H.A. Hang: Natalie Loschiavo of Balanced Nutrition

The coolest part of our business has always been our clients. We’re amazed by all they do: CEOs and business owners, world travelers, authors, inventors, healers, entrepreneurs, newscasters, artists, pro athletes, musicians, caretakers, and philanthropists. 

We launched this series to share the stories of our clients and form connections within the H.A. community. Enjoy!

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Home Appétit: Why did you decide to become a dietitian?
Natalie Loschiavo: When I was a kid, I worked with a dietitian while going through some challenges with an eating disorder. Of all the people I worked with, she was the one I really connected with. I went to Drexel to be a nurse but quickly realized that, while I wanted to be in the healthcare field, nursing wasn’t the right fit. I switched to nutrition because I was interested in it and because of that early experience.

How did Balanced get started?
After school, I worked in hospitals. I love medicine and the teamwork in that environment, but after a few years, I realized I wanted to do more counseling and less inpatient clinical work. That’s when I took a job at The Renfrew Center, an eating disorder treatment center. I realized that my history gave me a unique perspective to help others. I fell in love with the work and that led me to open my own practice.

Your work centers around the idea of “intuitive eating.” What does that mean?
In my own words, intuitive eating is reconnecting with your body in a way that allows you to eat and understand nutrition peacefully, free from rules and rigidity. True intuitive eating is about removing food rules, understanding what your body needs and making choices from a place of care and connection, not fear or control.

That’s very in line with our eating philosophy at Home Appétit. Does intuitive eating help people who don’t necessarily have disordered eating?
It’s pretty rare, unfortunately, to find anyone in our culture who has a truly peaceful and easy relationship with food. That doesn’t mean everyone has disordered eating, but most of us have absorbed messages from media, family and culture that lead to rules around eating. Even something as simple as “sugar is bad” can change how someone eats sugar. If you believe sugar is bad, you might eat it differently—maybe more chaotically—than you would if you understood it’s just another nutrient that serves a purpose.

We also see this pattern where people are “being good” with food—eating clean, avoiding all the things they think are bad—and then swing to the other extreme when they can’t maintain those rules. It’s not always disordered, but it’s stressful and unsustainable.

That’s where intuitive eating can help anyone. It helps quiet the noise, removes the guilt and brings people back to a natural, trusting relationship with food.

If you could share one intuitive eating principle or takeaway that you think most people could benefit from, what would it be?
That there are no bad foods. Unless you’re allergic or it’s literally poisonous, there are no foods that will single-handedly harm you. Fear around food often hurts us more than the food itself.

That doesn’t mean all foods are equal nutritionally—but none of them are moral.  

We’re heading into the holidays, which can be a stressful time around food. What advice would you give people who might feel anxious about eating during this season?
It’s the forbidden fruit phenomenon: The more we tell ourselves we shouldn’t have something, the more enticing it becomes. People often go into the holidays thinking, “I can’t eat too much,” or “I need to be careful.” That creates anxiety which often leads to exactly what people are afraid of—overindulging.

If you go into the holidays giving yourself unconditional permission to eat and enjoy, it usually goes better. When people truly allow themselves to eat what they want, they often realize they don’t want as much as they thought because it’s no longer a big deal. For others, it’s more of a process of unlearning, but the principle holds—your body can handle imperfection. Trust that.

How did you first connect with Home Appétit?
One of my employees texted our group chat saying a client had been using Home Appétit and loved it. She tried it and said it was very good, so I ordered to see what it was about and I agreed. Now several of our clinicians use it and recommend it to clients all the time.

What are you most proud of about your business?
Balanced Nutrition has grown—we now have 15 dietitians and two offices. But what I’m most proud of is that we’re helping so many people find freedom from the anguish that can come with eating. We help them move from anxiety and confusion to a place that’s natural and peaceful.