About Us
My Personal
Story
If you had told me five years ago that I’d be on a mission to prevent/treat eating disorders and disordered eating and promote body image healing, I wouldn’t have believed you.
Back in September 2002, Kelly Clarkson won the first American Idol. I specifically remember how she sang the song “A Moment Like This” because just a few days later, I had my own special moment—I passed the RD exam. After four years of college and a year-long internship, I had officially become a Registered Dietitian.
I was following the standard path, doing what I was taught in both school and during my internship. I wanted to help people get healthy, lose weight, and manage their diabetes, which included regulating their glucose levels. I was never taught to focus on mindset or any aspects of mental health.
Then on Sept. 16, 2018, everything changed with a phone call from my sister. She and her husband were in the ER with my 2 ½-year-old niece, Lily, who’d complained of pain below her belly. They’d found something on a scan but needed to do further tests. That evening, when my sister uttered the words “Lily has cancer,” I was so shocked and felt such a strong sense of both fear and uncertainty. Although Lily was a little fighter and things had been looking up, she ultimately lost her battle and passed away two years later.
Losing my niece at only 4 years old made me realize just how precious life is. I no longer felt fulfilled or aligned in my current position in an outpatient hospital setting. I knew that I wanted to shift my focus to inspire—to really impact people in this one special life that we all have. And I realized that mental health was the missing piece to improving physical health. That’s when I began to research. To better myself in hopes of bettering others, I consulted books, listened to podcasts, and pursued continuing education, whatever I could find to further my mission.
So, fast-forward to today…
I am a mental health, self-care, healing Registered Dietitian. If you struggle with self-love and self-acceptance, anxiety and/or depression, it will be more challenging for you to make consistent changes to health behaviors. Addressing the mental aspect is key to assisting clients in long-term behavior change.
I also support many schools by teaching inclusive health and nutrition lessons in a world that promotes disordered eating. I found a process—not simply a Band-Aid—that works. Through my program, I seek to heal those with disordered behaviors around food, including restriction, binges, and emotional eating.
With a heart-centered, compassionate approach, I’ve seen hundreds of clients transform and shift their mindset to take better care of themselves. We may not have been able to free Lily from her cancer, but with her daily guidance, I am helping others live their best-quality life.
Bio
A Registered Dietitian, Lauren Dorman is a Nutrition Therapist who has 20 years of experience working alongside children and adults struggling with body image and self-esteem, as well as disordered and emotional eating. She is also a certified diabetes educator. After graduating from Pennsylvania State University, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition, she obtained a Master’s degree in Nutrition from Rutgers University. Lauren is the owner of the company Don’t Diet Dietitian, through which she offers both individual and group counseling. In addition to speaking regularly at webinars, conferences, and wellness business events, she provides professional development workshops for local schools. Lauren’s mission is to improve clients’ mental, physical, and emotional well-being. She believes that everyone deserves to have access to a Registered Dietitian – an expert in nutrition science who can help navigate nutrition misinformation, teach sustainable health habits, and focus on a self-care behavioral approach toward healing one’s relationship with food, mind, and body.