ABOUT US
Eat Love Live was established to help support people to build a more positive and healthful relationship with food and their bodies.
Food is a huge part of our everyday life and all of the information available to us about food is contaminated by the diet culture that engulfs our daily lives.
Diet culture is a system of beliefs, customs, messages and behaviours that places value and focus on weight, shape and size over and above health and well-being.
Diet culture is everywhere, and we are often unaware of its presence or impact as it is so normalised.
It is the information and comments from our family, and friends. It is the overt messages in the media to change your body; and the more subversive ones. It can be overwhelming and confusing.
We want to help you to understand diet culture; where it is around you and how to manage it so you can reconnect with your body and work out what is best for you. After all – you are the only expert on your body and we are here to work alongside you.
To feel and perform at your optimum and to manage disease sometimes some guidance is important. We aim to work collaboratively with each individual client to reach their individual health goals.
We are skilled and experienced in supporting people who have developed disordered eating patterns or clinical eating disorders to recover their physical and psychological health and re-engage in a meaningful life for them.
We are confident supporting you to manage Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and gastrointestinal complaints; as well as other acute or chronic health conditions in a safe, non-judgemental, compassionate space.
Telling people just to ‘lose weight’ to improve health fails to recognise all of the possible factors impacting on their body size. It perpetuates body shame and is often steeped in fat phobia and weight bias.
At Eat Love Live we feel that focusing on weight loss or prescribing diets is unethical. Weight and size are genetically predetermined and influenced by many factors we can’t control.
Weight loss research shows that manipulating energy intake results in short term weight loss but in 95-98% of research subjects weight is regained within 2-5 years (often plus extra weight).
A 2007 study reviewed outcomes from long-term calorie-controlled diet plans to determine if they were a successful way to treat "obesity." The researchers found 1/3 to 2/3 of dieters regained more weight than was lost. Further, dieters did not experience any significant health improvements (Mann et al 2007 and Bacon and Aphamor 2011).
Traditional health recommendations often focus on weight; something that is genetically pre-determined for all individuals and impacted by fat to muscle tissue ratio, eating habits, hormones, bone density, movement habits, whether you’ve been through puberty, whether you’ve birthed children, whether you’re going through (or have gone through) menopause, hydration, and much more. Most of these things we have little or no control of!
We focus on health goals – clinically measurable outcomes which your behaviour changes will impact; Such as blood pressure, blood sugar levels, fitness or cholesterol levels.
We work with you on behaviours – weight is not behaviour but an outcome and as such we don’t focus on changing weight as a tool to improved health.
Age Policy
Please note some practitioners have boundaries on the age of clients they will accept as new referrals.
We request that for all new clients aged 15 years and younger that a Pre assessment Questionnaire be completed to assist us in triaging the young person and family.
For all clients aged 15 or younger we request that the initial assessment be with the parents/ carer only. Eating disorders do not just affect the person but families as a whole. This is an important part of the assessment process and will help us to get a clear history of the development of the eating disorder and aid in setting up a treatment team and clear treatment goals moving forward.
For clients 16-18 we recommend that a parent, carer or support person attend the initial assessment.
Family based treatment is the gold standard for supporting children and adolescents with eating disorders. The Eat Love Live team are not trained in family based treatment or family therapy.
As dietitians we can be an adjunct to this important treatment process, provide a safe space for discussion around meal planning, information about eating disorders, physical and psychological risks associated with the eating disorder, normal puberty changes to the body, guidelines to adequate amounts of nutrition and help clear many of the myths about food and bodies in our community.
We appreciate that accessing paediatric and adolescent services at this time is difficult and there are long wait lists. As with all clients, we insist that all adolescents are linked in with a multidisciplinary team including a GP and a mental health clinician - be it a psychologist or psychiatrist. And we suggest that clients make the referral to CHAMS/ CHYMS and / or private family therapy and be on the waiting list for this support.
Along with the GP or paediatrician we can provide information and support while families are waiting for this important more intensive support.
Parents can speak with their GP or Paediatrician about referrals.
Families may also find the below resources helpful at this very difficult time:
https://ceed.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Body-Image-Distress-Tip-Sheet-1.pdf
https://ceed.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Family-Led-Refeeding-Recovery-1.pdf
https://www.feast-ed.org/register-now-for-our-30-day-educational-service/v=6cc98ba2045f
Waiting List Policy
Over recent times, especially during the COVID pandemic, in the public and private sector there has not been enough skilled clinicians to service the needs of the community.
We appreciate the distress experienced when clients attempt to access services and practitioners are unable to accept new clients. Please note at this time we have some practitioners who are able to accept new clients.
We aim to provide people with optimum support; regular review is an important part of this. Practitioners have limited capacity for new clients at some times times so they can adequately and ethically support the clients they are seeing.
At times potential clients will contact Eat Love Live and the practitioner they would like to see is not available or there may be no practitioners with room for new clients at that time.
You are able to request that you are placed on the waiting list for a specific practitioner or for the next one available.
To be included on the waiting list we request that the client continues to see their GP 1-4 weekly (as determined as appropriate by the GP) to ensure medical stability and for assessment of psychiatric risk. Communication from the health care practitioners in the clients team can be forwarded to reception and this will be stored in the clients notes.
Clients need to understand that these communications will not be closely monitored by a clinician until they are accepted as a client. Eat Love Live are not able to hold any responsibility for the clients dietetic care, medical or psychiatric health while they are on the waiting list and not an active client.
We request that clients seeking support for disordered eating / eating disorders are also linked to or on the waiting list to see a mental health clinician.
To be on the waiting list you will need to sign a form agreeing to the about commitment to medical monitoring. To find out more please contact reception on 9087 8379 or reception@eatlovelive.com.au
Privacy PoLicy
- For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
- For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
- With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.
- Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure; and
- Where required or authorised by law.