Today we’d like to introduce you to Marissa Kai Miluk.
Hi Marissa Kai, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
While pursuing dietetics, I knew I wanted to work with people who struggled with eating disorders or disordered eating because of my past struggles. Like many of my clients, I was trapped in a chronic diet/binge/purge cycle for many years. When I was ready to recover and get help, I struggled to find the help I needed. From that moment on, I knew I needed to become the support for others that I was always needing. So once I got my credentials, I immediately started my nutrition practice, formerly MaKai Nutrition, now Behind The Binge. I support clients trapped in yoyo dieting, struggling with the restricted/binge cycle, and craving a life of food freedom to become confident, intuitive eaters so that they can live a healthful life without guilt, stress, or obsession. I’ve always been creative, so I used social media solely for marketing. That’s where I grew over 115K followers through my account @binge.nutritionist and launched a podcast called Behind The Binge. Both on Instagram and the podcast, I share inspiration for recovery, tips, and debunk misinformation to help others who struggle with binge eating.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road could have been smoother! I started my practice during the height of covid when everyone had much more free time while working from home and was comfortable with zoom meetings. Many are experiencing zoom fatigue and don’t have as much time as they head back into their offices. With a solely virtual practice, I’ve had to pivot a lot in my business between 2021-2022 to diversify how I reach new clients. I also have ADHD! Working from home with 4 pets and many distractions, I’ve had to learn how to keep myself focused and productive. If anyone reading this has ADHD, you get it! It can be a struggle, but I’ve found lots of great ways to keep myself focused. I document some of my ADHD hacks for work from home on my TikTok @momentswithmarissa. One of my most popular videos is about an ADHD strategy called body doubling, where you cowork over zoom or facetime with other friends or colleagues. That strategy helps me when there are tasks I need to get done that I keep getting pulled away from. I highly recommend body doubling for anyone who works from home!
My work, in general, can be controversial, even though it’s about inclusion and acceptance of all bodies, as if that’s a debatable topic! We are in a world STEEPED in diet culture. Thinness is valued over one’s actual true health and well-being. Weight stigma and weight bias are all around us. Creating a space where all bodies are accepted and embraced comes with a pack of trolls. I am happy to fight off trolls to create a more inclusive world that supports health at every size, especially given my privileges as a thin, white woman.
We’ve been impressed with Behind The Binge, but for folks who might need to be more familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart?
I am the owner and lead dietitian of Behind The Binge. My nutrition practice is called Behind The Binge because that’s exactly what we do! We seek to explore what’s going on behind our client’s binge eating behaviors. Many of my clients come to us having tried to “stop binge eating” by addressing the behavior alone. However, our beliefs create our thoughts and feelings, which create our actions. So we must look into the beliefs, thoughts, and feelings that lead one to binge or restrict to uproot those behaviors for good. We see clients in a 1:1 private and group coaching setting and have a variety of courses and workshops. The goal of our work is always to put the client back in the driver’s seat. Diet culture leads you to distrust yourself, relying solely on external cues and validation to determine what, when, or how to eat. However, we are all born with incredible intrinsic communication from our body that can help us meet our body’s needs without an app or caloric equation. When we can learn how to trust our body again, re-regulate our appetite after years of yoyo dieting, and start responding to our body’s signals like hunger and fullness, we can feed ourselves to feel our best and move on! Becoming an intuitive eater allows you to focus on more important things. Food should be a part of your life, not your whole life. If you spend every waking moment thinking about food, you may want to investigate further if you are struggling with a disordered relationship with food.
I work from an anti-diet, weight-neutral lens. We’re going to focus on something other than the scale. We are going to focus on your behaviors. Weight is not a behavior. I am most proud of how we help clients struggling with binge eating and weight cycling for decades finally free themselves from the war on food and their body that they’ve been trapped in. My oldest client was 63 when we finished working together, and she had been dieting since she was 10 and bingeing for as long as she could remember. When we finished our work, she could eat what she wanted without food rules, was no longer binge eating, and was listening to her body to know what, when, and how much to eat. She was no longer obsessed with food. Even after 5 decades, freedom was possible for her, and it’s possible for you, too!
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I am not for everyone! When I started my practice, I was desperate for clients because I needed to make money. So I took on anyone and everyone who reached out. That was not only a disservice to my clients but also to myself. Now, I thoroughly screen all my clients to ensure we are the right fit to work together. If we’re not, I refer them to someone else. Our values and vision for the work together need to be aligned. I may be an expert in binge eating, but I will never know my client better than my client knows. If my client and I have conflicting goals, we may not be the best fit, and that’s okay! I don’t want anyone ever to feel like I’m not on their side or pressuring them to do anything they’re uncomfortable with. I know I cannot help everyone, and that’s okay, and I wish I had realized that earlier.
Contact Info:
- Website: behindthebinge.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/binge.nutritionist/
- Other: Tiktok = https://www.tiktok.com/@bingenutritionist , Podcast = Behind The Binge
Image Credits
Chelsey Ashford Photography
