Debra Benfield, CEDRD, RYT

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Winston-Salem, NC
Debra Benfield, CEDRD, RYT

Nutrition Therapy & Body Image Coach at the Intersection of Anti-ageism and Body Liberation.

Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist with 40 years of experience, passionate about blazing a new path to a respectful, nurturing relationship with your aging body. I am a Registered and Licensed Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist with 35+ years of experience, as well as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT)

If your relationship with food and your body is a struggle (a little or a lot), I am passionate about helping you:

• Experience the PLEASURE of eating again,with permission and confidence!
• Choose foods so that nutrition is optimal and satisfaction comes with ease
• Let go of fear and anxiety around food and body
• Compassionately cultivate a body that is well fed by an intentional mind
• Nourish yourself so that you will feel vital and have the energy for all of the ways you play! Offering Nutritional Therapy and Coaching for individuals, couples and families as well as Classes and Workshops. Nourishing Yoga and BodyLoveRevolutution Yoga Classes, Workshops and Individual/Family sessions

03/02/2026

If you’re in midlife and beyond, or love someone who is, please read this.

Eating Disorders Awareness Week just ended. For me, this is when the real conversations begin.

You likely know someone with an eating disorder and you can’t tell by looking.

Only 6% of people with eating disorders look like the image you think of when you think about an eating disorder, in other words, are medically underweight.

Which means the woman strength training, tracking protein, fasting “for her hormones” , and praised for her discipline, could be quietly struggling.

Body changes in midlife and beyond are real.

But when menopause and longevity advice make restriction and rules sound like “being good”, eating disorders can hide in plain sight.

In midlife and beyond, an eating disorder can look like a gold star.

I’m hearing this in quiet conversations after book talks and in my DMs. High achieving women who are “doing everything right”, and waking up old eating order thoughts and patterns.

Midlife+ is a real relapse window.

We need to talk about it.

This week’s Substack article gets into. Link is in my bio or drop the word “secret” in the comments and I’ll send you the direct link.

02/26/2026

Messages about nutrition and exercise targeting women in midlife and beyond NORMALIZE disordered eating behaviors.

Let’s say that plainly.

Rigid and restrictive food rules.
Obsession with protein targets.
Maxing this and maxing that.
Tracking every bite, move, sleep, moment.
Fear mongering about normal body changes.

When you feel like your body is betraying you and that managing your body is the way forward, you become vulnerable.

Let me be clear-
When the same behaviors we are concerned about when caring for our clients in recovery are packaged as optimization, discipline or longevity, it becomes even more challenging to stay in your recovery or recognize the fact that you are slipping into disordered behaviors.

Bodies in peri-menopause, menopause, and post-menopause deserve nourishment, rest, support, pleasure, playful movement and so much respect.

This is exactly why I wrote UNAPOLOGETIC AGING.

If you are concerned that you may be slipping into disordered eating behaviors, please don’t hesitate to reach out for help.

And if you think my book might help, check the link in my bio.

I’m so glad you’re here.
Much love,
Deb

02/23/2026

The Epstein files are making some things painfully clear-patriarchy is not theoretical.

It protects powerful men.
It objectifies bodies.
It thrives on body hierarchy

And it runs on a cultural story that says our value is highest when we look younger, stay thinner, and are compliant.

When youth is the currency, aging feels like loss.
When thinness is moralized, body changes feel like failure.

Wanting to pass as younger and stay thinner is not vanity.

That is conditioning.

Unapologetic Aging is not just about feeling better in your midlife+ body.
It’s about refusing to cooperate with a system that ranks human worth.

If you’ve ever felt the quiet panic of feeling less visible, less desirable, less relevant, I wrote my book and this week’s Substack for you.

Let’s talk about what it means to resist, starting with our own bodies.

Link in bio and if you’d like me to send you the link to your DMs, drop the word resist in the comments 👇.

I so love that you are here. We need each other more than ever.

Much love,
Deb

02/20/2026

If you’re local to the Greensboro, North Carolina, I’m so excited to share this with you!

On Friday, March 6th at 7:00 pm, I’ll be at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro for a book talk supported by in conversation with Julie Duffy Dillon.

And I would love to see you there.

We’ll talk about -
• Untangling from anti-aging and diet culture
• Reclaiming trust with your body in midlife and beyond
• Why “healthy aging” doesn’t mean shrinking yourself
• How embodiment restores vitality and agency, which is so important in this season of life

This book and conversation is for you if you’re feeling the pressure to fix, optimize, or control your body as you age and are looking for another way.

