About
Whether you are an elite or college athlete, a weekend warrior, new to activity or just trying to fit in movement within your busy life, Sara can support you with achieving your athletic goals while also maintaining your health.
Professional Bio
Education:
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Honours Bachelor degree in Applied Science majoring in Applied Human Nutrition from the University of Guelph
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Dietetic internship with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
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Sports Nutrition diploma with the International Olympic Committee.
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Intuitive Eating Counsellor Certification
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Currently registered with the College of Dietitians of British Columbia
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Style of Practice:
Sara helps athletes develop a more positive relationship with food so that they can enhance their athletic performance through the use of nutrition. Using an intuitive eating approach, Sara supports athletes in removing food rules they have, allowing all foods to fit within their life and training schedule and helps them listen to and trust their body to guide food decisions, as well as teaching them about the latest research in sport nutrition to enhance their performance.
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Sara is a weight inclusive provider, meaning she believes health and fitness are attainable for those in all body weights, shapes and sizes. Sara focuses on health gain as opposed to weight loss in her practice. Athletes come in all shapes and sizes and can succeed when they trust their body and learn how to fuel for it's individual needs. See below for more details!
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Past AthleteS:
Sara has worked 1-1 with beginner and competitive adult and youth cyclists, long distance and cross-country runners, hockey, rugby and soccer players and weight-lifters. She has also worked as a team nutritionist for a competitive youth soccer club and has provided nutrition workshops for youth soccer and hockey teams. Sara has helped women regain their periods, worked with runners to fuel for marathons and ultramarathons and supported countless youth and adult athletes to reduce disordered eating behaviours and relative-energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) symptoms.
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Sara also has experience working with athletes with chronic diseases that include cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypothyroidism, celiac disease, IBD/IBS, GERD/acid reflux, and osteoporosis.
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Outside of Work:​
Sara is an athlete herself, having ran 6 half marathons, and played competitive soccer and racket sports. On weekends you will often find her hiking up a new mountain, finding a new running route or searching for the best fish taco in the Lower Mainland!
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You can follow her on Instagram , Facebook or Blog to see her most recent work and to obtain sports nutrition tips, plant based recipes and to discover the myths diet culture has sold us.
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How can a Dietitian Help Me?
Sara can support you with ensuring you are providing your body with the necessary nutrients so you can succeed in your goals, ensure ALL your favourite foods can fit within your life and help you learn how to trust food and your body again! Other useful reasons to see a dietitian:
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Assisting athletes with chronic diseases and vegan and vegetarian meal patterns to optimize their nutrition practices for health and sport
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Determining fluid requirements to prevent dehydration
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Nutrition strategies for the off season, injury, travel, hiking, on the ski hill
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Reducing gut complaints during physical activity
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Reviews of sport supplements to ensure safe and providing a benefit
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Building carbohydrate loading protocols for competition
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Myth busting fad diets
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Intuitive eating
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Disordered eating recovery
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Skill building (cooking, meal planning, grocery shopping assistance)
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Reducing binge eating and emotional eating
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Assisting with cultivating a positive body image
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General healthy eating!
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At any level of exercise experience, a dietitian can be an important nutrition resource to help you with achieving your goals for sport while also ensuring you are meeting your bodies needs for a long and healthy life! ​
A Focus on Health and performance, not weight.
The desire for weight loss is completely normal. We live in a society obsessed with being thin due to the influence of diet culture seen in the media we consume, pressure from loved ones, and even the health care we receive. What is often not discussed is focusing on weight loss is largely unsustainable, stigmatizing and can worsen mental health, body image, relationship with food and physical health. We often associate being thinner with being healthier but did you know that you can improve health and performance without focusing on the number on the scale?
I take a weight inclusive approach to health in my practice. This means that I place less emphasis on weight and instead focus on health-promoting behaviors like stress management, sleep, movement and eating in flexible ways based on hunger, fullness, nutrition and sport specific needs and pleasure. Health and sport-ability are not defined by the weight an individual is at or the clothing size they wear.
So how can we measure progress without weight? Instead, we can look at changes to lab markers, improvements in sleep, stress, energy and digestion, ability to emotionally regulate, more comfortable hunger/fullness levels, increased strength, flexibility, recovery and PR (personal record) times, eating enough and often enough, reduced thoughts about food and body, improved body image, more positive food talk, and more. Making changes to your nutrition may lead to body changes, whether weight loss or weight gain, or your weight may stay the same. We cannot predict how your unique body will respond when it’s nourished and fueled adequately but health and performance can be improved regardless!
If you are ready to ditch diet culture, food and body shame, and improve your sport performance and relationship with food – reach out! I would be happy to support you on this journey.