Essential Living Matters

Bonjour,

My name is Valerie and I am a Coach in Nutrition & Wellness Educator

My mission is to create and support health and vitality by helping active and busy people. I want to teach holistic health and nutrition with the eating for health approach in a way that reaches clients at their core and motivates instant and permanent change in their diets and lifestyles. I want to empower clients to improve their health and achieve their own life goals!

The difference between a Holistic Nutritionist and a Dietitian is significant.

Holistic Nutritionists understand that everybody is different so that there cannot be a “one-size fits all” mentality for overall wellness. They look at the person as a whole including current diet, lifestyle, health problems, as well as any emotional concerns that may be affecting a healthy lifestyle. Our approach would focus more on organic, local, whole and real food diets.
Dieticians focus more on the Canada Food Guide or My Plate (USA), since that is where their training sprouted from, and perform a more rigid, scientific approach usually found in Hospitals on patients that have already been diagnosed with health issues.

WHY I CHOOSE THE HOLISTIC APPROACH

I choose the holistic approach because it makes more sense to me. When I see a client, I will evaluate not only his food journal but also his stress level, sleep patterns, fitness and family history. I find that every bit of information are really important and allows me to have a better picture of what is going wrong in a person’s life. Getting healthier is not only about food!

MY APPROACH

First I truly believe in the concept of the NO FIT FOR ALL DIET! The human body is so unique and complex. You need to find what exactly your body needs and for that, you need to experiment.

Never forget that you are the best judge and doctor for your own self! I tried so many “diets” before finding the right way to take care of myself.I tried to be vegan (lost 20 pounds on my 115 pounds body weight!!!), I also tried to be 100% only Paleo (a lot of stress and a little bit too much protein and fat for my kind of metabolism). I also tried different cleanse (green juice for a week (love it) and the Master Cleanse (truly hate it).

So I do not have a “specific” approach, I let the current client’s situation and profile dictate the best approach (family history, where they live, work, stress and/or sleep situation). When I start seeing a client, this person will have to fill out questionnaires and a food journal. I need to know exactly what is going on and I am not there to judge (I make it very clear at the beginning).

Changes do not happen overnight (in fact it takes about 45 days to create new habits), some clients are really committed to change and some need the baby step approach, and it’s ok! Life happens. Family, work and stressful situations!

GETTING IN SHAPE

Getting in shape and healthier requires commitment and good lifestyle habits. If you think that just by taking a pill will make you healthier without changing anything, well, you are headed in the wrong direction. Changing, no matter what in your life, is difficult (trust me, I have come a long way) and it’s also not something you do overnight.

One good change at a time! Making better decisions will eventually bring you where you deserve to be!