Dietitians are experts in food and nutrition. They take a
client-centered approach to treat and prevent various medical
conditions using the latest evidence-based guidelines.  They combine
their unique knowledge base in food and nutrition with knowledge from
other disciplines including social sciences and education. Dietitians
make life-long learning a priority in order to ensure effective, safe
and reliable services for their clients.

Natalie Walsh, MSc, RD

About me:

First, I studied physiology at the University of Toronto because I thought it would be a good base for any healthcare career. Wanting to be involved in the prevention of chronic disease, I studied nutrition at Ryerson University. Then I did my internship at St. Michael’s Hospital before going into private practice. More recently, I qualified to become a Certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor because I believe that intuitive eating represents a saner, more sustainable path to better health than dieting.

Questions About My Services:

Q. What kind of training does a dietitian have?
A. A dietitian must complete a 4-year degree in nutrition and a one-year internship, usually in a hospital, then pass a licensing exam. Dietitians are regulated by provincial colleges that hold us to a high standard of professionalism.

Q. Are your services covered by insurance?
A. Dietitian services are not covered by OHIP, but are covered by many private insurance plans.

Q. Do I need a referral from my doctor?
A. No, a referral isn’t necessary.

Q. How do I make an appointment?
A. You can schedule an appointment by phone, or you can email me at natalieannwalsh@hotmail.com. Please be sure to state the reason for your visit so that I can prepare ahead of time.

Questions About Intuitive Eating

Q: What is Intuitive Eating?
A: It is a way of eating in which you give yourself unconditional permission to eat any desired food when you’re hungry, to eat according to biological signals of hunger and fullness, and to eat for physical rather than emotional reasons.

Q: What are the health benefits of Intuitive Eating?
A: The benefits of Intuitive Eating are both physical and psychological. Recent studies have shown that intuitive eaters have lower Body Mass Index (BMI), lower triglycerides, and higher HDL (good cholesterol). They are also more optimistic and accepting of their bodies, and they derive more satisfaction from their eating.

Q: What are the advantages of Intuitive Eating over dieting?
A: Besides the health benefits noted above, Intuitive Eating is more realistic than dieting because it doesn’t attempt to suppress people’s natural desires. Diets fail because they try to tell people what, when and how much to eat. Though the promise of weight loss may seem exhilarating in the beginning, sooner or later diet rules that contradict our natural desires are bound to be met with rebellion (usually in the form of binge eating, followed by guilt, another diet attempt, and the same unfortunate result). Intuitive Eating recognizes that no one else but you could possibly know the type or the amount of food it will take to satisfy you at any given time. You are the expert of your own body.

Q: If I can have any food I want, won’t I just be eating junk food all the time?
A: Actually, research shows that intuitive eaters don’t eat more junk food than anyone else. If you’re truly paying attention to your body’s signals, eating high-fat, sugary food all day and every day will make you feel sick, and it won’t be long until you start craving something lighter. Those who have gone through the Intuitive Eating process end up eating a balanced intake of mostly nutritious foods and a small amount of less-nutritious foods. Once they have truly given themselves permission to eat the foods that were forbidden on diets, they find that it takes less of those foods to satisfy them because they know they can have those formerly forbidden foods any time.

Q: Will I lose weight?
A: Intuitive Eating only works if you don’t focus on weight loss. Dieting makes people think only about the end result, whereas Intuitive Eating is about the process. It will help you acquire skills such as becoming attuned to your hunger/fullness signals, dealing appropriately with your emotions, respecting and accepting your body, finding satisfaction in your eating, asserting yourself with those who try to invade your boundaries, and challenging negative thinking patterns. If you’ve been eating emotionally and/or eating past the point of fullness, you will arrive at your natural healthy weight as a result of the Intuitive Eating process. If, however, your goal is to be thinner than the weight that your body can comfortably maintain, you will not lose weight. As you can see, though, Intuitive Eating is worth the journey even if weight loss doesn’t occur.

Q: Can people with medical conditions be intuitive eaters?
A: Having a medical condition like type 2 diabetes or irritable bowel syndrome means that you need to take precautions to protect your health, but I believe that Intuitive Eating can be used to guide your food choices and help you enjoy them just like anyone else.

For more information, visit: www.intuitiveeating.org
And feel free to join the conversation at: www.intuitiveeatingcommunity.org