DR MARIANNE MILLER
CARING EATING DISORDER TREATMENT IN SAN DIEGO AND THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, AND WASHINGTON D.C. FOR ADULTS & TEENS
Introducing San Diego Eating Disorder Dietitian Christina Gaunce, RDN, CEDRD
Hi everyone! I want to introduce you to an eating disorder dietitian in San Diego who is new to Scripps Ranch—in fact, she now shares my office suite! Christina Gaunce is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and a wonderful individual who loves helping people recover from eating disorders. She embraces the intuitive eating approach and the Health at Every Size (HAES) perspective. Christina also offers video sessions. In this interview, she shares about her own recovery from an eating disorder. All in all, Christina is a caring, compassionate individual who is very skilled in nutritional healing in many areas. I’m excited for you to get to know her!
How to Get Help for Binge Eating Disorder
Struggling with binge eating? Feeling out of control of your eating and don’t know where to turn? I have an excellent starting point for you. I discussed what binge eating disorder is and how to get help on a recent podcast on the Embodied & Well Mom Show that I did on with the fabulous Lindsay Stenovec, MS, RDN, CEDRD of San Diego’s Nutrition Instincts. I have provided a transcription of the main part of the podcast in this blog post. Enjoy!!
Sick of Body Shame and Diet Culture? Meet San Diego Eating Disorder Dietitian Amy Ornelas, RDN, CEDRD
Struggling with accepting your body size? You want to be healthy, but you’ve tried so many diets over and over and nothing works. You’re sick of the assumptions people make about you because you don’t fit the “norm” of what bodies should look like. Plus, you are just OVER what friends, family, co-workers, and even medical professionals say about your body and what you should and shouldn’t eat. It’s so challenging to navigate the messages we receive about our bodies and the food we eat. Especially in San Diego, where there’s such a focus on health, wellness, and appearance that it sometimes feels impossible to take a different perspective. Well, I have a WONDERFUL resource in San Diego Eating Disorder Dietitian Amy Ornelas, RDN, Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian (CEDRD). She wholeheartedly embraces the Health at Every Size (HAES) and intuitive eating approaches, and she loves working with people struggling with body shame and fighting diet culture that’s so pervasive in San Diego and elsewhere. Enjoy getting to know her!
Five Tips for Managing Overwhelming Emotions in Eating Disorder Recovery
Have you ever felt so filled with emotion that it was almost unbearable? Do your mind and body feel flooded with feelings such as fear, anger, disgust, frustration, irritability, anxiety, or sadness—to the point at which you feel almost paralyzed? Having an eating disorder in San Diego and elsewhere is so hard. Sometimes the overwhelming emotions can be triggered by things such as discomfort with food and with your body, negative interactions with others, and work and family stress. At such times, it seems like the emotions take over both your brain and your body, and you would do anything thing in the world to make them stop. It is so so hard. Thankfully, there are a few coping strategies that can help you navigate such situations. These coping skills come from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which is an approach I integrate in my work with people struggling with eating disorders in San Diego.
Have Kids Who Are Picky Eaters? Meet San Diego Dietitian Rachel Rothman, RD
Do you have kids who are extreme picky eaters? Have you been grappling with trying to figure out how to provide for their nutrition needs without turning every meal into a battle? It is so hard when you have children that struggle with eating a wide variety of nutritious foods. It is absolutely exhausting, especially in San Diego when you just want to pack some food and go to the beach and focus on enjoying the sun, sand, and water instead of worrying about whether you can get your kid to eat something. One of the newer diagnoses of eating disorders is Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). It is basically extreme picky eating that can cause serious health issues.
One San Diego pediatric dietitian who specializes in ARFID, as well as in other types of feeding and eating disorder treatment is Rachel Rothman, RD (registered dietitian). She has a B.S. Food science from University of California Davis and a Master’s degree in nutrition education from Teacher's College, Columbia University. She has loads of clinical experience with feeding difficulties, feeding disorders, sensory processing disorder, and many other nutritional ailments. All in all, Rachel is a really smart woman who will do an amazing job working with you and your kids.
What the Heck is Coaching Anyway? Meet Personal Coach Cassie Gaub.
Hello and Happy New Year! I wanted to introduce you to a good friend of mine who has been working for years in the eating disorder field in San Diego, Utah, and now Atlanta. She is also a personal coach, and I can tell you that she is AMAZING at what she does! I have gone to one of her seminars on unearthing your personal attitudes about money, and I found it so transformative. She is incredibly positive, encouraging, and nonjudgmental. People from all walks of life would benefit from working with her—especially those who want support and accountability to instigate powerful change in their lives. I interviewed her both on her experience in the eating disorder community and on what she can provide as a coach. Enjoy!
Four Tips to Navigating Triggering Family Situations in Eating Disorder Recovery
Do you ever struggle with all of the focus on “family” and “togetherness” this time of year? Does it seem as though you can barely get through family events without feeling like you want to run out of the room screaming? Holidays can be such a challenge if you have an eating disorder. A lot of family-focused activities center around food, which can trigger a lot of anxiety and other uncomfortable emotions. It is hard when parents, spouses, grandparents, great-aunt Petunias, or whoever comment about your body and what you are (or aren’t) eating. Especially in San Diego, when in December you can be wearing tank tops, shorts, or a skirt as you take family trips to the beach. It can feel as though your body and how you eat is on display. It may seem that loved ones have free reign to comment on it. It really, really sucks. As an eating disorder therapist, I love helping people navigate family situations that can be tricky and triggering, so I’m here to help you get started.
Tapping into Mindfulness: Part 5 of Finding the Spiritual in Eating Disorder Treatment—A 5-Part Series
Has your soul ever ached? Is it difficult to reconcile living in such a beautiful place as San Diego and feeling such pain? Have you ever felt so far away from God that it hurt? Have you ever questioned your belief in God, or in any sort of higher power? Have you ever wondered how God can exist if there is such pain in the world? Have you felt angry with God? Have you ever felt hurt, shamed, disappointed, or discriminated by spiritual leaders? Many of these emotions and experiences can lead to spiritual pain. Spiritual pain is a soul-deep ache that is beyond depression or grief. Spiritual pain is an existential crisis in which the deepest parts of ourselves are crying out, “Is there a God or higher power out there?” “If so, how could this God or higher power let such pain and suffering happen?”
Diving Deeper into Spiritual Healing: Part 4 of Finding the Spiritual in Eating Disorder Treatment—A 5-Part Series
Sometimes when you feel overwhelmed by your spiritual pain, you can think that there is no hope. It is at these times when you need to dive deep into your pain to let yourself experience spiritual healing. If you struggle with disordered eating, you know how painful it can be . . . emotionally, psychologically, physically, and spiritually. Becoming acutely aware of all aspects of your pain as you go about your daily life in San Diego lets you open yourself to healing. It’s like when you have an infection in your arm—you need to open it up and clean out all of the gunk and then put the medicine on it so it can heal. Spirituality can be your medicine—the balm for your soul.