Meet Registered Dietitian, Wan Xu
Get to know Registered Dietitian & Nutrition Coach, Wan Xu on our team
This article introduces you to Calgary and Online Mental Health Dietitian Wan Xu. Wan is passionate about empowering and supporting people to live a healthy and enjoyable life. Her specialties include nutrition care for eating disorders, mental health, ADHD, emotional eating, disordered relationships with food, weight concerns, and chronic disease management. With her special background in Asian culture, she’s also keen on supporting the Asian population and providing services in Mandarin if needed.
We asked her to share a few things about herself so you could get to know her below in this article. Learn more about Wan in her full bio here: Mental Health Dietitian, Wan Xu Bio
What is your background as a Dietitian?
I was born and raised in China but came to Canada alone to pursue my dream of studying nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan. I know this may sound crazy, but ever since I had my first nutrition class in middle school, I knew that I wanted to become a Dietitian as it combines perfectly with my passion for food and my desire to help people.
Another life-changing moment occurred when I was first introduced to the mental health area in my practicum. The complexity of etiology and treatment of eating disorders caught my attention and soon became the focus in my career path. I enjoy working with both youth and adult eating disorder clients as I find many of my clients to be very talented and resilient individuals with so much potential. I truly believe my clients can change and can and deserve to live their best possible life with recovery.
My other work experiences in both inpatient and outpatient Dietitian roles have given me the opportunity to see the different sides of the care continuum of care and enabled me to provide holistic and thorough nutrition care to those requiring long-term management of their diseases and/or conditions.
What is your favourite part about being a Dietitian and Nutrition Coach?
My favourite part about being a Dietitian is actually connecting with my clients. As I mentioned above, I love helping out people, the more the better! Despite all the challenges in life, I do believe that somehow everyone still has a unique awesome life that I would just love to learn about and be part of as their Dietitian. The fact that I can be helpful and offer meaningful resources to my clients in their journey of recovery fulfills me and makes me happy. I enjoy continuing to bust many myths about food and nutrition and remind many clients the reason dieting does not work is not because of them but the diet itself.
What is one myth you want to clear up about Dietitians?
There is no one perfect way to eat! And depending on your definition of “perfect eating” (i.e., if such a thing actually exists), Dietitians don’t eat “perfectly.” To me, healthy eating is all about balance, routine, intuition, and enjoyment. There’s no “one size fits all” in healthy eating, just ask different Dietitians and you will see they won’t be eating exactly the same. In fact, flexibility and variety are two key components in healthy eating. Therefore, as a Dietitian, I don’t “prescribe diets” but would love to help you find the eating style that suits you, your preference, your schedule and your health best.
What is your favourite nerdy nutritious food chosen for health?
It would be quinoa! And listen up my Asian friends, mixing in quinoa when you cook your rice, especially the coloured ones, is such a great and fun way to add in more nutrition, colour and flavour/aroma. Also, it doesn’t really influence the texture that much and somehow works better when using the leftover rice for stir-fry.
What is your favourite soulful food chosen for taste, enjoyment, and social fun?
Bubble tea! I enjoy bubble tea in Canada as it reminds me of home. In fact, in my hometown, there’s a lot more variations of bubble tea (i.e., sweet drinks/soups), and my favourite one is the mango pomelo sago (in simplified Chinese, 杨枝甘露). I used to enjoy trying out different sweet drinks with my friends on the weekend, or stop by a sweet soup place when mom and I got tired from shopping. To me, it’s such a treat that has also been blended in lots of sweet memories.
Something that people may not know about me:
Does it count that I took Calculus for fun while studying nutrition in university and got high 90s? I’m super grateful for my strong logical brain that has given me the power to analyze and summarize patterns in math and science. I also enjoy simplifying and teaching these concepts to others to help them understand things better.
I will also give you a bonus answer if the above one doesn’t count – my partner is also a Dietitian. We met and fell in love at school. It is lots of fun living with a Dietitian but our chats on a road trip can probably be really boring to another person haha!
Looking for more information on nutrition counselling or finding a Calgary Registered Dietitian or Global Online Nutrition Coach?
Want to learn more about Mental Health Dietitian, Wan Xu? Check out her full bio here.
If you want to book an appointment to begin nutrition counselling with Wan please contact us.
Find out more about our Calgary Dietitian and Online Nutritionist services here.
Don’t forget to check your health insurance! Many insurance plans cover Dietitian services.
Brought to you by our friendly Registered Dietitian team at Health Stand Nutrition Consulting Inc. For more balanced living advice check out our RESOURCE MEGA BANK of nutrition articles, videos, healthy recipes, newsletters and meal planning kits here: www.healthstandnutrition.com/personal-nutrition/resource-mega-bank/
