Meet the Team

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Laura Bender, Registered Dietitian with Dietetic Directions

Laura BenderRegistered Dietitian &
Certified Diabetes Educator

My collaborative style will empower you with realistic, science-based strategies to improve your nutrition and lifestyle. With a non-judgmental approach, I listen to your story, support your goals and come up with a sustainable (and fun!) plan.

Diabetes, Prediabetes, PCOS
Digestion (IBS, FODMAP diet, Diverticulitis & Celiac)
Weight Management
Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, Fatty Liver, Gout, Kidney Stones
Child Feeding & Picky Eating
Vegetarian & Vegan Diets
Meal Planning & Power Snacking

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Sonia KhurmiRegistered Dietitian &
Certified Diabetes Educator

I foster lasting nutrition changes through patience and motivation. I understand your unique journey and empower you to achieve realistic, sustainable goals. Let’s navigate your path together while embracing progress at your own pace.

Pregnancy Nutrition & Gestational
Diabetes, Prediabetes & PCOS
Weight Management
Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, Fatty Liver
Mindful Eating & Emotional Eating
Meal Planning & Label Reading
Child Feeding

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Cathy O’HalloranRegistered Dietitian

I love supporting clients in achieving enjoyable behaviour change. I believe your diet is one of the biggest determining factors to achieving your healthiest lifestyle. My mantra is “food is fuel.”

Weight Management
Woman’s Health – Menopause, Fertility, Lactation, Pregnancy
Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, Triglyceride Lowering
Children & Teenager Nutrition
Sports Nutrition
Food Allergies & Intolerances
Bariatric Nutrition

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Chelsea CrossRegistered Dietitian &
Personal Trainer

With a passion for food and exercise, I help others discover how to best nourish their bodies utilizing food as fuel. Let’s create a lifestyle that’s enjoyable, sustainable and meets your unique health needs.

Weight Management with Macro’s
Sports Nutrition & Body Building
Digestion (Crohn’s, Colitis, IBS)
Anti-inflammatory Diets
Emotional Eating
Disordered Eating

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Laura BaumRegistered Dietitian &
Certified Diabetes Educator

My style is to focus on impactful, sustainable changes over time. Let’s find out where your nutritional needs are, set individualized goals and empower you to feel great inside and out!

Behavioural Weight Management
Prediabetes & Diabetes
Cholesterol, Blood Pressure & Fatty Liver
Celiac, Vegetarian & Vegan Diets
Meal Planning & Power Snacking
Mindful Eating & Food Relationship

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Andrea D’AmbrosioRegistered Dietitian & Owner

I founded Dietetic Directions to inspire you to eat well to improve your health and vitality. We share science-based information, translated into sustainable strategies that can transform your diet and lifestyle.

Digestion (IBS & Low FODMAP Diet)
Pregnancy & Lactation Nutrition

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Our Dietetic Directions History

Our team at Dietetic Directions wants you to live a healthy lifestyle that you actually enjoy. Why? Because we LOVE food! And we believe that food shouldn’t hold you back. We want to help you enjoy what you eat, create healthy, sustaining habits and live a deprivation-free life that leaves you feeling great!

As a little girl growing up in an Italian-Canadian family, we always had family gatherings centred around food. My Nonno was a chef for the Italian army and my Mom studied nutrition. In my opinion, there’s nothing better than a bowl of homemade gnocchi with a fresh tomato sauce! Sharing a love of food that’s rooted in science for health improvements is what inspired me to create Dietetic Directions back in 2012.

The ability to learn, teach and inspire others is what brought me into this evolving field. Dietetic Directions provides personalized, motivational nutrition education that’s evidence-based and rooted in creating habits that fit your lifestyle.

If you’re looking for one-on-one professional guidance and support to optimize your nutrition and improve your health, our dietitian team would love to help you every step of the way!

Healthfully yours,

Andrea D’Ambrosio

Masters of Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph
Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Human Nutrition, University of Guelph
College of Dietitians of Ontario (CDO)
Dietitians of Canada (DC)
National Media Spokesperson for Dietitians of Canada (2014-2017)

Continuing Education: Motivational Interviewing & Coaching for Behaviour Change, Food Allergy and Food Hypersensitivity, Health Research Literacy, FODMAP diets, Craving Change program.

Testimonials

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I went to see Andrea to help deal with IBS. In the few months working with her I’ve gone to very few symptoms. She provided tons of helpful tips and advice, all in a no-pressure environment. She opened my eyes to a whole realm of science on the topic, along with the reassurances that there are many others affected. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her!

Scott Jones, Researcher

Andrea immediately puts you at ease and listens to your concerns and questions. Her analysis of food labelling was eye-opening and I put this knowledge to work every time I shop for food! Andrea provided me with the tools I need to evaluate my eating patterns & how to improve them. Her encouragement and professionalism is very appreciated and I look forward to meeting with her again to gauge my progress.

Natalie Hayden, Culinary enthusiast

After having so many negative food issues for most of my life, I wanted to redirect my thoughts from denying foods and feelings of guilt, to fueling my body properly for ultimate health. With my dietitian’s amazing guidance and knowledge, I achieved a new level of success in terms of my relationship with food and positive well-being. I am so appreciative of this new outlook!

Claudia Knorr, Busy graphic designer

I absolutely loved my consultations with Andrea! She gave me practical goals each visit to help me focus on small changes for the better, and gave me suggested resources for me to educate myself further (her website is also a great resource for recipes). I wanted to make some lasting changes to our diet, and I didn’t know where to start. I was so pleased with how Andrea helped me from feeling overwhelmed to feeling like “I can do this!”

Emma Shehan, Mom of three