areas of expertise

Strive for health & Happiness

You deserve it!

As a Registered Dietitian, I believe in the power of food to enhance your energy, health and well-being! The advice and information that I provide is 100% backed by science and is 110% tailored to meet your unique needs, preferences and lifestyle.

MY APPROACH! First of all, I’m a busy mom of two (with 2 jobs) so I get that life can get a little busy sometimes (if you’re wondering what my other job is, I also work as a part-time Administrative Assistant at a high school). Our health and wellness can sometimes become secondary to work & family life and our fast-paced routines can make meal planning seem overwhelming and out of reach. Second, I understand that there is lot of conflicting information out there about food and nutrition! I’ve combined these two concepts to create a business model that focuses on helping CLEAR the confusion when it comes to figuring how and what to eat - for you and your family! Voila - Krystal Clear Nutrition!

HOW CAN I HELP? By providing evidence-based nutrition information & practical meal planning strategies that you can actually apply to everyday life. Sound too good to be true! It’s not, I promise. It CAN and SHOULD be easy and I’m here to help you every step of the way.

LET’S GET STARTED! Whether your looking to increase your energy levels, improve digestion, address hormonal issues, fine tune your meal balance or need inspiration with meal planning, give me a call and let’s get you started on the path to feeling your best self!

intuitive eating

Food is meant to provide you with energy, satisfaction and enjoyment. It should NOT be stressful, overwhelming and lead to feelings of guilt and shame. If you’re ready to ditch dieting and FINALLY develop life-long habits that stick, let’s chat about the “non-diet,” health-at-every-size approach - also known as Intuitive (or Mindful) Eating.

The Intuitive Eating framework, developed by Registered Dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, is an evidenced-based approach that rejects diet culture’s emphasis on weight loss & food rules and restrictions. It instead encourages you to develop health-promoting behaviours and habits that focuses on making food feel good to support your mental, physical and emotional well-being.

HOW CAN I HELP? I can provide you with advice & strategies using the guiding principles of the intuitive eating framework to help you:

  • Heal your relationship with food

  • Heal your metabolism

  • Reach and maintain a happy and healthy weight (for you!)

  • Love & respect your body

  • Trust & honour your internal hunger and fullness cues (and your cravings —> yay!)

  • Stop overeating and bingeing

  • Enjoy a variety of foods, guilt-free

  • Feel IN CONTROL of eating

  • Build lifestyle and eating habits that last (forever!)

  • Adopt a mindset of “nutrition through addition, not subtraction”

Weight Management

Weight loss is by far the most common goal that I hear! I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I would hazard a guess that you’ve tried every diet under the sun in an attempt to help you reach your weight loss goal!

I’ve got good news for you - I can help you achieve your weight loss goals WITHOUT dieting and all of the rules, restrictions and feelings of deprivation that go along with them. I am all about a weight-neutral, non-diet approach when it comes to nutrition and health. I believe that food is fuel and provides nourishment for our bodies, but I am also passionate about the fact that food is meant to bring us satisfaction, enjoyment and connection.

While I can’t guarantee that you will lose a specific amount of weight or reach a certain “ideal” number on the scale, you can be rest assured that I will be your guide to get you on the path towards achieving a weight that is best for YOU! Together, we will work on creating lifelong healthy eating habits, while incorporating foods that you love because that my friends, is far more sustainable and much more easily maintained than the next fad diet. My mission is to assist you with incorporating eating habits and routines that work for your lifestyle, taste buds and health goals.

Today is a great day to start on the next “non-diet” by building a foundation with sustainable eating habits!

HOW CAN I HELP? Together we will come up with a plan that meets your overall health needs and goals, while also focusing on developing life-long, health-promoting eating habits and behaviours that work for you and your lifestyle. And yes, that means that you still get to enjoy foods that you love!

You will receive support to assist you with ditching the diet mentality (for good!), coping with cravings and/or any emotional reasons that may be hindering your weight loss goals and real-life meal planning strategies that incorporate healthy eating principles.

We will review basic strategies for healthy eating and I will provide you with tips on how to implement them into everyday life to start you on your journey to feeling your best - body, mind and soul!

WOmen’s Health & Hormones

Hormones are chemical messengers that are produced throughout the body and control every major body process from sleep to mood, appetite, metabolism, menstruation and the reproductive cycle. Production of too little or too much of any hormone (due to environmental toxins, inflammation, eating disorders, stress, trauma or medications) can cause an imbalance and disrupt the systems that they control, leading to fatigue, poor sleep, weight gain (or loss), severe PMS symptoms, missed or irregular periods, dry skin, mood swings, anxiety, depression, fertility issues and more!

