Advantages of Working with a Registered Dietitian

Get the right advice and strategies for your health

– keto, paleo, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, intermittent fasting … everyone has a success story or a warning to share. If you want to cut through the noise and find the right solution for you, you should talk to a Registered Dietitian.

What will a registered dietitian do?

When you visit a Registered Dietitian, whether in person or virtually, they will take the time to get to know you and your relationship with food. No trained Dietitian is going to tell you to cut a certain food out of your life completely if you have a strong relationship with it. Why do you think Andrea is “The Chocoholic Nutritionist”? Because there is room for ALL foods in a balanced diet that encourages a healthy, life-long relathionship with food.

A Registered Dietitian is university trained in nutritional science. They are required to pass a licensing exam, maintain ethical standards and do continuing education to ensure their knowledge is up to date to meet regulatory requirements. The profession is regulated by a provincial College (similar to Physicians, Nurses and Psychologists who are also regulated by a provincial College). They didn’t graduate from the school of google so you can be assured that you are going to get credible, reliable, well-researched, safe advice.

WATCH this video from Andrea Holwegner our practice director about 5 things to know about hiring a nutrition coach:

“I am a psychologist in private practice and it is very important to me that my clients have the best care with other health care professionals. For that reason Health Stand Nutrition is my only source for exceptional Dietitians. Andrea and her team provide highly knowledgeable, compassionate, and real world support to my clients who require assistance with food lifestyle. I trust my clients to them and you would be in excellent hands making them part of your health care team.”

Adele Fox, Psychologist

Accessing a Registered Dietitian is Easy

Chances are there is a Registered Dietitian accepting clients near you. Many Dietitians, including us at Health Stand Nutrition, are now offering virtual consultations. Find out more information about our personal nutrition counseling services here: Personal Nutrition Counseling Services

Are Registered Dietitians covered by Insurance?

You should also check with your employee benefits plan to see if visits to see if a Registered Dietitian is covered under your plan. If they are not, ask if they would consider adding it to your plan and share the following fact sheet with your employer. Are you optimizing support for nutrition in your benefits plan? Healthy employees benefit everyone!

Reasons To Visit a Registered Dietitian

• You’ve recently been diagnosed with a health condition such as diabetes, IBS, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or kidney disease and need to fine tune your diet
• You are an athlete or have just started a new exercise regimen and want to be sure you are fuelling optimally
• You want to get healthier and have better energy and productivity through your work day
• You’re a parent who wants to introduce your child to new foods and healthy meal planning for your family
• You are struggling with emotional eating, disordered eating and want to improve your relationship with food
• You’ve decided to become vegetarian and want to ensure you are getting all of the nutrients you require

Wondering what it looks like to see a Dietitian at our practice? Watch this video and find out more about our unique process:

For more information about our Registered Dietitian services and the areas of expertise for each of our team members visit: Personal Nutrition Counseling Services

“I am a family physician who sees patients with a myriad of eating concerns – from wanting to know how to plan healthy meals for active families, to weight loss, to eating disorders, and so on. I cannot recommend the Health Stand team highly enough. I have worked with (and been to!) other Dieticians in the past and too often find that they just ask for food logs and make suggestions that are easily obtained online or in books. The Dieticians at Health Stand offer much more than just telling clients what they “should be eating.” In contrast, the team really does more of a counselling practice, and they work hard to help their clients learn more about why their eating habits may be off track and not optimal for them, as well as helping people to effect change at a deep level that, most importantly, is sustainable for lifetime health.”

Dr. Deb Putnam, Family Physician

What can a Registered Dietitian do for me?

 We can tell you what our registered dietitians do for people like you… or you can hear it from our clients themselves:

“When I first came to see my Dietitian, I was stuck inside my head and definitely feeling a post binge hangover. This was not an unusual feeling. The box inside my mind had some pretty stringent rules and a vision of the perfect me. It was a roller coaster ride of high’s and low’s. Eating “clean”, obsessing over ingredients to “slipping up” and demolishing whatever was in the pantry. My life depended on a good eating day or bad eating day. Throughout our sessions, my Dietitian helped me navigate through the voices to a place of self-compassion. A truly soulful way of not only eating but living. Today I have invaluable tools that will be there for the rest of my life.”

Sam K.

“My Dietitian did a great job of understanding the way I work and providing insightful comments for ways of rethinking food, preparation and planning. She was a great listener and extremely easy to open up to (very approachable). I really enjoyed how we managed to change habits, set a strong baseline with good food preparation and planning, and providing a different perspective on nutrition seemingly without trying. I now feel I have a great system in place that I can build from. I think I came in expecting to be told that in order to get to my goals, I should do x, y and z – and follow a, b and c meal plans or e.g. don’t eat after 9pm / stop eating bread etc. i.e. a more prescriptive approach. Instead what we did was to look at my relationship with food, using the way I think, and a few simple mindset changes – a hugely more effective process.” 

David Pickup

“I came some time ago for a few nutrition counseling sessions as my blood sugar was a bit high.  I am happy to report that my blood sugar is back to normal as I have made big changes in my choices and portion sizes.  I have lost about 20 lbs. in less than a year and while I still have a ways to go, I am doing well.  Thanks for all of your help!!  I’ll apprise if I think I need any “tune up” sessions with you down the road.”

Denis Gagne

“This is the first time I feel satisfied; my cravings have diminished dramatically, and I have a whole new relationship with food. I am eating guilt-free for the first time in my life. My energy has also dramatically increased and I feel great!”

Rhonda Jenkins

“I am a family physician who sees patients with a myriad of eating concerns – from wanting to know how to plan healthy meals for active families, to weight loss, to eating disorders, and so on. I cannot recommend the Health Stand team highly enough. I have worked with (and been to!) other Dieticians in the past and too often find that they just ask for food logs and make suggestions that are easily obtained online or in books. The Dieticians at Health Stand offer much more than just telling clients what they “should be eating.” In contrast, the team really does more of a counselling practice, and they work hard to help their clients learn more about why their eating habits may be off track and not optimal for them, as well as helping people to effect change at a deep level that, most importantly, is sustainable for lifetime health.”

Dr. Deb Putnam, Family Physician