Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Lutz.
Hi Anna Lutz, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Ten years ago, Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy was born!
In 2016, Anna Lutz and Shauna Alexander were both working in private practice, specializing in eating disorder care. After years of collaborating as colleagues, they decided to build their own practice together. What began with three dietitians has grown into a team of more than 20 over the past decade.
Anna first became interested in nutrition as an undergraduate at Duke University, where she was fascinated by the question of why people eat the way they do. She studied Psychology at Duke before studying nutrition and completing a coordinated dietetic internship at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Anna later worked on the eating disorders treatment team at Duke Student Health and spent 10 years in private practice before co-founding Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy.
Shauna studied Nutrition at Meredith College and completed her dietetic internship at North Carolina Central University. Before entering private practice, she worked in nutrition research and pediatric nutrition, eventually specializing in eating disorder care.
Together, Anna and Shauna set out to build a weight-inclusive nutrition practice where dietitians feel supported both professionally and personally. One of the cornerstones of the practice is ongoing case consultation, training, and clinical support, creating an environment where clinicians continue to grow, learn, and provide thoughtful, compassionate care.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a completely smooth road. One thing we quickly realized is that dietitians are not taught business management in nutrition school! As the practice has grown and the healthcare landscape has changed, we’ve had to continuously learn, adapt, and evolve on the business side of things.
We originally started as a self-pay practice and began accepting health insurance in 2020. Interestingly, we had submitted our applications to become in-network with insurance companies in late 2019, and our contracts came through just as the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time that we were transitioning to virtual care for the first time, we were also rapidly learning how to navigate insurance billing and systems.
Like many small businesses, we’ve faced challenges we never could have anticipated. At the same time, those challenges have pushed us to grow and continue improving the care we provide. Our goal has always remained the same: to offer compassionate, evidence-based care to individuals while creating a supportive environment for our dietitians. Keeping that mission at the center makes the business and management challenges feel worthwhile.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy?
Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy is a weight-inclusive nutrition therapy practice specializing in eating disorders, disordered eating, and the intersection of nutrition and mental health. Our team of registered dietitians works with children, teens, adults, and families, providing compassionate, individualized care that helps people build a more peaceful and trusting relationship with food and their bodies.
Over the years, our practice has grown to include more than 20 dietitians with a wide range of specialties, including pediatric feeding concerns, diabetes care, gastrointestinal conditions, sports nutrition, PMOS (formerly PCOS) nutrition, and nutrition support for neurodivergent individuals. While our clinical expertise continues to expand, our core philosophy has remained the same: care should be evidence-based, collaborative, and grounded in respect for each person’s lived experience.
What sets our practice apart is our strong emphasis on both clinical excellence and human connection. We’ve intentionally built a practice culture where dietitians receive ongoing consultation, training, and support, because we believe supported clinicians provide better care. Collaboration is woven into everything we do – both within our team and with the therapists, physicians, and other providers we work alongside.
We also want readers to know that nutrition therapy is about so much more than meal plans or rules. Our work often involves helping people be curious about why they eat the way they do, reconnect with hunger and fullness cues, navigate medical conditions, support their children around food, heal from years of chronic dieting, or recover from eating disorders. Our goal is always to meet people where they are and help them make changes that feel supportive, practical, and meaningful within the context of their real lives.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
When we started Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy in 2016, building a weight-inclusive nutrition practice absolutely felt like a risk. At the time, there were far fewer dietitians and healthcare providers openly practicing from a weight-inclusive or Health at Every Size® perspective. Much of the nutrition field was still heavily centered on weight loss, dieting, and BMI-focused care. We believed deeply that there was a more compassionate and effective way to support people than the traditional weight-centric approach, which can often cause harm. Weight-inclusive care, rooted in evidence-based practice, compassion, and respect for body diversity, was not yet widely understood or accepted when we started our practice in 2016.
In many ways, we felt like trailblazers. We took the risk of building a practice that aligned with our values, even when it may have seemed less conventional or less marketable at the time. We were intentional about creating a space where clients could receive nutrition care without shame and where dietitians could practice in a way that felt ethical and sustainable to them.
Looking back, that risk shaped the entire identity of our practice. Over the last decade, weight-inclusive care has become more visible and more sought after, and we are grateful to have been part of that shift. It’s encouraging to now see many more clinicians and practices embracing this approach.
Our perspective on risk has evolved over time, but one thing has stayed consistent: the risks that have felt most worthwhile are the ones rooted in our values. Whether it was starting our own practice, transitioning to insurance-based care during the pandemic, or continuing to grow a large team, the biggest decisions have often come with uncertainty. But we’ve learned that growth usually requires some willingness to step into the unknown, especially when you believe strongly in the work you’re doing and the impact it can have on people’s lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lutzandalexander.com/
- Instagram: @lutzandalexander_rds
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annalutzrd/
