Category Archives: Nutrition

How can I stay focused on recovery when all I hear is, “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

November 9, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Eating Disorder Relapse, Nutrition, Tuesday's With Tammy

No matter how grounded you may feel in your recovery journey, the holiday season can add stress and anxiety surrounding family dynamics and the abundance of foods. Now is the time to make a recovery plan for the holidays, starting with Thanksgiving. This is an important time to remind yourself of how far you have come in your journey. No positive change you have made in either thought patterns or food-related behaviors is too small. Every tiny step you have made towards full recovery is significant, and each one builds on the next to create a solid foundation of recovery…

Why does my body need food that provides fat? What does fat fuel do for you?

October 11, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Nutrition, Tuesday's With Tammy

This nutrient group gets a negative rap simply because of its name. Many clients believe that “if I eat fat, I will be fat”. That voice? The disordered eating, not the truth. This fuel group serves many important functions in your body, especially during the recovery process. Fat fuel actually provides the structural foundation of our brain cells, nerve cells and hormones. The brain, nerve and hormonal cells are all made up of a combination of proteins and fats – literally, the foundational structure of the cells themselves. Other work functions of this fuel group: Provides linoleic acid, an essential…

Recovery Warriors Podcast: “What Is Going On With My Body.” with Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, CSSD

October 10, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Nutrition, Video Blogs & Discussions

“How does Castlewood determine the right meal plan for me?”

September 14, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Tuesday's With Tammy

Each body has different fuel needs based on a combination of genetics, energy level and stage of recovery. During the beginning of your recovery, your meals and snacks are planned specifically for your individual needs to heal your body and brain. Compare this stage of nutritional rehabilitation to physical therapy when you are rehabilitating your muscles after an injury. Following a progressive plan that builds from staff-dependent to more independent moves, your physical therapy helps restore your muscles and body to its normal functions. Likewise, nutritional therapy is rehabilitating your body and brain, and normalizing the function of hunger and…

The Dietitian as Part of an Integrated Treatment Team

August 9, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Nutrition, Tuesday's With Tammy

For August’s Tuesday’s with Tammy community question, Tammy tackles a question we often hear, “How often does a client at Castlewood interact with the dietitian as part of the treatment team?” At Castlewood, the dietitian plays an integral part of the treatment team in both individual and group settings. In residential care, a client meets individually with his or her dietitian twice a week after the initial assessment has taken place. This frequent contact allows the client and dietitian to address personal concerns and struggles that the client is experiencing and ensures that any adjustments in meal plans are done…

How do we Determine Goal Weight Ranges?

July 12, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Nutrition, Tuesday's With Tammy

Each 2nd Tuesday of the month, Tammy Beasley answers questions we receive from referral partners, potential clients and others. Our goal for Tuesday’s with Tammy is to answer any questions you might have and make you more comfortable with treatment at Castlewood Treatment Centers. How does Castlewood determine a client’s goal weight range for nutritional rehabilitation? When a client is admitted to Castlewood, our dietitians will determine each individual’s goal weight range by using three forms of assessment. The most important assessment? What the client’s outpatient dietitian recommends, since it is the outpatient treatment team that knows the client best…

How Does Castlewood Treat Binge Eating Disorder

June 14, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Nutrition, Tuesday's With Tammy

For this month’s Tuesday’s With Tammy post, Tammy Beasley answers questions related to the treatment of Binge Eating Disorder. How does Castlewood Treatment Centers treat clients with different diagnoses within the same group therapy sessions? Just as we customize a client’s individual therapy and treatment plan, we individualize a client’s nutritional assessment and needs. However, the clients are together at all meals and within groups as part of our philosophy to provide real world scenarios that can be challenged and addressed within a SAFE, protective environment so that the client is better prepared to handle these same issues when back home.…

Serotonin, Fluid and Probiotics

May 10, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Nutrition, Tuesday's With Tammy

Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD shares her answers to two questions we received in response to her March Webinar. Join us the 2nd Tuesday of every month for her insightful updates about nutrition and dietetics in the field of Eating Disorders. “Does serotonin increase or decrease fluid in the gut?” This is another great question from a participant in Castlewood’s “The Gut Brain and Eating Disorders: Nutrition Therapy in the Healing Process” webinar but one without definitive answers in relationship to eating disorders specifically. Fact #1: Most of the body’s serotonin is found in the gastrointestinal tract and is known to…

SSRIs, Probiotics and The Gut Brain

April 12, 2016 by Tammy Beasley, RDN, CEDRD, LD in Nutrition, Tuesday's With Tammy

“Since research using brain neuro-imaging has revealed that higher serotonin levels in the brain may exist in clients prior to and during restrictive behaviors from anorexia as well as after weight restoration, are anti-depressants beneficial in the treatment of Anorexia?” Great question from a participant in Castlewood’s “The Gut Brain and Eating Disorders: Nutrition Therapy’s Role in the Healing Process” webinar. According to Dr. Timothy Walsh, “starvation and lack of precursor molecules required for synthesis of neurotransmitters may prevent a medical response” to SSRI medications (Walsh,BT. In: UptoDate, Waltham, MA. Accessed on April 12, 2016). Furthermore, a meta-analysis (4 randomized…

What is Normalized Eating? Balancing Nourishment and Pleasure

April 11, 2016 by Castlewood Treatment Center in Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, Body Image, Bulimia Nervosa, Eating Disorder Treatment, Nutrition

There is a term that we often use in eating disorder recovery—normalized eating. It certainly sounds good, but what does it mean? The first thing to understand is that, for those who struggle with an eating disorder, the experience of eating is attended by intense shame and anxiety. It is a normal, everyday thing for most of us, but for those who have an eating disorder, eating a meal can be imprisoning. That is what makes it so important to provide a new relationship to food and to eating—what we call normalized. Normalized eating means you get to enjoy your…