance companies and plans. However, many of our clients with out-of-network benefits have had success in receiving partial or full reimbursement. Others have had the cost of nutrition counseling applied towards their deductible, helping them to reduce medical spending across the course of the year.
We recommend calling your insurance company to ask about your specific coverage. They can inform you of whether you will receive any reimbursement for our services, or whether the cost can be applied towards any deductible.
Step 1: Call Your Insurance Customer Service Line
The phone number for customer service is generally located on the back of your insurance card. Call and ask to speak to the benefits department. If your employer provides your plan, your HR department may be able to call on your behalf.
Step 2: Ask The Following Questions About Your Benefits
- Are Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT)/Nutrition Counseling covered by my out-of-network benefits? [Note: The procedure codes we use for MNT are: 97802 (initial assessment) and 97803 (follow-up visit).]
- Is coverage dependent on my diagnosis (ICD-10 diagnosis code)? Are there certain diagnosis codes that are covered or are not covered?
- Are there any out-of-network benefits for preventative care (Z codes)? If so, which Z codes and what are the requirements?
- Are out-of-network telehealth visits covered? If yes, what place of service code should my provider use?
Step 3: If There is an MNT/Nutrition Counseling Benefit - Ask About Restrictions
- Are there a certain number of nutrition visits per calendar year?
- Is there a deductible that I need to meet?
- What is my percentage of coverage? Is there a co-pay?
- Do I need a referral from my primary care provider?
- Do I need pre-authorization?
- Is there a maximum reimbursement allowed per unit? How long is each allowed visit?
Important Tips:
- Be sure to document everything. Write down the date, a reference number, who you spoke with, and every detail from the call.
- Ask them to send you the information in writing.
Other Notes:
You may be able to have the MNT benefits applied to the “in-network” benefit side of your insurance plan if they do not have a registered dietitian in their network or if you have an eating disorder and they do not have a registered dietitian who is a Certified Eating Disorder Dietitian (CEDRD). When insurance companies agree to cover an out-of-network practitioner under the “in-network” benefits, this is often called Gap coverage.
You may also be able to request a single case agreement for MNT depending upon your plan and diagnosis. Should you obtain a single case agreement or GAP coverage, we will require written documentation and information on copay, deductibles and how the insurance company would like to be billed for services.
Information You May Need:
- Business name: Rumsey Nutrition Consulting, PLLC
- EIN: 99-0924766
- NPI: 1649645235
Accessibility &
Scholarships
If you feel like one-on-one coaching would be a good fit for you but finances are an issue, we do offer a limited number of lower-price spots specifically for people with at least one marginalized identity who are also low-income.
To inquire about financial aid availability and eligibility, please email hello@alissarumsey.com with the subject line 'scholarship request'.
Note: If you have the means, please consider making a donation to our scholarship fund, all of which goes to provide services to people who can't afford nutrition therapy. Any amount is so helpful!