ABOUT

WHAT IS PCOS?

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a metabolic and hormonal condition characterized by an overproduction of androgens (male hormones) in ovaries.

There are 4 main types of PCOS, each with its own particular symptoms. The most common is PCOS accompanied by increased insulin resistance. The other profiles of PCOS may be due to coming off of birth control; excess production from adrenal glands, and finally chronic stress.

Nutrition therapy can benefit each of these types of PCOS to improve symptoms and improve hormone balance. (Mayo Clinic)

What is PCOS

MY APPROACH

Food can have so many roles in our lives. It gives us nourishment to grow, repair, and remain strong; it gives us pleasure; it evokes memories; it defines who we are and the cultures we are from; it can be a distraction; it can be an experience.

As a dietitian, I want to share my knowledge of nutrition and inspire others to rediscover the pleasure in eating, without restriction or guilt. I practice using intuitive eating principles and weight-neutral nutrition advice to help improve my clients' symptoms and also their relationship with food and their body.

In keeping with an intuitive eating approach, I do not believe in restricting any food (or food groups), but apply an “all foods fit” approach. Similarly, weight loss is not a focus of my interventions. Click to learn more about Intuitive Eating.

As a dietitian, I base my recommendations on evidence-based guidelines and studies and apply that knowledge as it fits with your health needs. I truly believe in working WITH my client to help guide them toward achieving their nutrition and health goals gently and holistically.

What I believe in:

✔︎ I reject diet / weight-loss culture, food rules, and restrictions

✔︎ There is no such thing as "good" or "bad" foods

✔︎ All foods (yes even those) can be a part of a healthy balanced diet

✔︎ Exercise should be for pleasure, not punishment or penance

✔︎ You can improve your health without changing your weight

✔︎ All bodies are worthy of love and respect.

My Approach

What is Intuitive Eating

WHAT IS INTUITIVE EATING?

Intuitive Eating, as defined by its two founders, Evelyne Tribole and Elyse Resch (both registered dietitians) "is a self-care eating framework, which integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought" to nutrition.

It is based on 10 principles which include the rejection of diet culture, awareness of internal body cues as a guide for choosing what, when, how, and how much to eat of something, and reinforces the importance of improving our relationship with food and our body.

The principles work in two key ways:

1. By helping you cultivate attunement to the physical sensations that arise from

within your body to get both your biological and psychological needs met and

2. Removing the obstacles and disruptors to attunement, which usually come from

the mind in the form of rules, beliefs, and thoughts.

The process of Intuitive Eating is a practice, which honors both physical and mental health. Intuitive Eating is aligned with Health at Every Size, because the pursuit of intentional weight loss is a failed paradigm, which creates health problems: including weight stigma, weight cycling, and eating disorders. All bodies deserve dignity and respect." (Evelyne Tribole, Intuitive Eating)

When we apply intuitive eating to PCOS, we are bringing that awareness back to how our body experiences the food in terms of emotional (pleasure, guilt, frustration), physical (fullness, hunger), as well as physiological (blood glucose levels). It helps us learn how our bodies respond to food and that awareness will help guide us into choosing the foods that will nourish us to have long-lasting health benefits.

MEET NATALIA

I am a registered dietitian

-nutritionist licensed in

Québec.

I have been working in

clinical nutrition since 2016

in hospitals, research groups,

and clinics.

I recently shifted to private practice to better serve individuals living with PCOS that are interested in a more holistic, and intuitive approach to nutrition.