As women, our bodies are constantly (and very naturally!) changing as we move from adolescence, to the child bearing years, straight through to menopause. With those changes come different nutritional needs.

HOW CAN I HELP? By providing you with practical nutrition and eating habit strategies to assist with:

  • Planning for pregnancy

  • Pre and post natal nutrition (see below)

  • Menstrual cycle irregularities & reducing PMS symptoms

  • Menopause (perimenopause & postmenopause)

  • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

  • Other hormonal imbalances such as estrogen dominance (ED), insulin resistance and diabetes, hyper- and hypothyroidism (including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), stress and insomnia

The benefits of addressing women’s health concerns and/or possible hormonal imbalance issues via diet and lifestyle modifications include:

  • Better mood

  • Increased energy levels

  • Improved sleep quality

  • Reduced stress

  • Weight management

  • Appetite regulation

  • Better digestion

  • Increased insulin sensitivity

  • Healthier hair, skin and nails

  • Improved overall quality of life!

PRegnancy & lactation

Pregnancy is a special time for every mother-to-be. Making nutritious choices and consuming a balanced diet is very important during pregnancy because it gives your baby the nutrients they need to grow and develop. It also helps lower your risk of having health problems such as high blood pressure or low iron. During lactation, meeting increased energy, protein and vitamin/mineral needs is of the utmost importance to help mom get what she needs and to ensure that the baby receives the most nutrient-dense breast milk as possible to support ongoing growth.

HOW CAN I HELP?

  • Diet review & recommendations to meet calorie and nutrient needs before, during and after pregnancy

  • Create a meal plan - I can create a customized meal plan based on your dietary preferences, lifestyle and individual requirements

  • Highlight key nutrients that are important in each trimester and during lactation and which foods to avoid to ensure a safe pregnancy

  • Gestational diabetes - dietary strategies to help you manage blood sugar levels

  • Healthy weight gain - I can assist with ensuring that you gain a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy. Weight loss during pregnancy is generally not safe, but I can help you make sure that you’re gaining healthy amount of weight

  • Address complications during pregnancy - low appetite, nausea, vomiting (including hyperemesis gravidarum), constipation, acid reflux and heartburn, concerns about not eating enough and support for eating disorders

  • Breastfeeding - review of health outcomes & benefits for baby, identifying and addressing breastfeeding issues (ie. supply and nutrient content of breastmilk), weaning and overall diet quality of mother

  • Ongoing support, motivation and mindfulness strategies - to help you stick to your goals and make healthy choices during pregnancy and breastfeeding

Infant, Toddler & Children’s Nutrition

Parents everywhere only want what is best for their kiddos, but sometimes it can be difficult to know what is best in terms of nutritional and dietary needs to support growth and development.

HOW CAN I HELP? By providing you and your family with nutrition education, advice and meal planning support for:

  • Breastfeeding/Lactation (see above)

  • Formula feeding and choosing commercial infant formulas (ie. cow’s milk based, lactose-free, soy-based, partially or extensively hydrolyzed formulas)

  • Introducing solid foods & baby-led weaning (BLW)

  • Feeding picky eaters

  • Addressing food allergies or intolerances

  • Supporting mental health (ie. depression, anxiety, stress, ADHD)

  • Dealing with digestive issues (ie. constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, IBS, Crohn’s)

  • Managing chronic diseases (ie. Type 1 or 2 Diabetes, asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis)

  • Meal & snack ideas (including school lunches!)

  • Raising healthy, confident eaters!

  • Teaching children & teens about the importance of nutrition & providing them with the tools they need to succeed well into adulthood such as meal planning, mindful eating and how to work towards a healthy relationship with food (via one-on-one appointments or group presentations!)

Digestive Health

Are you at your wits end with undesirable digestive symptoms?

Does diarrhea, constipation, gas, bloating and abdominal discomfort/pain impact your day and your overall quality of life?

Gastrointestinal (GI) issues are more common than you think! Signs and symptoms of digestive conditions can be different for every individual and they can vary greatly in terms of severity and frequency. Digestive health is a vital part of our wellness. If left untreated or uncontrolled, GI conditions can cause long-term discomfort and other health problems.

