Non-diet virtual dietitian care for Espanola and the North Shore, with Lauren Hofstee, RD. Eating disorder recovery, disordered eating, body image, binge eating, and food anxiety support, all online.
Book a free intro callEspanola sits on the Spanish River at the gateway to Manitoulin Island, about an hour west of Sudbury on the edge of the North. The whole of northeastern Ontario is served by a single specialized eating disorder program in Sudbury, and the waits for it are long. That is a real gap, and virtual care is one honest way around it. I work with people across Espanola by secure video.
Lauren is based in Guelph and Toronto and works virtually across Ontario. That means people in Espanola can access specialized nutrition counselling without travelling to a clinic, while still working with someone registered with the College of Dietitians of Ontario.
You may be looking for general nutrition advice, but many people land here because food has become louder than they want it to be. You might be dealing with restriction, binge eating, guilt after eating, fear foods, body checking, or feeling unsure whether your eating is serious enough to deserve support. It is enough to start a conversation.
What nutrition counselling can look like when recovery needs to feel steady, collaborative, and safe.
A gentle, private self-reflection tool if you are not sure what to call what is happening.
How private dietitian fees and extended health receipts usually work in Ontario.
Book a free, no-pressure intro call. We talk through what brought you here and what you are hoping for.
Sessions happen by secure video from wherever you are in Espanola. Nothing to prepare, nothing to weigh.
We work at your pace toward a calmer, steadier relationship with food and your body.
Every person who reaches out is met where they are. These are the main reasons people in Espanola and across Ontario look for this kind of care:
Nutrition support for anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, ARFID, orthorexia, and eating that feels frightening or out of control.
Compassionate, weight-inclusive care when food, exercise, rules, guilt, or body image have started to take over.
A non-diet approach to binge eating, emotional eating, and the restrict-binge cycle, without shame or more rules.
Gentle support for food anxiety, fear foods, avoidance, and the slow work of feeling safer around eating.
Help for chronic dieting, body checking, food guilt, and rebuilding trust with your body at a steadier pace.
Work with a Registered Dietitian online from anywhere in Ontario, with receipts for extended health reimbursement.
Because care is virtual, I work with clients in Espanola and nearby communities including Whitefish Falls, Massey, Webbwood, and the north shore toward Manitoulin, as well as people right across Ontario. From town out to the smaller north shore communities, the session comes to you rather than asking for the drive to Sudbury. You do not need to live near a clinic to get thoughtful, registered dietitian support. You can also browse every Ontario city served.
For all of northeastern Ontario, the specialized service is the Regional Eating Disorders Program at Health Sciences North in Sudbury. It is an outpatient program that serves people from roughly age eight to sixty-four, working in partnership with Sault Area Hospital and North Bay Regional to cover an enormous stretch of the province.
Covering that much ground with one program has consequences. It is based in Sudbury and requires a medical referral, and the demand on it is heavy, so waits to be seen have been long and widely reported. For someone in Espanola who needs support now, a year on a waitlist is a difficult thing to hear.
This is not a criticism of the program, which does real work across a vast region. It is simply the honest reality of specialized eating disorder care in the North: there is very little of it, and it is far away.
A dietitian does not replace a hospital program, but it is something you can start on right away. Sessions happen by secure video from home in Espanola, there is no referral and no age cap, and the approach is non-diet and weight-inclusive across binge eating, chronic dieting, food anxiety, and body image as well as eating disorder recovery.
If you are waiting for the Sudbury program, a dietitian can be steady support in the meantime, and can continue alongside it once your spot comes up.
None of it comes with judgment, and there is no waitlist to join before someone will talk with you. Lauren Hofstee is a Registered Dietitian with the College of Dietitians of Ontario, registration number 15869. If it helps to read first, here is what you can do while you wait for a program.
Yes. Every session with Lauren is virtual, so you can meet from anywhere in Espanola or the North Shore by secure video. You get the same individual, professional care as an in-person visit, without the commute or waiting room.
No referral is needed. You can reach out directly to book a free, no-pressure introductory call. Physicians and other clinicians are also welcome to refer a patient through the online referral form.
Lauren supports people with eating disorder recovery, disordered eating, binge eating, restriction, chronic dieting, food anxiety, body image concerns, intuitive eating, digestion, energy, and general wellbeing. The approach is non-diet, weight-inclusive, and free of judgment.
Book a free intro call. It is a relaxed conversation to see if working together feels right, with nothing you need to prepare beforehand.
Some of the writing people in Espanola find their way to first. No plans, no rules, just honest thinking about food and body.
Practical, gentle support you can start on now if you are stuck on a waitlist for a hospital program.
What online sessions actually feel like, and why they work as well as sitting in a clinic.
An honest look at the shape of recovery, so the road ahead feels a little less unknown.
Reaching out is often the hardest part. The intro call is free, and there is no pressure to continue.
Book a free intro callPrefer to talk? Call (226) 407-8455
Plain, no-cost guides for anyone weighing eating disorder or nutrition support in Ontario, with nothing behind a form. How to find an eating disorder dietitian · What seeing a dietitian costs in Ontario · How virtual sessions work · Free support across Ontario · Publicly funded programs · Support at Ontario campuses · Seeing a dietitian for free · Ontario eating disorder therapists · Peer and caregiver support groups