Hi & Welcome,
I’m so glad you’re here.
I’m Nadia Maxwell, a New Zealand-born, Australian-trained dietitian - or non-diet dietitian to be exact.
As a non-diet dietitian, Certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor and Clinical Hypnotherapist, I support people to tune back into their internal wisdom and heal their relationship with their food and their body. I practice through a Health at Every Size® lens and am an advocate for inclusive and equal healthcare for people of all shapes and sizes.
All bodies are good bodies and there is no right way to have a body.
Health is so much more than a number on a scale, the food we eat or the amount we exercise.
There is so much power in reconnecting with our cyclic nature and you should NOT have to put up with terrible periods or digestive symptoms.
Each and every one of us has the innate wisdom to eat in a way that is right for us. Sometimes we just need a little guidance to re-discover what that looks like.
What do I stand for?
My Story
As with most kids, I was born with an innate ability to eat intuitively. I cried when I was hungry and stopped when I was full. As a young child, I was blessed to be born into a family where dieting and food rules (for the most part) were not a thing. I would eat tons of food one day and be too busy playing the next. My favourite food was ice-cream (and in fact still is). I was also born with thin privilege which meant that I had the good fortune to grow up relatively free from commentary about my body and food choices.
Despite this, over time my little ears began to pick up on the ever present diet culture dialogue all around me, such as “body size equates to health”, “processed foods are bad”, “thinner is better” …etc. Slowly but surely I developed an identity wrapped up in body size and food choices.
Throughout my teenage and early adult years, I struggled with severe acne and irregular periods. The missing periods were normalised by health professionals, so I too ignored them. The options for my acne were limited to antibiotics, the Pill or harsh treatments (any former Proactiv users with bleached pillows here?). Eventually I was misdiagnosed with PCOS which was also around the time my digestive symptoms were at their worst. Needless to say my relationship with food and body took a hit.
As I became more preoccupied with food, I was drawn to studying nutrition. And as I developed more nutrition-knowledge I also developed more food rules. As a result of food restriction, you can bet there was many a time when I felt “out-of-control” around food.
Fast-forward a number of years and I began to discover the world of Intuitive Eating, Health At Every Size® and the non-diet approach. Through a lot of learning, self-compassion and, most importantly, support from others, I re-discovered my innate intuitive eater. The brain space I gained from not thinking about food all the time, I put into learning about all things disordered eating, menstrual cycles, hormonal and gut health. My goal is to support people with periods to feel connected with their body and empowered to care for themselves in which ever way is best for them without the restriction (because I’ve been there and I get it!).
My Philosophy & Modalities
My philosophy centres on the work of many strong activists and whole-hearted individuals that have come before me. For their tireless work I am forever grateful.
Intuitive Eating
Intuitive Eating is an evidence-based approach to health that integrates the body and mind. It is a weight-neutral model developed by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Intuitive Eating has over ninety studies to date, showing many beneficial results.
The ten principles of Intuitive Eating support us to shift away from external cues, such as restrictive diets and societal body standards and reconnect with internal body cues, such as hunger, fullness and satisfaction.
Intuitive Eating provides a framework to say goodbye to dieting and the harm it causes once and for all.
Health at Every Size®
Health at Every Size® (HAES®) supports people in adopting habits for the sake of health and well-being (rather than reducing body size). It is a weight-neutral and inclusive approach. HAES® recognises that research shows that weight loss dieting is both ineffective and harmful. HAES® provides a more useful framework to support people of all sizes take care of their health. For more information, see the HAES® guiding principles from the Association for Size Diversity & Health.
Clinical Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis gets a bad rap. At the mere mention of hypnosis, we imagine an overly confident showman waiving a pocket watch on stage ready to make a fool out of the closest audience member. Terrifying! I promise that Clinical Hypnotherapy is very very different. It’s an effective evidence-based modality that can support long-term healing. It does this by supporting favourable re-wiring of the brain, know as neuroplasticity. It can be a beautiful adjunct to the work I do with clients.