How to Nourish Yourself Through an Eating Disorder
Recovery for Adults with the Plate-by-Plate Approach®
Fight back against your eating disorder! Learn to eat flexibly, paving the way to intuitive eating and a renewed sense of joy around food.​
A much-needed guide for adults on how to tackle an eating disorder and rebuild a healthy relationship with food
For many people, thinking about food is just one small part of their day—but for those struggling with an eating disorder (ED), these thoughts take over and leave them desperately asking, “How can I eat normally again?”
Dietitians Wendy Sterling and Casey Crosbie have the answer: the Plate-by-Plate Approach®, a no-numbers, visual method that teaches readers how to restore their relationship with food using only a ten-inch plate. This approach works across all eating disorder diagnoses—in conjunction with medical and psychological treatment—and helps individuals:
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Break free from the physical and psychological traps of an eating disorder
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Learn how to plate meals and snacks without measuring or counting
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Heal their relationship with their body and repair their body image
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Eat flexibly, paving the way to intuitive eating and a renewed sense of joy around food.
Endorsements...
Review
"Sterling and Crosbie’s new book is a wonderful, detailed, medically sound, and super-helpful resource for adults working through recovery from an eating disorder. Offering an alternative to counting and tallying nutritional practices, this comprehensive and inclusive book offers start-today strategies and long-term support."
― Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD, CEDS-S, FAED, founder and medical director of Gaudiani Clinic and author of Sick Enough
"This book is an essential starting point―and easy-to-follow guide―for anyone struggling with disordered eating or body image. It provides not just an accessible, evidence-based path to recovery, but also promotes a sense of balance and autonomy."
― Norman Kim, PhD, Center for Practice Innovations at Columbia University Department of Psychiatry
"This book is a wonderful, much-needed resource that simplifies and demystifies the nutrition process for those in recovery from an eating disorder and anyone who cares for them. Professionals and individuals will find themselves referring back to this book time and again. I look forward to sharing this as a resource with professionals, clients, and support system members alike!"
― Christyna Johnson, MS, RDN, LDN
"Filled with practical strategies and applications to help adults navigate the nutritional complexities of eating disorder recovery, this book will provide hope and guidance to those seeking greater joy and freedom with food, body, and movement."
― Riley Nickols, PhD, CEDS-S, counseling and sport psychologist and founder of Mind Body Endurance
"Having adopted the Plate-by-Plate Approach® as my foremost recommendation for parents of my adolescent clients grappling with eating disorders, I eagerly awaited this new book tailored to adults. This book provides a clear, compassionate, and all-encompassing framework applicable to all adults across the spectrum of eating issues, no matter their age, cultural background, and gender orientation. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone questioning the healthfulness of their relationship to food and looking for a validating, encouraging guide toward healing."
― Natalie Rose Allen, MPsy, RP, eating disorder therapist
"This book is an invaluable resource. With a compassionate approach grounded in science, Sterling and Crosbie expertly support those striving to nourish themselves through an eating disorder."
― Shelley Aggarwal, MD, coauthor of No Weigh!
"Wendy and Casey have done it again! In adapting the Plate-by-Plate Approach® for adults, this book will provide much-needed support for both community and health professionals. This is going straight to the top of my recommendations list."
― Fiona Sutherland, MSc, APD, CEDC, The Mindful Dietitian
How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder
A Simple, Plate-by-Plate Approach to Rebuilding a Healthy Relationship with Food
A revolutionary approach—rooted in nutrition—for parents desperate to help their child recover from an eating disorder and eat normally again.
Parents of kids who are struggling with an eating disorder (ED)—including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and many more that go undiagnosed—quickly find themselves at a loss as to how to feed their child and ensure they are receiving adequate nutrition. Now, registered dietitians Casey Crosbie and Wendy Sterling present their innovative and easy-to-implement visual approach that demonstrates balanced meals with the optimal ratio of nutrients—designed to set kids and teens on a path toward permanent recovery.
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The“Plate-by-Plate Approach” is rooted in the leading psychological approach to ED, family-based treatment (FBT), which enables parents to treat their child at home rather than send them to an expensive in-patient program. Paired with therapy, this essential guide covers everything parents need to know about nutrition, plus the warning signs and potential health risks, how to talk about weight changes and set goals for treatment, and how to incorporate structure at mealtimes. Their approach, the“Plate-by-Plate Approach,” was published in the Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics entitled, “The Use of the Plate-by-Plate Approach for Adolescents Undergoing Family-Based Treatment.”
The book's foreword was written by James Lock, MD, PhD, Director, Eating Disorder Program, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford and Neville H. Golden, MD, Chief, Division of Adolescent Medicine, The Marron and Mary Elizabeth Kendrick Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine. Follow Wendy and Casey’s page on instagram for tips of building good plates, encouragement and support @platebyplateapproach and purchase your copy of How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder today!
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Wendy Sterling, MS, RD, CSSD, CEDS-C
Casey Crosbie, RD, CEDS-C
Endorsements...
Review
"[With] simple and clear yet science-backed recommendations, and professional yet compassionate tone . . . I’d recommend this book to any RD who works with young ED clients participating in FBT."
