Meet the Dietitian: Leslie Bobo-Kiesel

On this edition of “Meet the Dietitian”, I had the chance to sit down and chat with Leslie Bobo-Kiesel, RD, LD. From the very beginning of her dietetic career, Leslie was drawn to support clients in eating disorder recovery and wanted to help them heal on a deep level. She is passionate about helping clients remove shame and guilt associated with food choices, neutralize body image, and find a meaningful relationship with movement. Outside of her career, she enjoys cooking, hiking, and spending time with her chocolate lab, Lulu. Read on to learn more about Leslie!

How did you become interested in nutrition?

I became interested in nutrition in college. I started studying speech pathology and quickly realized that was not the route for me, so I shifted gears a little bit. When I first started studying nutrition, it came from my own ways of “wanting to be healthy”. I used to be hesitant sharing this with people, but I actually feel like this is a really big part of my journey and how I can be compassionate towards my clients on their journeys. Then, as I was learning more and more about nutrition along with the things that I was learning in school, I realized a lot of that was disordered. For instance, counting calories and suggesting low-fat foods to people and things like that. 

Where are you from? What is your favorite thing about that place?

I’m from Kentucky. My favorite thing about Kentucky, especially after living in California for the past 5 years, is all of the green space. I always took it for granted. Also, both my family and my husband’s family are in Kentucky.

What is your favorite food today? What was your favorite as a child?

There are so many that come to mind, I feel like I can’t pick one. My go-to’s are pizza, pasta, and tacos. I also really love sushi. I love street tacos, I’ve been very into pesto pastas lately, and I love to make my own homemade pizza.

Growing up, my favorite food was my grandma’s homemade mashed potatoes. They were my absolute favorite.

What is something on your bucket list? 

I want to go to Italy, really bad – and probably for that pizza and pasta.

What is the most valuable thing that you have learned during your career as a HAES and Intuitive Eating RD?

To have compassion for all of your clients and knowing that we have no idea what they’re going through. Another thing I always try to keep in mind is that even if I’m seeing five clients in a day, I’m the only dietitian that my client is seeing that day. It’s important to be able to hold space for each of my clients equally. Also, sometimes as clinicians we think we have to have all of the answers, but sometimes clients just need words of encouragement or support.

What are some of your favorite things to cook?

I love to make homemade pizza and any type of pasta dish. I like to cook more savory dishes, I’m not much of a baker. I also love trying new recipes. 

What is one of your favorite childhood memories?

Going to the lake with my sisters. When I was young, I always thought Kentucky Lake was my uncle’s lake. As we got older, it was always fun bringing friends too. We would go tubing, go out on the boat, bring out snacks, and just hang out. It was so much fun. 

Are you a dog person or a cat person?

Dog person. I have a chocolate lab that I’m obsessed with. Her name is Lulu and she just turned 6 years old.

What type of music do you listen to and who are your favorite artists?

I really listen to all kinds of music, it depends on my mood. I will listen to any genre, and I don’t really have favorite artists because I just switch it up on Spotify. If I had to pick one artist, I love Kygo’s remixes. Kygo is my default if I’m not in the mood for anything specifically. I will say, if I ever get stuck on a song, I will listen to it over and over until I’m so sick of it and can’t listen to it anymore. 

What has been your favorite hike that you have been on? What is your next hike going to be?

My favorite hike I’ve ever been on was the Santa Paula Punch Bowls. It was the coolest hike because we accidentally got off the trail. We ended up having to scale rocks, which was scary, but looking back at the end it was pretty awesome. There was also a waterfall at the end.

I don’t have a specific next hike in mind, but I am excited to get up north in the fall.

Friendly Reminders

For more information, contact us at Courage to Nourish today. Our eating disorder dietitian nutritionists are located in College Park, Maryland. and Columbia, Maryland. As well as Alexandria, Virginia. Colorado. and Pennsylvania. Read more about the Courage to Nourish team. We’d love to support you in eating disorder recovery.

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