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Why hello there! Let me introduce myself, my name Dawn Lundin. I am a registered dietitian and the owner of Restore Ease Dietetics, LLC. Restore Ease Dietetics is a virtual private practice that focuses on mental health + sports nutrition. It launched on February 16, 2021 and I am excited that you are here to follow its journey.
I first got interested in nutrition when my parents made some nutrition-related changes when I was in high school. Around this time, I taught myself how to run. My first goal was to run for 30 minutes continuously, then 5 miles and eventually 10 miles.
I ran my first half marathon as a freshman at the University of Minnesota where I was admitted into the School of Journalism. My roommate encouraged me to take Principles of Nutrition which satisfied one of my general education requirements. I started talking to the professor of the course, Dr. Mindy Kurzer and she encouraged me to pursue chiropractic or dietetics. That summer I started working for her Women In Steady Exercise Research (WISER) study as a research assistant.
In the fall of my sophomore year, I completed my first marathon at the Twin Cities marathon. I continued to run through my college career and also became an American of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Certified Personal Trainer. This certification allowed me to also work as a personal trainer for the WISER study until I earned my Bachelors of Science in Nutrition & Dietetics.
After graduation, I was accepted into Central Michigan University’s Dietetic Internship and completed the majority of my rotations in my hometown. After completing my internship and passing my registration exam, I accepted a job at Marquette General Hospital (now UPHS – Marquette) as the nutrition support dietitian in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
I continued running marathons and discovered the importance of consuming calories while running. My usual race day nutrition plan was to alternate water and sports drink at the aid stations. During the marathon where I switched to consuming energy gels, I missed qualifying for the Boston marathon by 50 seconds. I revised my race day nutrition plan and 4 months later, I cut 10 minutes off my personal record and qualified for the Boston marathon.
In addition to working at the hospital, I began working in long term care and earned my Masters of Science in Nutrition & Dietetics from Central Michigan University. While working in the ICU, I realized the lack of services for those with mental health issues as well as eating disorders. Patients often had to seek treatment several hours away from home. I supported patients through outpatient nutrition counseling so that they could remain in their home community. After my oldest son was born, I left my job at the hospital as it became overwhelming to manage critical care patients while receiving texts from daycare who needed milk or diaper rash cream. On my last day, I felt like I was walking away from my dream job.
Within days of leaving the hospital, I was offered an adjunct position to start teaching Nutrition for Healthcare Professionals as part of the pre-nursing curriculum at Northern Michigan University. I love interacting with students and teaching them about all thing nutrition, especially nutrition support! It wasn’t long until I realized how passionate I am about teaching these students. Soon it started to feel like having the potential to impact their future career as a nurse was a dream job that I never knew existed!
Fast forward 7 years and welcoming two more boys into our family, I found myself helping my older sons with virtual learning during the coronavirus pandemic and at another crossroads with my career. I wanted the flexibility in my schedule to meet the needs of my 3 sons along with the ability to work with athletes, those with disordered eating or eating disorders and help individuals with mental illnesses. In my home community, a job that checked all these boxes simply didn’t exist. Then on a cool October day, while I was running I thought to myself, “What if I start putting my energy into something of my own?”
In that moment, Restore Ease Dietetics was born.
With the unconditional support of my husband Jordan and enthusiasm from our three sons, I started my virtual private practice to help people restore their relationship with food, their body image and the association between body size & health.
They say if you wait for the perfect time to start something, then you’ll never begin. Progress cannot be made towards our goal when we’re waiting to take the leap. Are you waiting to improve your relationship with food or to make nutrition-related changes? How can I support you?
Schedule a free 20-minute inquiry call to discuss your nutrition-related goals to see if we are a good fit to work together. I can’t wait to hear from you!