Books will be available, or you can pre-order from Scuppernong Books, and I’ll be signing afterwards.

Bring a friend. Bring your Book Club. Bring your complicated feelings about your body.

Let’s make Unapologetic Aging the new black, together.

Hope to see you there!

02/19/2026

Are you still putting your energy and resources into “anti-aging”?

The release of the Epstein files re-opened a cultural wound, and alongside the horror, rage, and heartbreak, I’m noticing something else.

You are connecting the dots.

About desirability. About why we’ve been trained to pursue a body that appears younger, and fear looking older.

I keep wondering:

Are you dropping your anti-aging efforts yet?

Are you still spending your energy and resources trying to erase the evidence that you are a woman in a changing woman’s body?

I’m writing about the bizarre and heartbreaking silver lining of this moment-and why Unapologetic Aging is the move.

When young bodies are the currency in this messed up culture, Unapologetic Aging is radical and clearly wise.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments 👇.

Full piece coming soon on Substack. Link in my bio.

02/17/2026

I am made brave by fierce LOVE.

Not by outrage.
Not by wanting to be right.

But by witnessing the pain women carry when we feel disgusted by our own bodies.

And I know this is deeply complex in a culture that shows signs of hating women in so many different ways.

And working to control your body can serve to distract you and even fool you into thinking you’ll be safer or more worthy.

The mind-f**kery is real!

I see it every week.
Brilliant women who still believe shrinking is their life’s unfinished project.
Women in midlife and beyond who assume a diagnosis means they’ve failed
Providers who were taught that weight equals some sort of worth and moral standing.

And I also see what happens when the war with our bodies begins to ease.

When a client eats without apology.
When she rests without negotiation and guilt.
When she says I’m done thinking I need to shrink and control my body.
And more than anything, she recognizes her internalized ageism and how these beliefs are keeping her stuck.

(I’ve been writing about this over on Substack if you want to read the free article, see the link here

https://open.substack.com/pub/debrabenfield/p/when-loving-people-makes-you-brave?r=16vgx&utm_medium=ios

That shift changes everything. This is where your resources like energy, creativity, vitality, and trusting yourself live.

This is exactly what we explore in my book Unapologetic Aging and what we’ll talk about in my VIRTUAL BOOK TALK

February 24 at 7 pm ET

I’ll offer a -
-a brief reading from Unapologetic Aging
-a facilitated, compassionate conversation about these themes
-a generous space for asking questions

Because this conversation matters, especially now.

I would love to see you there and you can register here-

https://www.debrabenfield.com/virtual-event

If you’re learning to become more comfortable and confident in your midlife + body, even a little bit and imperfectly-you are part of something bigger.

As always, I’m so glad you’re here.
Deb💚

02/13/2026

If you’ve been feeling the quiet exhaustion of self-improvement culture, this is for you.

If you haven’t been able to join an in person event, I’m offering a virtual book talk during Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Unapologetic Aging In a Culture Obsessed With Fixing Us

🗓️ Tuesday, February 24
⏰ 7:00 pm ET
💻 Online

Midlife and beyond can feel oppressive in a culture shouting at us that what we’re doing is never enough.

More rules.
More optimization.
More pressure to get it right.

This book talk is not about fixing your body.

It’s a spacious, compassionate conversation about what opens up for us when we shift from managing and controlling our bodies to partnering with them-especially in a culture steeped in diet/wellness rules and ageism.

✨No prep required.
✨You don’t need to have read the book.
✨Cameras on or off.
✨Suggested $10 contribution.
✨Scholarships available (contact me)

I would love to see you there!
Link in bio to register.

As always, thank you for being here.

Love,
Deb

02/12/2026

Last night I stood in front of a room of physicians and high-performing women and gave a talk about one of the themes in my book, Unapologetic Aging. I called it “unlearning what we were taught about bodies”.

My goal wasn’t to convince the room.

It was to plant a seed in maybe a handful of people.

If a few people walked out thinking:
-Maybe we need to widen the lens beyond biomarkers.
-Maybe our midlife + bodies deserve our partnership, not policing.
-Maybe I need to check out my anti-fat bias and ageism.
then it was worth it.

There was a loud and proud physician who identified herself as an “ob*sity medicine specialist”.

I didn’t shrink.
I didn’t get defensive.
I stayed grounded.

But I did wake up with a barrage of “I should have said” thoughts.

Afterward, several women came up quietly and said, “ I’ve never heard this perspective before and I needed to hear it.”

