Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabelle Bouchard.
Hi Isabelle, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started Bamboo Nutrition as an eating disorder dietitian in September 2018, in Kansas City, MO. I was one of the first outpatient ED RDs there to accept insurance and then moved to Columbia, MO for my husband’s medical career. I filled up quickly as ED Dietitians can be hard to come by. Due to accepting insurance, we had individuals reaching out to us for many other things (diabetes, general healthy eating, food allergies, high lipids, etc.), so I carefully hired more dietitians to support our growth.
We take immense pride in helping individuals without the focus being on their weight. So many people are told that to become healthier, they need to lose X number of pounds. We don’t feel like a recommendation that centers around the number on the scale is helpful. Rather, we focus on educating our client well, building confidence in making food decisions, and improving behaviors and relationship with food to support them long term.
Our practice is named Bamboo Nutrition because of a sweet anaolgy of chinese bamboo: you plan bamboo and tend to this mound of soil for 5 years; it looks like nothing is growing, then all of a sudden, within 6 weeks the bamboo grows 90 feet.
This felt similar to how nutrition works in our bodies and how our behaviors around food also need time to course correct. It may feel like we cannot see evidence of our work, but give it some more time, remain steady and consistent with your changes, and then you see the fruit of your labor.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As with all businesses, there are challenges. I would say our largest hurdle is hiring experienced dietitians who match our philosophies and are not weight-biased. At Bamboo Nutrition, we spend a lot more time with our clients 1:1 in session that who we bring on our team is extremely important. We want them to reflect our values, philosophies, be someone our clients can feel connected to and inspired by. We care a lot about experience and evidenced-based care so our clients receive quality.
We took the leap and hired a psychologist in 2021 and now have two therapists on our team. This allows for us to hug the client completely by providing nutrition counseling and therapy for their food-related concerns. Our therapists can serve more than just those with food concerns, but it is extremely helpful to have two providers under the same roof- especially for eating disorder clients, which is still 40% of our entire population of clients.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Bamboo Nutrition LLC?
There is so much for us to be proud of with the work that we do! Nothing is more rewarding than helping your client feel more capable and take charge of their health. We work with all ages, specializing in nutrition and counseling. Our dietitians overlap somewhat in the types of conditions they work with, but mostly they all specialize in something very unique that requires a lot of their attention to that particular condition. We don’t like to say we do it all, and I don’t like hiring dietitians to be generalists. We want to know a lot about one or two things so that we can confidently say we are the best person to help you with what you’re struggling with!
Typically when someone comes to see a dietitian, or is referred to a dietitian, they are expecting 1 or 2 sessions, to be given a simple handout, taught the food groups, maybe recommended to count calories or not eat x,y,z… and our favorite thing is meeting our clients for the first time and surprising them with how in depth we go on the initial session. There is a lot to know about a person to be able to treat them effectively. We also communicate greatly with the rest of their healthcare team- another thing more clients are surprised by since these days it feels like specialists work in silos.
Sharing with our clients that the research does not support focusing on the number on the scale for long term weight loss and behavior change, is a big relief to many. Our clients appreciate having a dietitian they see more consistently and feel like there is more accountability and more opportunity for education along the way.
Having mental health therapists at our practice has been a tremendous blessing. They compliment the services of the dietitians and also offer their own unique services. Having both disciplines at Bamboo Nutrition, I believe also helps our clients recognize that we are not working in silos, we are not providing cheap care, but we care about getting to know our clients in a holistic sense.
At Bamboo Nutrition, we see clients 1:1 for an in-depth initial session and subsequent sessions either weekly, every other week, or monthly. We follow up with clients until we consider them “graduated” once they feel they have the education and confidence to make informed nutrition decisions that will continue to maintain, or improve, their health. We work with families who deal with multiple menu requirements, busy professionals who let their health take the back burner, children and adults with eating disorders, those who have dieted their entire lives and are not sure how to eat “normally.” We love what we do!
What matters most to you?
What matters most to us is that our clients walk away with a sense of confidence and feel they have the tools and knowledge for how to navigate the nutritional world. Social media, diet culture, supplements and pharmaceuticals are sending out conflicting and confusing messaging. We want our clients to be able to decipher nutritional news in a way that prevents them from falling into a trap, focusing on things that don’t matter, wasting money, or even hurting their relationship with food so much that they end up hurting their health or developing an eating disorder.
Pricing:
- We accept commercial insurance. We are not in network with Medicare or Medicaid due to the limited things they cover by a dietitian, but we offer a discounted rate if you have these insurances.
- 90minute initial session, 60minute follow up session. Must call or inquire for pricing as it can change based on provider type and insurance.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bamboonutritionrd.com
- Instagram: bamboonutritionrd
- Facebook: bamboonutritionrd
