Life Balance Nutrition^® – Empowering individuals through improving their relationship with food and body.

Marina is a registered and licensed dietitian who has worked in the nutrition field since 2012. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Human Foods from the University of Houston, completed her dietetic internship through the University of the Incarnate Word, and earned her Master of Science in Nutrition from Texas Woman's University. Additionally, Marina has completed the Certificate of Training in Nutritional Counseling from The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Marina has extensive experience in nutritional counseling and nutrition education for both individuals and groups. Using motivational interviewing and dialectical behavioral therapy techniques, she guides clients in identifying and conquering their barriers so that they can make small, specific goals that are attainable and lead to big accomplishments.

Marina specializes in working with individuals who have eating disorders and disordered eating patterns. She is a believer and advocate of Health At Every Size (HAES), practices Weight Inclusive Nutrition & Dietetics (WIND), and is currently working towards earning the Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian (CEDRD) credential.

Additionally, Marina is knowledgeable in nutrition therapy for several conditions including eating disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders/diseases, and emotional eating.

Marina believes that the balance between health and joy is vital. All foods fit. Moving our bodies can be enjoyable. Combined, nutrition and moving our bodies can be a balance of healthy and joyful! She strives to help individuals find this balance on their quest for a healthier relationship with food and self. She truly enjoys being there for individuals on their journey.

In her spare time, Marina enjoys drawing, hiking, travelling, going to concerts, and being airborne like the aerialists in Cirque du Soleil.

Non-Discrimination Policy: Marina and Life Balance Nutrition, LLC does not and shall not discriminate against anyone regardless of skin color, race, ethnicity, nationality (national origin), sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, ability, religion (creed), marital status, military status, and socioeconomic status.

Eating disorders are complex and are often not "just about the food." It is important to seek help and guidance from a multidisciplinary team of therapists, registered dietitian/nutritionists, doctors, psychiatrists, etc. who know and understand what you are going though.

Marina is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who can be part of that team. Since 2012, she has been working primarily with individuals who have eating disorders, disordered eating, and emotional eating. Marina works with individuals who have anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, orthorexia, and other specified feeding and eating disorders. She offers nutritional counseling, meal planning, meal/snack sessions, grocery shopping tours, and support to clients and their families.

It is difficult to recover from an eating disorder on your own. A registered dietitian is an integral part of your recovery team. Marina is happy to be a part of your treatment team to help you work toward recovery, repair your relationship with food, and live a more fulfilling life.

For more information on Eating Disorders and treating them, please visit:

www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

As full disclosure, Marina will not prescribe weight loss or fad diets to any client. Why? It has been proven time and time again that diets do not work long term. Over 90% of diets fail after 2-5 years, and individuals find themselves having gained the weight back and feeling defeated. Additionally, more research is finding that weight-cycling (the act of losing, gaining, losing, and regaining weight) may be harmful to cardiovascular health, muscle health, bone health, and more. Marina is committed to not putting her clients in this position.

Marina will work with individuals who have diagnosed medical conditions (ex: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, celiac, etc.) to make dietary adjustments that will help them manage their symptoms better. However, the focus is on the health of the individual and not their weight.

The principles of Health At Every Size (HAES) are:

• Weight Inclusivity: Accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes and reject the idealizing or pathologizing of specific weights.
• Health Enhancement: Support health policies that improve and equalize access to information and services, and personal practices that improve human well-being, including attention to individual physical, economic, social, spiritual, emotional, and other needs.
• Respectful Care: Acknowledge our biases, and work to end weight discrimination, weight stigma, and weight bias. Provide information and services from an understanding that socio-economic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other identities impact weight stigma, and support environments that address these inequities.
• Eating for Well-being: Promote flexible, individualized eating based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure, rather than any externally regulated eating plan focused on weight control.
• Life-Enhancing Movement: Support physical activities that allow people of all sizes, abilities, and interests to engage in enjoyable movement, to the degree that they choose.

*Principles copied and pasted directly from www.sizediversityandhealth.org as a means to not misconstrue any information.

• Chronic Dieting
• Disordered Eating
• Eating Disorders
• Diabetes
• Emotional Eating
• Relationship with food
• Sports Nutrition – Specifically RED-S
• Weight Cycling

• We start with an hour-long nutrition evaluation so I can get some background information about you and see what some of your goals are. I encourage you to bring any labs/blood work to this appointment.
• Your first follow-up is usually within one week of the initial. I provide you with a meal plan, we go over meal ideas that fit the meal plan, and we make some small, specific, attainable goals to work on during the next week or two.
• Your next follow-ups will be as frequent as you need them to be. Some people require weekly sessions, while others prefer every two weeks, or monthly. It depends on you and your personal needs.

Follow-up sessions are usually anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. It just depends on the individual. We can certainly do things like grocery shopping tours, meal sessions, snack sessions, etc. The only thing I cannot do at this time is cooking demos.