Andrea Dacey, RDN, CSSD, is a Registered Dietitian and Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics working with athletes in Boston, MA, San Diego, CA, and via telehealth.

Eating Disorder Support for Athletes

Most eating disorder treatment wasn’t built with athletes in mind. A lot of it asks you to step away from training, from your team, from the identity you’ve spent years building, as if that identity is the problem instead of something worth protecting through recovery. That approach doesn’t work for a lot of athletes, and honestly, it shouldn’t be the only option.

This is dietitian support built around a different premise: that you can be in recovery and still be an athlete. Those two things aren’t in competition.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Andrea works as part of your broader care team, not as a stand-alone provider. If you have a therapist, a physician, or a treatment program already involved, coordinating with them is part of the process, not an afterthought. If you don’t have that team in place yet, she can help connect you with providers who understand athletes specifically.

Sessions focus on rebuilding a working relationship with food and training, at whatever pace that requires. Some athletes are further along and mostly need someone who understands sport-specific pressures. Others are earlier in the process and need more structure and more frequent check-ins. Both are normal starting points.

Who This Is For

Current and former athletes managing disordered eating, orthorexia, or diagnosed eating disorders who want their recovery team to actually understand what training and competing mean to them, not just tolerate it. This includes athletes returning to sport after treatment, athletes trying to catch a problem before it becomes a diagnosis, and athletes who’ve been told to “just eat more” or “just stop tracking” without anyone addressing why that’s harder than it sounds.

How This Connects to RED-S and the Female Athlete Triad

Disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction, and low bone density often show up together, a pattern known as RED-S or the Female Athlete Triad. If that’s part of what’s going on for you, it’s worth reading about how the two areas overlap on our RED-S and Female Athlete Triad page, or just mention it when you reach out and Andrea can talk through which framing fits your situation better.

Getting Started

The first conversation is about understanding where you are right now, not committing to anything. If you’re not sure whether what you’re dealing with counts as “serious enough” to reach out about, that uncertainty is common and it’s not a reason to wait. You can read more about Andrea’s background and approach, or go straight to the contact page to set up an initial conversation.

FAQ