Inspiring Conversations with Constance Weissmuller of Constance Weissmuller Nutrition Therapy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Constance Weissmuller.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As many people often do, my story has many small places it began and those places eventually met together in the creation of my practice. The most important part, in my opinion, is how my passion for the work I do get ignited. I remember the small classroom I was in while in graduate school, and I remember the anger rising inside of me. I was so mad that my cohort was being prompted to go around the table and give examples of how we would teach a future client how to reduce their cookie consumption for the sake of weight loss.

I remember answering the question differently than my other classmates for a couple of reasons. First and foremost- I am recovered from an eating disorder and I remember thinking how scared I used to be of cookies and how grateful I am now to be able to have a healthy relationship with all food. I also remembered how thoughts of my body and food consumed my brain for what felt like 90% of the time and how I never wanted that for any future client of mine. Second- I had been doing my own outside research about Health At Every Size and Intuitive Eating- the two largest foundations of my current practice- and I pushed back using some of the concepts I had been learning.

From that point forward I realized that I wanted to be a clinician who offers a safe space to people of all body types and walks of life to be able to learn how to care for themselves better through food and their relationship to food and body.

Fast forward a few years and two degrees and I’m so happy to be able to offer that space.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It hasn’t been smooth! A few things that come to mind are doing everything for the first time- opening a business bank account- buying my own health insurance- registering my business with the state- marketing myself- contracting with insurance companies and billing them- it has all been hard since there was no instruction manual to guide me.

The scarcity mindset that most new private practice owners is incredibly difficult as well. I don’t have paid time off or get paid when I need a sick day. It’s been a daily practice to know that everything ends up working itself out and that I’ll continue to be more comfortable as time goes on.

Just being a dietitian who doesn’t promote weight loss is hard in and of itself.

I’m also always learning! I certainly don’t know it all and oftentimes to learn we have to mess up which is never a fun time.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I run a nutrition therapy private practice in Denver, Colorado but am able to see many clients virtually across the US. I specialize in helping people heal their relationship with food and body through an Intuitive Eating and Health At Every Size lens. Many of my clients are recovering from eating disorders and some of my clients are just looking for an RD who will see them as a whole person not just a number on the scale or a lab value that is problematic. I’m known for using humor and deep compassion in my work with clients and teaching students. I’m also a very practical person and try and teach nutrition concepts from that standpoint.

I think most people think RDs are the food police and that’s certainly not the case with me. My office is a safe space to talk about all the things and I’ll let you know that I enjoy all kinds of food too! Rather than talk about weight and having that be the main attraction, the focus of sessions with me is talking about building healthy behaviors that are sustainable and realistic. I’m interested in having conversations that are rooted in well-rounded health not just a number on a scale. I care about your mental, emotional, and yes, physical health too.

I’ll teach clients how to balance a plate- how to honor their hunger and fullness- how to break down food rules and see where they even came from- how to take the guilt away from eating experiences- how to move their bodies in an appropriate way for them- among other things!

I’d love readers to know that I offer one-on-one sessions where we can do some deep work building a healthy relationship with food. I also offer a nutrition 101 course that I’m in the process of taking down to convert to a live four-week zoom class with rotating cohorts every month. Keep your eyes peeled for that on my website! I currently teach nutrition at Arapahoe Community College in addition to my practice and see such a need to spread this information further. We are inundated with false information about nutrition from Instagram influencers, medical providers, fitness instructors, family, and friends. I want to offer an affordable and interactive course for those hoping to truly learn about nutrition and health without diet culture and weight stigma weighing down the conversation.

I’m also in the process of kicking off support groups for those who feel like they have limited support in working on building a healthy relationship with food. I’ll be offering these services later in Fall 2021.

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Gosh, this is a hard question! I’ll share a few things. I think something random that most people don’t know about me (unless you take walks with me) is that I truly enjoy stopping to smell the roses and I love building little bouquets of flowers for people. I’m a new member of the Botanic Gardens in Denver since I just moved to Congress Park and really hope to take after my mother who has a green thumb and has grown an amazing garden in our childhood home in LA.

I’ve started learning how to make some of the traditional German recipes I grew up eating! I have some work to do but my schnitzel is pretty darn good.

Lastly, I very much enjoy eating my way through wherever I’m traveling!

Contact Info:

• Email: constance@constanceweissmullerrdn.com
• Website: https://www.constanceweissmullerrdn.com/
• Instagram: @constancelyeating

Image Credits
Annelise Claire Photography.