― Today’s Dietitian
"A key tenet of family-based treatment (FBT) for adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN) is to empower parents so that they (the parents) can bring about weight restoration for their teen. This process is a delicate one―the clinician is to support the parents’ efforts without telling them what to do, yet steering them in the right direction. Parents and providers can get tripped up in this task as weight restoration seldom follows a straight upward trajectory. A solid under-standing of the nutritional requirements for recovery in AN is key to getting this task done. That said, the foundation model of FBT does not specify how best to integrate nutritional expertise in this treatment. This book offers a terrific start to this process―it will inform parents rather than prescribe to parents. Crosbie and Sterling take great care to use their nutritional expertise to complement the key FBT tenets. As a result, How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder will be a helpful tool not only to parents, but also to the many clinicians who are tasked with supporting parents in their struggle to help their child overcome an eating disorder."
― Daniel Le Grange, PhD, Benioff UCSF Professor in Children’s Health and Eating Disorders director, Department of Psychiatry and UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, S
"For the parents of patients with eating disorders, this book, written by two prominent nutritionists, provides a comprehensive understanding of the illness and a practical approach to the refeeding process. Overall, an excellent summary of what parents need to know."
― Martin Fisher, MD, chief, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Northwell Health
"I highly recommend this book to any parent whose child has an eating disorder! How To Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder provides concrete tools―based in science―in a friendly, compassionate, and easy-to-understand way."
― Jenni Schaefer, bestselling author of Life Without Ed; Goodbye Ed, Hello Me; and Almost Anorexic
"Parents: This book is your play-by-play for exactly how you can help your child heal their mind and body with food!"
― Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN, EP-C, author of Body Kindness
"Casey Crosbie and Wendy Sterling’s practical book is an innovative and user-friendly resource on how to nourish a child with an eating disorder back to health. Crosbie and Sterling provide an important adjunctive approach to FBT, the first-line outpatient treatment for eating disorders. This excellent resource offers helpful strategies to empower parents and caregivers to play an active role in their adolescent’s recovery."
― Debra K. Katzman, MD, FRCPC, Professor of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto and Director, Health Science Research, MD Program University of Toronto
"Family-based treatment is extremely effective, yet difficult. How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder provides just the help parents need to ensure their child will recover at home."
― Marcia Herrin, EdD, MPH, RDN, FAED, author of the Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders and Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders
"Offering necessary support to families and caregivers facing an eating disorder, this book will be a lifesaver. Casey Crosbie and Wendy Sterling offer clarity and specific guidance on how to navigate the three phases of FBT with their Plate-by-Plate approach. Feeding any child is a phenomenal task, and when facing ED it really does take a village―crucially, including a registered dietitian (RD). I’m thrilled to have this resource to share with families who are coaching with me through this journey."
― Becky Henry, CPCC, ACC, founder and president, Hope Network, LLC, Eating Disorder Caregiver Support
"Providing relief for parents and clinicians, Crosbie and Sterling not only guide you on how to put together balanced plates to aid in the restoration of health, but also cover such topics as medical stability, when to sit your child out from exercise, and what to do when your child’s old clothes no longer fit. The approach shines in coaching parents on the ultimate pursuit of food freedom for their child―and it works."
― Signe Darpinian, LMFT, CEDS-S, president of San Francisco Bay Area iaedp chapter and coauthor of No Weigh!! A Teen’s Guide to Body Image, Food, and Emotional Wisdom
"Crosbie and Sterling, registered dietitians and experts in the treatment of eating disorders, have created a comprehensive yet easy-to-follow guide that addresses both the nutritional and emotional aspects of recovery. The practical and user-friendly tips are sure to help any family navigate the various phases of reducing fear and forming new and positive relationships with food."
― Carrie Spindel Bashoff, PsyD, child and adolescent clinical psychologist, adjunct assistant professor NYU School of Medicine
"Some of us are adrift in a fog of uncertainty at each meal we prepare. This book gives answers without tying us up in rules. Add this to your family-based treatment library for clear, competent guidance on food, exercise, weight, and health―and on what to serve to rebuild your child’s flexibility, normalize their attitude toward eating, and prepare them for independence."
― Eva Musby, parent and author of Anorexia and Other Eating Disorders: How to Help Your Child Eat Well and Be Well
"This book is a must read for any parent with a child struggling with an unbalanced relationship with food. Wendy and Casey have developed a straightforward approach that equips and empowers parents to feed their child and achieve greater food freedom. They illustrate how parents can challenge fear foods through exposures, reduce obsessiveness related to food, and facilitate a more wholesome relationship to food, supporting a child’s recovery through every step!"
― Riley Nickols, PhD, sport psychologist and director of the Victory Program
"An essential resource for parents of children struggling to overcome an eating disorder. This book boils down the science of eating disorder recovery with practical tips for every stage of healing. I wish my parents had access to this book when I was goin"
― Kristina Saffran, cofounder and CEO, Project HEAL
"When I was suffering with an eating disorder my parents struggled to find a book that could provide support and strategies both for themselves and for me. Today’s parents are lucky to have How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder, which provides great insight into how to effectively nourish your child at home through the innovative Plate-by-Plate approach. It’s sure to help countless families!"
― Liana Rosenman, cofounder of Project HEAL
"With this invaluable resource, leading nutritionists Crosbie and Sterling coach parents on how to feed their child balanced meals using the Plate-by-Plate approach, helping them navigate the complex demands of the eating disorder―and empowering them to fight back."
― Laura Kimeldorf, MD, psychiatrist, New York City