Lucy Chermak, MBA, RDN

Approach to care

• What does it look like for you to provide care to patients in larger bodies? How is, or isn’t, your approach different from how you care for patients in smaller bodies? If you work with children, how is or isn’t your approach different when working with children?

  We address how diet culture, fat phobia and weight stigma have sculpted our society and impacted our ability to trust our body's needs. When working with children and adolescents we include caregivers as much as possible. The intention is not to "teach how to eat" but to learn to trust your body and challenge the external messages that negatively impact that relationship.

• What is your perspective on how weight is or is not related to health?

  Weight is one piece of a large puzzle. When working with clients, we focus on behaviors and understanding what feels good to that individual. There is no "right" way to feed our body and we hope that each of the clients who work with us walk away feeling empowered and confident in feeding and treating their body well.

• Finish this sentence: “Fat people are…” 

  people.

• How do you, your clinic, and the healthcare system you work in use BMI (i.e BMI cutoffs for accessing certain services, BMI on charts and printouts, etc)? Is this flexible?

  We do not use BMI. Often we provide education on the origin of BMI, its limitations and how it has evolved in the healthcare landscape.

• If a patient declines to be weighed, how do you and/or your staff proceed?

  We do not gather weights as part of our practice. We do discuss weight from a neutral standpoint, just as we would blood pressure or height.

• If a patient declines to discuss weight loss, nutrition, and/or exercise, how do you proceed?

  As a dietitian in the eating disorder/disordered eating field, I understand that discussing these topics can be very stressful. I like to explore the messages that have been received in the past regarding these items and understand more about what the client is hoping to achieve for themself.

• What does the physical accessibility of your office space look like? What kinds of accommodations are present for people in larger bodies? Are there things you wish were in place that are currently not? 

  Virtual

• What do you do to allow fat people to feel comfortable and welcome in your office? 

  I welcome all people to sessions and hold space for them to feel comfortable sharing their lived experience.

• If you’d like to use this space to talk about any identities (gender, race, size, sexuality, etc.) you hold and how this relates to your care, please do so. 

  I am a cis gendered queer woman.