That’s the work.
Seed Planted.

The host sent me home with these beautiful flowers, and I felt both tender and steady.

I’m writing more about what happened, what it means to challenge dominant narratives about midlife + bodies from inside the room, in next week’s Substack.

Link in bio.

Have you ever spoken up in a space where the dominant story felt harmful? I would love to hear about what happened in the comments below.

I’m so glad you’re here.
Love,
Deb

02/09/2026

One of the most painful patterns I see, personally and professionally, is how quickly we blame ourselves when we receive a diagnosis.

Of course we feel fear.
And grief.

And sadly also shame.

Longevity medicine and diet/wellness culture make promises that if we do all the things, we can prevent illness. But when health is framed as a moral achievement, illness is perceived as a personal failure.

Our bodies are shaped by far more than “discipline”.

Evidence-based behaviors can support us, but they are not guarantees, and they are not measures of our worth.

I took a deep dive into longevity medicine in this week’s Substack, which you can find at the link in my bio.

If this landed, I’d love to hear:
Do you feel your health status is tied to your worth?

I would love to hear your stories in the comments 👇.

02/06/2026

The legitimacy of Peter Attia and “longevity medicine” are finally being called into question due to him showing up in the Epstein files.

While we are having this conversation, I have some thoughts.

Longevity medicine is often praised as progressive, “cutting-edge” and data-driven.

But when you look closer, it’s diet/wellness culture and ageism wrapped in a lab coat-selling fear of aging as individual responsibility and control as care.

I’m not anti-health.
I’m anti body-shame.
Anti-fear-mongering.
Anti-the idea that our bodies need constant surveillance to be worthy, valued, and cared for.

I’ve been talking about this for a while and wrote a book about it!

What we need instead is UNAPOLOGETIC AGING:
A way of relating to our bodies rooted in respect, vitally , and liberation , not endless angst about fixing our bodies.

📘My book Unapologetic Aging explores this in depth-how to untangle from ageism and diet/wellness culture, and reclaim trust in our bodies so we can age without apology.

👉check it out https://www.debrabenfield.com/book

02/04/2026

There are poems that don’t just speak about the body,
they speak from it.

I’m sharing a poem today by that lives inside Unapologetic Aging: “Long Song of My Body.”

This poem is a remembering.
A refusal to rush past what the body has carried.
A love song that isn’t neat or polite, but honest, lived in, and wide.

Jillian’s newest book, To Begin Again, continues this devotion-
to beginning again and again in the same body,
with tenderness instead of urgency,
with presence instead of fixing.

If you’ve ever felt called home by words,
If you’re practicing staying with your body rather than managing it,
let this poem meet you where you are.

Grateful to share Jillian’s work, and to carry her words inside my own book.

✨And a little seed we’re planting: and I are planning workshops and book readings in Maine this summer, a space for bodies, words, and beginning again.

If you have ideas for places where this kind of gathering might be welcomed, bookstores, retreat centers, libraries, or community space, we’d love to hear from you.

Address

Winston-Salem, NC

Telephone

+13367731443

Website

https://www.debrabenfield.com/

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My Story and Passion

I am passionate about supporting Body Liberation as a Nutrition Therapist (CEDRD) with over 30 years of experience! I am a Body Liberation Coach, offering virtual and in person sessions, and a Registered Yoga Teacher, Certified in Curvy Yoga and am Trauma-Sensitive in all of my offerings. My work includes Re-Parenting your Eating and Body Image, Deconstructing Internalized Diet Culture, and somatic practices which support your calming and connecting to your body with compassion and curiosity! I am on a mission for all to know There Is No Wrong Way to Have a Body.#TraumaSensitive #EmbodiedEating #BodyLiberation #HealthAtEverySize #IntutiveEating and #YogaforEveryBODY If your relationship with food and your body is a struggle (a little or a lot), I am passionate about helping you: • Experience the PLEASURE of eating again, with connection, compassion and curiosity • Develop Ease and Peace around Food, Eating and Body Image • Nourish yourself so that you will feel vital and grounded and have the energy for all of the ways you play! Offering Nutritional Therapy and Coaching for individuals, couples and families as well as Intuitive Eating Groups, and Intuitive Eating and Yoga Workshops, Body Liberation Yoga Classes and Retreats, and offer a Body Liberation Book/Film Club which is open and free to the public. I own and supervise the care of fellow RDs in my private practice, offering Nutrition Consults for Eating Disorder Prevention and Recovery along with general support for your well-being with a Health at Every Size perspective.