My name is Lindzie O'Reilly and I am Registered Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor.

I believe that food is an important part of life. We eat to meet our nutrient and energy needs, for social reasons, for pleasure, for comfort and much more. It's important to honour all of those reasons in order to build a food routine that's sustainable and enjoyable. I also believe that food can be a complicated and overwhelming thing some times. I support students as they experiment to develop a food routine that works for them as an individual and that optimizes their physical and mental wellbeing. 

My practice is weight-neutral, which means that I don't believe that someone's size is a good indicator of their health status and I don't believe that striving for weight loss provides a sustainable solution for health concerns. Instead, I work with students to understand the root of health concerns and to create habit based goals.

All University of Guelph students have access to Student Wellness Services nutrition services at no extra cost. Students can access these services in three ways:

1) Group Nutrition Services 

Group nutrition services are designed to address common nutrition concerns amongst University of Guelph students and are meant to give students access to nutrition advice at the time of their concern, with little or no wait. No registration or referral is required for group nutrition services. Each session is independent and students may attend as many sessions as they would like.

For the Fall 2022 semester, some sessions will remain virtual and some sessions will be in person. All sessions will run Wednesdays from 2:30-3:20PM EXCEPT the O-Week session, which will be from 3:00-4:00PM. For session description, click on the date below.

Group nutrition services will occur weekly and include the following topics: 

• Building a Plant-Rich Diet (September 7  [1]in-person (3:00-4:00PM), October 5 [2] virtual, November 2 [3] virtual)
• Managing Low Appetite (September 14 [4] in-person, October 12 [5] virtual, November 9 [6] virtual)
• Nutrition Management of Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) (September 21 [7] virtual, October 19 [8] in-person, November 16 [9]virtual)
• Nutrition 101 (September 28 [10] virtual, October 26 [11] virtual, November 23 [12] in-person)

Take the Stress out of IBS will remain virtual for F22. It will run on Fridays beginning October 21 until November 18th, 2022 (5 weeks) from 12:30-1:30PM. Students can find out more and can register on Kathy Somers' website [13]. There is a $20 fee for University of Guelph students to attend this program. 

Meal Support Group will run Tuesdays beginning October 18 until November 22, 2022 (6 weeks) from 12:00-1:00PM. Meal Support Group is facilitated by Lindzie O'Reilly, MAN, RD and Samantha Durfy, MA, MSW, RSW. Please see the Counselling Services Website [14] for information on how to be referred to this group.

2) One-to-One Nutrition Appointments

One-to-one nutrition appointments are available with a referral. Students can speak to their SWS Health Care provider to complete a referral.

Students wishing to complete a self-referral form can contact SWS reception by calling 519-824-4120 x52131 or by emailing health@uoguelph.ca. If requesting the form via email, please ensure that you include your student number and phone number in your email request. 

Please note that high demand for this service usually results in a several week wait for an appointment.

3) Nutrition Services on Demand

Student groups, varsity teams, and U of G professors are welcome to request a guest lecture or workshop by emailing Lindzie at loreilly@uoguelph.ca.

Common Nutrition Questions

Food is a common conversation topic with friends and family. Since everyone needs to eat, everyone tends to have their own opinion about, and approach to, food. Couple that with an overwhelming amount of nutrition information in the media and it can be incredibly hard to get reliable, evidence-based answers. Here are some answers to common questions I hear from students. 

• If red meat is 'probably carcinogenic', should I stop eating it? [15]
• Should I be reducing my sugar intake? [16]
• Is a gluten-free diet healthier? What are the risks? [17]
• I'm going to the gym more often, do I need to change my diet? [18]
• Does morning exercise burn more fat? [19]
• I've heard you shouldn't eat after 7pm. Is that true? [20]
• Does drinking milk increase my risk of kidney stones? [21]
• Should I be taking a supplement? [22]
• Will eating carbs make me gain weight? [23]
• Is soy safe to eat? [24]
• Are there certain foods I can eat to decrease inflammation? [25]
• Will calorie counts on restaurant menus help us eat better? [26]

Looking for credible information on the most popular fad diets? The following information was created by AHN students Renée Ouellette and Victoria Hanson.

• 6 Strategies to Identify Reliable Nutrition Information [27]
• Intermittent Fasting [28]
• Paleo & Whole 30 [29]
• The Ketogenic Diet [30]
• Detox Diets and Juice Cleanses [31]

Recipes

Guelph Family Health Study - Plant-Based Proteins: Receipes Made Easy-Peasy [32]

Guelph Family Health Study - Rock What You've Got: Recipes for Preventing Food Waste [33]

Learn everything you need to know about cooking eggs [34].

Looking to add more legumes? Try lentils [35] and Ontario beans [36].

Learn which fruits and veggies are in season when and how to prepare them from Foodland Ontario [37].

Additional Resources

Guelph Student Foodbank [38] - In an effort to combat hunger and poverty on campus and in the greater Guelph community, the Guelph Student FoodBank provides graduate and undergraduate University of Guelph students access to emergency food, anti-poverty resources, and referrals to other food security, anti-poverty and financial assistance groups. This service is always confidential.

The SEED [39] - The SEED is a community food project of the Guelph Community Health Centre. About 16% of households in Guelph are food insecure (Guelph Wellbeing, 2014). Our goal is to change that by offering programs and services that tackle the root causes of poverty. We are supported by hundreds of amazing community members and by many partner organizations.

Government of Canada Food Safety [40] - Learn safety tips for all food types. Also find information to protect those who are vulnerable to food poisoning, including facts on food allergies and recalls.

But I Hate My Body: Cracking the Code on Body Acceptance [41]- are you thinking about the notion of body acceptance? Or perhaps someone in your life is urging you to consider body acceptance. Maybe you have heard the word body acceptance and thought to yourself, “Why in the world would I accept THIS body?”