My mission

I help adults and children to build a healthy nutritional foundation and to contribute to the physical and emotional well being of young generations. Initially, I wanted to work with primary school children. When I was pregnant, I realised that I want to offer my help earlier in life: if possible, even before conception, during pregnancy and postpartum.

The foundations of your child’s brain, body, and emotions are established right from the conception to their second birthday, and nutrition plays a vital role too. This critical period is called the first 1,000 days, and this is also a very vulnerable period for parents. It’s when we are overwhelmed by uncertainty, concern, fatigue and a baby who needs an unlimited access to our body, time and energy. We want to do it well, but how?

From the second birthday, your child may treat you to more independence, more ‘no’s’, selective eating, and own will – spiced with some stubbornness. And then there are the teenage years, with sometimes rebellious eating behavior and many physical and emotional challenges. How do you approach your nutrition in an easy and balanced way during these vulnerable life stages?

Raising healthy eaters

My own matrescence – a difficult word for the birth of a mother – has made me a dietitian with an intergenerational vision. During my pregnancy and lactation period I became the main nutrition source for my baby. I also laid the foundation of his eating pattern through my own behaviour at the table and which foods I offer my son. In the beginning of our food adventure, our eating pattern included a high dose of dietary restrictions, justified with healthy arguments.

My son had to become the healthiest version of myself and the food police was present at the table. I secretly ate chocolate and I felt guilty about my food choices during pregnancy. Until I understood that not only what we eat, but also how we talk about food, what we say about our new body and how we react to some products (hello, chips, and co!) has an impact on our children’s eating patterns and their body confidence.

If I want my child to be able to make balanced food choices later in life, I should let him taste everything without dietary restrictions, feelings of guilt or nutritional myths. Children know exactly what they need at birth and they are great at listening to their hunger cues. How do you maintain the natural hunger and satiety of your child(ren) in a world of plenty? How do you teach a healthy relationship with food, even in an unhealthy environment? And how can you also guide your teen(s) through these nutritional challenges?

Mommy first, daddy too!

As a registered dietitian, I give you a healthy dose of nutritional wisdom and practical tips to address your daily struggles in the kitchen, at the table and in the supermarket. I put you first: you can help your child only if you feel good about yourself, if you have knowledge and if you embody your nutrition goals. Self-care and a critical look at your own (diet) eating patterns are extremely important. As a parent we educate our child(ren). At the same time, we can also mother or father ourselves. What do you pass on to your children from your own childhood and what do you break with? Which learned dieting rules are difficult to let go of? What can you and your family learn from each other?

Thanks to my intergenerational view, I guide you in your (family) food journey so that you and your child(ren) can build a healthy relationship with food. Of course, I can also help you and your family with specific medical problems, emotional eating or if your child eats selectively. I also have a background in orthomolecular therapy and I pay a lot of attention to nutritional deficiencies, stress, toxicity and intestinal health.

My intergenerational approach

  • We look into your learned dieting patterns. Which food do you have a difficult relationship with? What eating patterns does your partner have?
  • We work on you as a role model. Children have an innate preference for sugary and salty food, but what you offer and eat yourself also counts for the eating preferences.
  • Children instinctively know what they need. What can you learn from your child about eating? How do your raise healthy eaters in a world with a lot of processed foods?
  • We look at how you can add helping foods and nutrients to your diet without restrictions.
  • How can you stop listening to the food police and become your own inner mentor?

Who is Sofie?

2006.

I graduated as a communication scientist and work as a health editor and journalist.

 

2014.

I start my e-zine about health, sports and wellbeing and start to learn about orthomolecular healthcare.

 

2018.

I start my education as a dietician at the Erasmus Hogeschool Brussel.

 

2019.

I give birth to my son. Thanks to the combination of textbooks, pampers and cooking pots, I know I want to help new moms and young families with a healthy nutritional start.

 

2022.

I am an INAMI-registered dietitian and I am happy to help you and your family through preventive or curative nutrition counselling. I want to share my knowledge and tools with you to enable you to eat better balanced and diet-free with the whole family.

Hi (future) mom and dad!

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    Want a sneak peek into the life of a dietitian, who is also a mom? I post weekly about easy, balanced and diet-free eating with a young family, along with my own struggles at the table, in the kitchen and in the supermarket.