Nutrition News

Nutrition in Recovery Group Curriculum is now Available! 

In 2012, I ran my first weekly nutrition group at a residential drug and alcohol treatment center in Los Angeles where I taught people about the link between nutrition and behavioral health.  We did not have a TV, so I put together various handouts as reading material for group discussions, based on information that I learned through my own treatment in 2005 & 2006. I’ll never forget the excitement of my first year running Nutrition in Recovery groups and building out the curriculum, and becoming a specialist working with this unique population. The experience was magical – I’ve enjoyed being contacted over the years and people sharing memories of that first nutrition group; someone recently told me that my trip with them to the grocery store while they were in treatment changed their life, and they are now sober working as a chef. This is in part due to the Nutrition in Recovery curriculum.

Nutrition in Recovery took off quickly and by 2013, I was running groups at several different treatment centers, conducting individual counseling and occasionally leading hands-on nutrition workshops. I took on dietetic interns and built out a legendary team of dietitians. We have run groups both locally in Southern California as well as internationally and have hosted various forms of staff training. To date we have contracted with over 30 treatment centers, including facilities that treat eating disorders as well as general mental health. During these years, I have refined the Nutrition in Recovery curriculum based on feedback from attendees as well as the facilitators, and of course the rapidly changing nutrition landscape. 

I have always tried to be available to help, but have never shared any curriculum, until now. The legendary Nutrition in Recovery curriculum is available to you. The content is designed to be delivered by a registered dietitian but can be done by someone who has a proficient background in nutrition and is attuned to recovery culture. Many of the slides have notes under them to help guide you through it all. If you or anyone you know is interested in conducting research using the curriculum, let’s talk.

The Nutrition in Recovery curriculum consists of 26 weeks (that’s 6 months!) of educational presentations, handouts, videos, games, activities, and discussion topics, all of which build upon the previous weeks, but can also be used in any order. Some groups include homework, recipes to keep, and are all designed to stimulate excellent discussion. There is no nutritional agenda embedded into the curriculum, it is flexible to a wide range of approaches. It is also eating disorder informed and friendly, and the best part about it is that you will get the actual PowerPoint and Word docs whenever available, so you can customize the curriculum as you see fit! This will make working at a treatment center manageable, and fun!

• Week 1: The Basics
• Week 2: The Nutrition in Recovery Method 
• Week 3: Fiber the Missing Nutrient
• Week 4: Incorporating More Fiber
• Week 5: Budgeting Food During Recovery
• Week 6: Smoothie Workshop 
• Week 7: Sugar, Salt, Fat
• Week 8: Let’s Talk Breakfast
• Week 9: Substance Substitution 
• Week 10: Oats Workshop 
• Week 11: Conversations About Sugar
• Week 12: Emotional Eating 
• Week 13: Exercise in Recovery 
• Week 14: Whole Grains and the Mediterranean Diet 
• Week 15: Artificial Sweeteners 
• Week 16: Salad Dressing Workshop 
• Week 17: Fads and Myths 
• Week 18: Guess that Plant 
• Week 19: Binge Eating Solutions 
• Week 20: Body Image and Disordered Eating 
• Week 21: Chocolate Bites Workshop 
• Week 22: So Many Different Approaches 
• Week 23: Mindful Eating 
• Week 24: Food Safety 
• Week 25: Stress and Inflammation
• Week 26: Cooking in Recovery

The cost of the curriculum is $695 and as a limited-time bonus includes a 30-minute consulting session with David Wiss MS RDN within 3 months of purchase. David will also send you his range of academic publications related to nutrition, substance use disorders, and eating disorders. You can use the 30-minute session either to seek clarification on the curriculum, to dive deeper into the research and learn more about the link between nutrition and mental health, or to pick David’s brain about anything. Lastly, those who purchase the curriculum will be added to a special mailing list where we will eventually form a group of nutritionists who work in addiction treatment centers sharing ideas, challenges, and victories. The goal is to one day have a recognized certification, and those who get in now will likely end up as the original leaders. Let’s join forces! 

Questions? Email davidawiss@nutritioninrecovery.com

Ready to make a payment? Use credit card HERE. 

Please make sure to include the proper email address for correspondence. You will be asked to sign a non-disclosure before receiving the Nutrition in Recovery curriculum.