Tracey Harper (she/her)
Holistic Nutritionist
Hi! I am Tracey. I am a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Group Fitness Coach with a passion for food, movement and living life on MY terms! I practice from an anti-diet, weight inclusive perspective and my work is centred around Health At Every Size (HAES) and intuitive eating principles.
I started my career in Human Resources and then decided to stay home with my two boys for a few years. During this time, I became a group fitness instructor and have taught classes for over 15 years. I continue to coach fitness for a local figure skating club. The time with these kids brings me so much joy!
In my 20’s, I became passionate about food and fitness. Eventually this passion led to a lot of food restriction and a very distorted view of food and my body. I unnecessarily restricted many foods and started to use movement as punishment, rather than pleasure. Through my own journey to find peace with food and movement, I now help clients with overcoming chronic dieting, ditching unrealistic diet culture ideals, body image issues, making peace with food, emotional/mindful eating and learning to tune into their bodies.
I believe all bodies are deserving of fair and unbiased health care regardless of the size of one’s body.. “Healthy” is different for every body. My goal is to help you develop the skills and mindset shifts you need to redefine health and wellness in a way that works best for your body and is sustainable. Everybody deserves to live a life free from restriction, shame and guilt!
What Made you want to work with CCP?
I have been attending workshops and following CCP for a few years now. I secretly wished I could work here. When I could no longer keep the secret, I came right out and told Carly that I would love to work at CCP. Finally the stars aligned and my wish came true! The compassion and care that Carly and her team show for their clients and this work is amazing. I am so excited and grateful to be a part of it!
Most surprising thing about you?
I was born in Barbados and spent many years of my life living in lovely, warm climates - Barbados, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, California and back to Barbados. After 30 years, I am still not a fan of winter! However, I still try hard to get outside and make the best of it!
I was a very shy child and it was difficult to move every 4 years. However, as an adult I now realize that moving helped me become more adaptable to change and resilient. I am also grateful for the beautiful places I got to live that otherwise I may never have seen. Always a silver lining!
What's the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part of my job is seeing clients find their voice and start living life on their terms! Most of my work is with clients who want to move away from diet culture and learn to embrace wellness on their terms. I love seeing clients trusting themselves again and leaning into what feels best for them. I guide them on how to get back to this place and it is so rewarding to watch it happen! When I work with clients, we don’t just talk about nutrition, but all kinds of health promoting behaviours that will enhance their lives like connection, time in nature, sleep, joyful movement and the list goes on. We work together to find a definition of health that makes them feel their best without restrictive diets, guilt and shame. Diet culture exhausts me, so I work with clients to ditch society’s unrealistic food and body ideals and find a place where one’s health is not dictated by someone else or only measured by the size of their body.
What areas of practice and populations do you enjoy working with?
What's the biggest reward in doing this work?
I work with individuals struggling with eating disorders as well as individuals who simply want to work on healing their relationship with food and their body. Naturally, nutritional education plays an important role when working with a holistic nutritionist. However, the focus is on more than just food. I focus on all aspects of a person’s life such as mindset, self-care, stress levels, sleep, exercise and so much more. I work with any age group. I support adults as well as children.
I work with clients who want to stop dieting, make peace with food, and find a sustainable way to care for their body and improve their health. I love working with clients to help them create peace with food and find joy in eating with ease. I feel strongly that food is not only for nourishment, but also for satisfaction and pleasure. I treat every client as an individual based on their unique needs. Everyone deserves fair and unbiased health care regardless of the size of their body. And we all deserve to live a life free from restriction, food guilt and shame.
What prevents people from coming in and doing this work?
For many people, it is hard to ask for help. If you are working with a nutritionist to repair your relationship with food and your body, many people fear they will be judged for their behaviours and asked to change.
Some people may not be ready to do the work, however I take a gentle approach to care which allows my clients to work through understanding their illness and/or behaviours along with making changes in a way that feels manageable and sustainable. No one deserves to live with an eating disorder or a difficult relationship with food and their body. I work help people understand that by doing this work, they can live a more peaceful, full life.
The biggest gift I receive as a nutritionist is to see people shift their mindset when it comes to food and body. When people start to understand that their worth is not defined by the size of their body and that life is SO much more than what they eat and how they exercise.
I also love seeing people find joy in food and life again. As well as expanding their definition of health to include health promoting behaviours and not just food and exercise .
How do you know you're the right fit for a client?
I know I am the right fit for a client when they feel comfortable returning to see me for another session and express that they felt validated and heard in our first session. Another indication of a good fit is if the client feels safe enough to continue sharing vulnerable details of their life because they feel they can trust me and rely on me to make them feel seen.
If the client also indicates they are learning something new and feeling motivated to change, this is a good sign that I am the right fit for them.
I work hard to meet my clients where they are while also challenging their eating disorder/disordered eating, and help them to feel empowered to take on food challenges and have a more freeing relationship with food.
Areas of focus:
Some areas include:
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Disordered eating and recovery from eating disorders (i.e. anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, ARFID)
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Helping individuals and families develop a healthier relationship with food
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Yo-yo dieting
"I also love seeing people find joy in food and life again. As well as expanding their definition of health to include health promoting behaviours and not just food and exercise . "
What phrases or sayings have people used to describe their work with you?
Many people are hesitant to work with me, however my approach is quite different than most nutritionists. I work hard to make people feel comfortable, safe and supported. I want to know the real you - not the person you think I want to hear from. I focus on making people feel seen and heard without judgment. Clients have said I am easy to talk to and compassionate (I hope to make you feel this way if I ever work with you). I have been told that clients feel comfortable opening up to me about their vulnerabilities around food and body image. My approach is rooted in self compassion and self acceptance. Trust and connection are essential in my work. I understand what it is like to navigate recovery as I have lived experience.
When treating someone with an Eating Disorder, what do you feel they need most?
When working with someone with an Eating Disorder, I feel they need first and foremost to feel they are understood and validated. There is a lot of misinformation about eating disorders in society and I feel like many people who are trying to recover from an eating disorder fear being judged by others for their behaviours or being told they are not “sick enough.” A person with an eating disorder needs to feel heard and supported. Especially in my work as a nutritionist, because sharing food behaviours can be very vulnerable and working to change these behaviours is very hard. I work to provide a space where people can talk openly about their eating disorder, feel safe, well cared for as well as heard and never judged.
What do you focus on first when someone is new to getting help?
When someone is new to getting help, I focus on making them feel safe and comfortable. It can be daunting to reach out and ask for help. It is so important for me to help people recognize that I know how hard it is to take this first step, so I spend a bit of time really getting to know all about them - what makes them who they are, what brings them joy, what has happened in their past to impact their relationship with food and their body etc.
My style is flexible, adaptive and inclusive. I work hard to best support my clients and their individual needs and wants.
