Introduction
“In October 2019, I began my food addiction recovery and weight loss journey with Joy, and after recently rereading the post that I wrote for her website in May 2021, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.”
Maintaining Recovery and Weight Loss
“I continue to be in remission of food addiction and disordered eating and have maintained a weight loss of well over 100 pounds. As well, improvements in the symptoms of both depression and ADHD have been sustained.
In order to remain in remission, I avoid foods that are addictive for me, including all sugar and flour products. I have found it important to eliminate all “cheat days” so that I do not return to my addiction. Each day, I eat nutritious, satisfying, and enjoyable food based on the Meal Plan that Joy designed for me, and updated as my weight normalized.
A decade ago, I could never have imagined eating this way. I can honestly say that my favourite foods are steak, squash, and Brussels sprouts with butter. I have no desire to return to eating the sugary and processed foods that I binged on in the past.”
Navigating New Health Challenges
“Joy has been an invaluable support on my health journey. She is incredibly thorough, knowledgeable, and caring. I recently returned to work with Joy due to some health concerns I had been facing and she advocated for me to return to my doctor to undergo more comprehensive thyroid testing. Finally, after many years of confusing symptoms and doctors’ appointments, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
Once I was diagnosed, Joy adjusted and tailored my Meal Plan to my hypothyroidism and history of obesity and food addiction. I am very grateful for Joy’s knowledge and insight. I truly have been profoundly blessed.
One of the most important first steps I took in 2019 was reaching out to Joy, as well as to a clinical counselor, and a food addiction support group. I hope my story continues to provide hope to anyone who is wondering if it is possible to be free from their addiction to food.”
~J.H., October 10, 2024
© 2025 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.
Joy Erdile is the Registered Dietitian at BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd., and has been supporting clients’ nutritional needs since 2008. Joy has a post graduate degree in Human Nutirion, more than 17 years of experience in private practice, and is a published in mental health nutrition. She is licensed in BC, Alberta, and Ontario, and her areas of expertise range from routine to clinically complex cases. Joy is passionate about helping people feel better and restore their health, and believes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, but that Nutrition is BetterByDesign©.
Today I buried my mom. While she died due to pneumonia and not vascular dementia, her death has changed how I will live. I realize that I can no longer be complacent and assume that eating a good diet and going to the gym several days a week is always “enough.”
My dad is buried beside my mom, and visiting his grave reminded me that his death was related to Alzheimer’s and 40 years of type 2 diabetes. While my current elevated blood sugar is a side effect of necessary thyroid medication, using all tools available—medication, diet, and exercise—is the logical choice to prevent a similar fate. His death, too, has changed how I will live.
By setting goals and by being intentional about following through, I went from looking like the photo on the left to being able to hike intermediate trails, and looking like the photo on the right. By “showing up” for myself in terms of my eating, I was able to put my extremely 
At my youngest son’s wedding last June, I was at my sickest but didn’t yet have a diagnosis. I could barely walk or get up from a chair because of the 
In order to “show up” I had to first get what I needed.
I planned to go to the gym for the first time this past Wednesday, but make sure there was nothing slowing me down to “showing up”, my gym bag was already packed, and by the front door.
When I awoke today, everything was prepared. The only thing I grabbed was a mask because of the smoke warning outside, and headed to the gym.
After having my thyroid hormones retested, it was evident why I felt awful, as my free T4 and free T3 had both dropped significantly.
I knew something was wrong. For several months, I assumed my exhaustion and joint pain were carry-over effects from Covid. But a photo taken just before the wedding told me it had to be something else. Gradually, I went from looking fit after losing 55 pounds to looking like I had regained everything. I later found out it wasn’t fat, but an accumulation of 
This past weekend was my second son’s wedding, and the difference is incredible. Instead of medical compression stockings and orthopedic shoes, I wore regular dress pumps. While it will still take time for the mucin to fully resolve, my face and legs no longer look swollen and “inflated.” I felt human again and wasn’t self-conscious in family photos.
