Kaycie Lindeman, RD, LD
About
Pronouns: she/her
Occupation and Specialty: Registered Dietitian
Location (Clinic/hospital): Kaycie Rose Nutrition
Location (City): I see clients both in person and via telehealth. My office is located in Minneapolis. I am licensed to see people via telehealth in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, Washington, and Oregon.
Offers Telehealth: Yes
Contact Information: www.kaycierosenutrition.com
Bio: I have been a Registered Dietitian for over nine years and have been practicing from a weight inclusive approach for over seven of those years. It didn’t take me long in the field of nutrition to discover the inadequacies of evidence around weight loss and the negative physical and mental health impacts it was having on patients. That’s when I decided to pivot into private practice, as it was important to me to be able to have separation from the weight-centric focus in the bigger medical systems.
I provide outpatient, one-on-one nutrition therapy/counseling. I work with late teenagers and adults, diverse populations, and am LGBTQIA+ affirming. I specialize in supporting those with eating disorders, co-occurring GI issues in those with eating disorders or disordered eating, and who are looking for a more peaceful relationship with food. I have a trauma-informed, affirming, and collaborative approach to care.
Approach to care
What does it look like for you to provide care to patients in larger bodies? How is, or isn’t, your approach different from how you care for patients in smaller bodies? If you work with children, how is or isn’t your approach different when working with children?
To me, providing care to patients in larger bodies starts with an inclusive, comfortable space - thoughtful spatial layout, liberation-focused resources, and armless, supportive seating. I acknowledge my own body size and body experience privileges. I take trauma-informed, affirming care very seriously, as many of my patients in larger bodies have had traumatic, discriminatory experiences within the medical industrial complex and with other medical providers. Conversations around eating, health, and wellbeing are non-weight focused and holistic in nature. There is space for conversations around anti-fat bias and its impacts. Connection with the fat community is encouraged and I often support clients in finding other weight inclusive care providers. Listening intently, honoring lived experiences, being compassionate, having empathy, honoring autonomy, and asking for consent are core aspects of my work with all of my patients.
There are differences that arise in my work with patients who are in larger versus smaller bodies, because their experiences and how systems impact them are not the same. The biggest differences tend to be around conversations that arise during visits and the type of community connection that is encouraged.What is your perspective on how weight is or is not related to health?
Weight does not equate to health. Holistic, trauma-informed, and evidence-based care honors this notion and focuses on what the patient is looking for in regards to support, the social determinants of health, genetic predisposition, behaviors (i.e. sleep, mental healthcare, movement, honoring self and boundaries, taking medications as prescribed, nourishment), and more.
Finish this sentence: “Fat people are…”
...people who are deserving of compassionate, non-discriminatory care and experiences.”
How do you, your clinic, and the healthcare system you work in use BMI (i.e BMI cutoffs for accessing certain services, BMI on charts and printouts, etc)? Is this flexible?
I do not believe in the use of BMI. BMI is not typically calculated, recorded, or tracked at Kaycie Rose Nutrition. It’s important to note that in rare cases, such as working with insurance companies for a single-case agreement, it may be used by the clinician in correspondence with the insurance company if the insurance company deems it relevant. In these rare cases a thoughtful conversation would be had with the patient asking for their consent and processing any thoughts or feelings that arise.
If a patient declines to be weighed, how do you and/or your staff proceed?
There is not a scale nor any weighing at Kaycie Rose Nutrition.
If a patient declines to discuss weight loss, nutrition, and/or exercise, how do you proceed?
I honor the patient’s wishes. It’s important to note that I operate from a weight inclusive lens and don’t promote intentional weight loss; a lot of patients seek out my support for this specific reason.
What does the physical accessibility of your office space look like? What kinds of accommodations are present for people in larger bodies? Are there things you wish were in place that are currently not?
My office space has a large parking lot available, which includes accessible parking spaces. The door does not have a button for opening, though I am happy to hold it open. My office suite is located on the first floor and does not require any stairs for access. There are gendered bathrooms right across the office suite; they do not have ADA accessible stalls, though they have grab bars for support. There is a private, gender neutral bathroom on the lower level of the building, which can be accessed by elevator or stairs.
My office suite specifically has several chairs in the waiting area that hold 800 lbs. There is also a small couch in the waiting area. The waiting area is spacious without a lot of furniture, making it easy to move around. The clinician offices are set up in similar ways and include large, sturdy couches.
Each of the gendered bathrooms have one larger stall, but the smaller stall is tight for someone in a straight-sized body to get into. I wish these were bigger and more spacious. Additionally, I wish there was a button to open the door automatically. If I am here beyond my first lease term these are things I’m hoping to explore more with the building management.
What do you do to allow fat people to feel comfortable and welcome in your office?
I let people know that my office space was created with them at the forefront of my mind and invite any feedback they have to offer in regards to how the space could be more comfortable for them. I have fat positive art throughout the office, some is the work of local fat artists. I have fat positive, liberation-centered resources available such as handouts, books, etc.
If you’d like to use this space to talk about any identities (gender, race, size, sexuality, etc.) you hold and how this relates to your care, please do so.
I am white, cisgendered, straight-sized, currently able-bodied, and financially stable. I am a multi-privileged person and there are times where I have unintentionally caused harm for this reason. I consistently work hard to challenge my own internalized biases through personal reflection, professional supervision, and listening and learning from those with marginalized identities and lived experience. When I provide care I work hard to understand the identities I don’t hold and listen intently without judgment to the lived experiences of the human in front of me.