Featured Member: Jessi Haggerty, RDN

April 6, 2021

We are excited to introduce you to EDRD Pro member Jessi Haggerty! Jessi is a dietitian, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, and Certified Personal Trainer who specializes in helping her clients improve their relationship with food and their bodies so they can show up for what matters most in their life.

Connect with Jessi on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or at www.jessihaggerty.com

What’s your favorite meal?

This usually shifts for me, but right now I’m loving breakfast burritos and Caesar salads coated with panko breadcrumbs.

What’s saving your life right now?

The sun + warmer weather. Getting to walk in the woods or on the beach with the dog is a total lifesaver.

If you could choose anyone as a mentor, who would it be, and why?

Honestly, I’ve been *so* fortunate to have such amazing mentors and colleagues throughout my education; I can’t think of anyone else!

What’s something you’ve learned recently?

I started taking pottery classes at the beginning of the year and have learned to throw mugs, bowls, plates, and candle sticks. It’s so fun!

What would you say is one of the most valuable skills you’ve developed in your career?

Listening. When I was first starting out, I was so eager to give advice, and now I find it’s much more helpful to listen and ask questions.

What words of encouragement or advice would you tell your younger self?

It’s OK to prioritize fun; not everything has to be hard work.

If you didn’t do what you do professionally, what other job or field would you have pursued, and why?

I think I would have either taught dance and had my own studio or done something with interior design/building. Something creative.

What’s something that most people don’t know about you?

I feel like I’m not that mysterious haha. Maybe that a hobby of mine is scrolling Facebook marketplace for a good piece of furniture to bring home or makeover? It’s sort of a problem 😉

Where do you work?

Well, I used to have a small office in Somerville, MA, but after COVID I moved to my home office in Salem, MA. I work mostly from there, the kitchen table, and the couch 🙂

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

It feels like a privilege to witness my client’s growth and hear their stories.

Why eating disorders treatment? What drives you?

I never planned on going into eating disorder treatment. I started off as a “weight management” dietitian and quickly learned that it wasn’t for me and didn’t align with my values. That’s when I discovered Health at Every Size®, and everything just sort of clicked. Eating disorder treatment started to feel like a natural extension of that work.

Who are your favorite social media influencers in the non-diet, recovery, body liberation space?

What books or resources have made a difference in the way you work?

Christy Harrison’s podcast, Food Psych, and her book, Anti-Diet, for sure! Working with Marci Evans as a supervisor (and her courses), and conferences and networking through Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA) here in Boston have been such great educational resources for me. And, of course, EDRDpro!

How did you find the non-diet, Intuitive Eating, and Health at Every Size® approaches, and what inspired you to adopt these frameworks?

I think I discovered Intuitive Eating just through the book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Once I read that, things started to click for me, and I continued to learn more about Health at Every Size® and fat positivity and integrated that framework and movement into the work I do now.

What is one non-diet, Intuitive Eating, and/or Health at Every Size® pearl of wisdom you’d like to share?

I think we are so used to diet culture that I often see clients (and clinicians) mistake Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size® as another “program,” but I instead encourage people to use these concepts as a lens to look through. Everyone’s journey will look different, and that’s the point!

What projects, products, or services do you offer that you want to share with our audience?

I offer individualized nutrition therapy and personal training for clients, and more recently, I launched a group coaching program called Redefine Your Relationship with Exercise that will run for six-week stints throughout the year. I also have a continuing education course for personal trainers to teach them about eating disorder screening and how to ethically provide nutrition advice to clients. All of that information is on my website.