Introducing EDRD Pro member Sam Finkelstein, RD (she/her)! Keep reading to learn more about Sam and her wonderful work!

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Where are you from, and where do you currently live and work?

I’m originally from the Los Angeles area, but have called the San Francisco Bay Area home for the last 12 years or so. I currently live in San Francisco, and our practice is in Redwood City, a little ways south of the city.

What’s your favorite meal?

It’s so hard to choose just one thing! Right now, Korean food is on my mind – I love Bibimbap.

Tell us about the journey that brought you to work in eating disorder treatment.

I began working with eating disorders as a dietitian in 2016, with some experience in treatment centers as a dietetic technician before that. Similar to many dietitians working in this space, I was drawn to it due to my own experience with diet culture. While my work with eating disorders certainly pushed me to address my own relationship with food in deeper ways than I could have imagined, I also gained more than I expected. I began working with an amazing team, and we eventually started Beyond Measure together, where we get to use our skills and expertise to give patients the opportunity to fully recover from their eating disorders. I really love the work we do and the culture we’re creating.

If you could choose to have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?

I wish I could have dinner with one of my great-grandparents, who I never got to meet. I’ve been told my grandfather’s mom was an amazing cook, but no recipes were ever written or passed down. I’d love to learn about cooking and our food culture from her.

What is a piece of career advice that you would share with someone starting off in the eating disorder field?

Use this time to soak up everything you can, and be open to learning and perspectives other than your own. Think about this for growing your clinical skills and the people skills that can make us so effective as dietitians.

What’s something that’s brought you joy recently?

Running our practice has had me feeling very busy lately. Over a recent long weekend, I got to spend the day outside hiking near water with my husband and my best friend – there was a lot of pure joy that day!

What’s something you’ve learned recently?

I actually feel like my life has been full of learning opportunities recently! One that stands out is from a psychology conference that I was privileged to be speaking at and therefore got to attend. The keynote speaker talked about bridging divides around major topics that can feel really tricky to talk about. I learned so much about the psychology we all hold around the beliefs of others. It was truly impactful!

Why eating disorder treatment? What drives you to do this work?

I was lucky enough to find my first job in eating disorder treatment with a really amazing team, most of whom I still work alongside to this day. My team is the biggest reason I stay in this work, as it would be really challenging to do this alone. I also really value the impact we get to have on our patients and their families. It’s a gift to know that the work we’re doing with people can help them live fuller lives, which I try to remember in the challenging moments.

Do you have specific areas of interest or special populations with whom you work?

Yes! I love working with women struggling with disordered eating who, upon seeking me out, feel lost but know that something needs to change. In addition to eating disorders and disordered eating work, I also love working with athletes and active people of all kinds, all through a Health At Every Size lens. I’ve also been developing specialization in perinatal nutrition, where I see a major opportunity to do better for folks in this stage of life. It’s a unique time of life where it seems to be the norm for your body to be commented on, touched, and monitored. But there can be a lot of power in utilizing nutrition and our relationship with food to support pregnancy and early parenthood instead of using it to stigmatize and create fear. I love applying gentle nutrition and other aspects of Intuitive Eating with this population.

What’s your favorite part about being involved with EDRD Pro?

I love being part of EDRD Pro! I really appreciate the variety of topics covered. If I need to learn more about a specific topic, I always check EDRD Pro first, because I know I’ll get evidence-based information (when applicable) that is eating disorder informed. I also love the Facebook group that provides community for the challenges and questions that come up for us all. (Sorry, couldn’t pick just one thing!)

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

In addition to our 1:1 work with patients, my co-dietitian, Matt, and I offer mentorship and consultation to other RDs looking to grow their skills in size-inclusive nutrition practice. We have each learned so much in our many years of doing this work and have benefited so much from professional consultation ourselves. We love to guide other dietitians through using this approach with troubleshooting challenges, working through our biases, and brainstorming together how to best serve our patients.