Why Balanced Wellness Solutions?
Mission
My aim with BWS is to help people achieve their personal health and wellness goals through individualized counseling.
Mentality
My goal is to encourage clients to shift their mentality around food and exercise, as well as to challenge the thoughts that diet culture perpetuates.
Morality
Food holds no morality. There are no "good" or "bad" foods, just more or less nutrient dense foods. But all foods provide fuel for our bodies - some may just be more soul nourishing than others and that's okay!
"Nutrition by Addition"
The fundamental philosophy in my counseling is finding balance through this phrase of "nutrition by addition". I will never force you to remove the foods you love; instead, I will encourage you to look at each meal or snack through the lens of "What do I have?" and "What do I need?".
Individualized
My nutrition counseling is not a one size fits all approach. What is needed for one person, may not be the same for others.
Sustainability
I am a firm believer in the sustainability of small scale, basic lifestyle changes that, when added up, make a significant impact, long-term.
Starting a new journey can be overwhelming, but I am here to offer friendly, supportive, and non-judgmental counseling where we build a strong foundation getting to know one another and work together to achieve your goals. I want to measure success through an improved relationship with food, rather than focusing exclusively on the number on the scale.
Anna St. Hilaire, M.S.
Nutritionist
Hi! Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a Nutritionist based in New Hampshire and I take a more functional and holistic approach to health and wellness counseling. I received my Masters degree in Nutrition Education from American University in Washington, D.C. in 2019. My personal health and wellness journey is an extensive one - as I'm sure so many of you can relate to. I have spent the better part of the last ten years fully immersed in diet culture. In January of 2014, I joined a weight loss program that assisted me with a 160lb weight loss, but to achieve this I needed to restrict and eliminate so many food groups. As you can imagine, it was not sustainable and my mental health suffered significantly; as a result, I developed several eating disorders and a great deal of blame, guilt, and shame.
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Despite these struggles I faced, my time in this program fostered my passion for health and wellness. Although it may have been a little misguided at the time, this passion led me to obtain my Masters degree. I was determined to take what I had learned and help others on their own weight loss journey. However, I wasn't ready for that step. After finding a new nutritionist in 2019 who helped me face my unhealthy relationship with food, I quickly realized that I needed to spend time unlearning everything that this weight loss program ingrained into me. In 2020, I started to shift my focus toward the body positivity and Health At Every Size (HAES) frameworks. I also spent some time learning about Intuitive Eating and realized there is an entire movement in the health and wellness space that is utterly anti-diet culture and helps people heal their relationships with food and their bodies so they can find freedom and peace.
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It was through learning about these frameworks that I overcame my eating disorders and truly ignited a new passion for helping others to ultimately find balance on their own health and wellness journeys.
Testimonials