HOW CAN I HELP? I can provide you with the nutrition education and meal planning support to navigate dietary changes to help manage GI conditions/diseases such as:

  • Diarrhea and/or constipation

  • Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

  • Celiac Disease

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and colitis (ulcerative, microscopic and collagenous)

Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is a long-term physiological response to factors such as environmental toxins, poor nutrition, stress and aging. Over time, chronic inflammation can pave the pathway for chronic conditions and diseases such as:

  • Obesity

  • Metabolic syndrome

  • Type 2 Diabetes

  • Cardiovascular disease

  • Alzheimer’s disease

  • Cancer

  • Rheumatoid arthritis

  • Fibromyalgia, lupus and multiple sclerosis (MS)

  • Celiac and Crohn’s disease

  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

  • Skin conditions such as acne, eczema and rosacea

HOW CAN I HELP? Nutrients play an important role in either promoting or inhibiting the inflammatory response. The fight against inflammation does not come down to a single food or meal - the key is looking at your diet as a whole and your pattern of eating. I can assist you by highlighting which anti-inflammatory foods and nutrient groups to include in your diet (and which ones to limit) to ensure that you are consuming a wide variety of protective components to decrease your risk of chronic disease and/or to reduce symptoms.

Sports nutrition

Eating a balanced diet that includes carbohydrate, protein and fat is important to help you exercise, train and perform at your best. Every athlete is different in terms of their needs and goals. If you enjoy gentle movement such as walking and yoga, your daily energy, nutrient and fluid requirements are going to be much different than if you’re training for a marathon or if you’re a professional hockey player.

The main goal of sports nutrition is to improve performance, prevent injury and promote recovery. For some athletes, improving performance may mean altering body composition. A cyclist may need to decrease body fat in order to reduce their power to weight ratio. A golfer may need to increase upper body and core strength to drive the ball further. A hockey player may need to gain weight to be more competitive on the ice.

HOW CAN I HELP? I can create a nutrition plan that supports your specific sport & training regimen and that helps you meet your performance goals through optimal food and fluid timing, balance and composition.

Diabetes & Heart Health

Diabetes affects the body’s ability to make or properly use insulin, which can lead to high levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood. If blood sugar levels are consistently high, this can lead to secondary health complications such as heart disease, chronic kidney disease, nerve damage and other issues such as vision and hearing loss and compromised oral and foot health.

Due to the rising incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart health is pivotal to most of the conversations that I have about healthy eating. The bad news? CVD is the leading cause of death globally! The good news? It is preventable through healthy lifestyle behaviours such as a healthy diet and being physically active!

HOW CAN I HELP?

  • Pre-diabetes, Type 1 or 2 Diabetes or Gestational Diabetes - I can assist you by providing you with nutrition education regarding carbohydrate counting, label reading and meal balance to promote balanced blood sugars

  • Cardiovascular Diseases - high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol and/or triglycerides, coronary heart disease, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism - I can work with you to outline which foods to limit and which foods to include in your diet for optimum heart health. This may include making suggestions for healthy food swaps, providing you with access to delicious recipes and/or assisting you with implementing principles of the DASH or Mediterranean diet.

Food Allergies & intolerances

Food allergies and intolerances are on the rise worldwide. Food allergies are an immune reaction to a substance in food (usually protein), whereas a food intolerance is a chemical reaction that occurs when your body unable to digest a certain component in food (ie. lactose).

Food Allergies - most food allergies appear in the first year of life and are most common in those with a family history. While some children outgrow certain food allergies as they get older, many food allergies are life-long. Severe allergic reactions can be life-threatening.

More than 170 foods are known to cause food allergies, but there are 9 foods that account for the majority of allergic reactions including:

  • Milk

  • Eggs

  • Peanuts

  • Tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews)

  • Fish

  • Shellfish

  • Soy

  • Wheat (not gluten)

  • Sesame

Food Intolerances - reactions are usually related to the amount of food eaten and may not occur until a certain amount is consumed. Food intolerance has been associated with conditions such as asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Foods that tend to cause intolerance reactions in sensitive people include:

  • Dairy/milk products (ie. lactose)

  • Eggs

  • Chocolate

  • Additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG)

  • Citrus fruits (strawberries, grapefruits, oranges, lemons)

  • Tomatoes

  • Wine (particularly red wine)

  • Histamine & other amines

  • Highly fermentable carbohydrates (ie. FODMAPs), which can trigger gastrointestinal discomfort in those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

HOW CAN I HELP? I will help you understand which foods and beverages are safe to consume and how to best avoid those that may cause an adverse reaction. When foods are cut out from your diet due to an allergy or an intolerance, you may be short-changing yourself on important vitamins and minerals. I will help you liberalize your diet and ensure that you are getting the nutrients you need to prevent deficiencies and maintain your health.