It has been recommended that to reverse significant hair loss due to telogen effluvium, one should maintain 
Food sources include Brazil nuts, with just 2 nuts meeting the daily requirement of 200 mcg. Other sources include mushrooms, eggs, and fish such as cod and halibut.
Good sources of zinc include red meat, poultry, and seafood such as oysters, crab and lobster. It is important to be tested first to know if there is a zinc deficiency before taking a supplement, as excess zinc can reduce copper levels.
Naturally good sources of Vitamin D include fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna.
The blood tests confirm that I have both thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab) and thyroglobulin antibodies (TG-Ab), which along with my symptoms, confirms my diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease, but thankfully my blood test results indicate that neither are elevated.
This past Monday, I went to the lab to have blood tests to measure my 
I believe that as consumers, private-pay individuals have a right to have access to the prices for laboratory tests in advance, so that they can consider their decision to purchase, or not purchase these services. Consumers expect grocery stores and department stores to post their prices, and it is my personal opinion that privately owned laboratories should be no different.
“A Dietitian’s Journey” (Part I) was my personal weight-loss and health-recovery journey that began on March 5, 2017 when I decided to make dietary and lifestyle changes so that I could reclaim my health. At that time, I was obese, had 
The next symptom that I became aware of was swelling in my ankles. It wasn’t just a little bit of swelling, but significant enough that I needed to wear compression stockings all day.
It is easy to see from the above photo that in less than 3 months on thyroid medication treatment, my face has lost its puffy, “inflated” look yet amidst the positive improvements of decreased edema and looking more like myself in some respects is the reality that I have lost ~1/2 of my hair due to 
Telogen effluvium – is the most common form of diffuse hair loss [7]. It usually occurs after a profound stress, shock or traumatic event including after childbirth, as the result of a thyroid disorder, as well as rapid weight loss. It has been reported after a sudden and significant calorie restriction diet (“crash dieting”) [8], and has also been reported associated with the popularized ‘keto’ diet [9,10], but I am in agreement with Dr. Stephen Phinney of Virta Health that it should not occur in a well-designed keto diet [11]. 
In telogen effluvium, hair often comes out in clumps in the shower, or in a brush [6]. Loss is usually from all over the scalp, but may occur more on the temples, the part and the crown of the head [7]. Once the cause telogen effluvium is removed, regrowth will usually begin within two to six months [6].
He had no idea that I was hiking in North Vancouver and Golden Ears Provincial Park for several hours at a time last summer. I knew that it was abnormal for me to feel so exhausted and for my muscles to feel so weak, and one look in the mirror told me something was very wrong.
Two years after beginning my journey, I had lost a total of:
Then we took up hiking! Four years earlier, I could barely walk and talk at the same time, and for six months, I was hiking every week or two. This photo was taken last year on March 6, 2021 — the 4th anniversary of beginning my journey.
I have lost well over a 100 pounds, and am a normal body weight and a waist circumference. I am so thankful for my weight loss, and my improved physical health. Even more importantly however, my depression has been significantly better, and I am truly enjoying life. In addition, my ADHD symptoms have greatly decreased, and my mental capacity has significantly improved.
In April 2019, Karen private messaged me on social media and sent me a photo of herself, after she had lost 150 pounds. It was both delightful and very rewarding to receive this from a client and to see that she had continued to apply what she had learned, and was doing exactly what she set out to do. She gave me permission to share it on social media with only her first name and initial of her last name, which I did. All people knew is that this was what one client had accomplished in a year.
Last week instead of private messaging me an update, Karen decided to post a compilation photo of herself under one I had posted of myself on Facebook. Even though I had not spoken to her in over a year, there was her picture for everyone, including me, to see! Wow!! Karen had lost more than 200 pounds, and had every reason to be proud of her accomplishment!
“I started keto on my own in January 2018, but it really stressed me out. There is so much information ‘out there’, and everything contradicted itself. It didn’t make sense to me. Macros, IF, fat bombs…..even in my coffee. Seriously, don’t mess with my coffee.
This is me today. I’m passionate about this because I’m working on my journey, and it has changed my life. I went from being bed-bound for sometimes weeks at a time, to living a full life now.
