FAQs

BonVie is a unique health and nutrition consulting company because it was founded with an important mission: to make healthy living practical and accessible for everyone. Because Dr. Ruggieri’s expertise is in health communication, she focuses on simple and clear messages to help people make sense of health and nutrition information. Her approach to health and nutrition education has been referred to by some as “consumer focused,” and by others as “user friendly”. Her goal is to make healthier living fun and approachable. With this in mind, all of the educational workshops, materials, and private consulting sessions offered through BonVie are simple, approachable, and motivating for clients. We offer education for individuals and groups both in-person and online, as well as with phone consultations. We think better health should be achievable, motivating, and fit your needs.

We focus on healthy eating and other nutrition principles as a means to better health, improved energy, and a happier quality of life. We will never recommend calorie counting, dieting, or avoiding any foods or food groups – food should be enjoyed! As such, we believe there is room for everything in moderation. Food should make us feel good while fueling our bodies and our souls. Eating well can improve your health, energy, fitness level, and weight without requiring that you give up everything you love. Small changes and substitutions can bring great rewards. We believe that healthy eating can be easy and practical for your everyday life, and we enjoy teaching people of all ages and stages of life how to embrace better nutrition.

Put simply, a registered dietitian typically makes recommendations of what to eat, while a nutrition educator teaches people how to eat for their optimal health and personal goals. Registered dietitians provide clinical expertise in nutrition, which they use to design meal plans for clients. Nutrition educators teach people about food and nutrition so that they can make their own choices about what they want to eat in a healthier way.

As a nutrition educator, Dr. Ruggieri works with individuals and groups to tailor lessons and nutrition counseling to personal goals, health issues, and lifestyles. She doesn’t believe in a “one size fits all approach.” Some of the nutrition topics she teaches include how to:

• reduce and prevent health problems with easy substitutions and changes
• assess whether a food will provide energy or promote fatigue
• decode food and nutrition labels
• understand the tricks, crafty packaging, and deceptive marketing food manufacturers use to sell seemingly healthy foods that aren’t healthy
• make sense of the different messages in the media about sometimes confusing issues like sugar, the glycemic index, high fructose corn syrup, dietary fiber, trans fats, organic foods, and many others
• improve fitness levels through simple nutrition changes
• identify and eat for food sensitivities and food allergies without feeling deprived
• eat during pregnancy in a way that reduces pregnancy symptoms, improves the health of mom and baby, and leads to easier post-partum weight loss
• handle picky eaters and raise children that are more likely to enjoy a wide variety of foods
• many other topics refined over a decade of research and teaching

The old adage, “you are what you eat,” reminds us that our bodies are influenced everyday by the foods we eat and the beverages we drink. When individuals eat in a healthy way, the benefits are endless: greater energy, fewer diseases, a stronger immune system, improved quality of life, fewer wrinkles, healthier weight and body shape, and better fitness as prominent examples. Yet most people are never taught how to achieve these benefits in a simple way, and the number of diet programs and misleading messages about food in the media steer so many people in the wrong direction. Nutrition education gives people the tools they need to make small, reasonable changes to their diets so they can lead happier and healthier lives.

For individuals, BonVie focuses on private health and nutrition education, tailoring our information to the goals of each client. Dr. Ruggieri offers in-person, online, and phone consultations. She has assisted people with various nutrition-related goals, including but not limited to:

• weight loss
• reducing cholesterol and blood pressure
• managing diabetes
• improving energy levels
• overcoming emotional eating and chronic dieting behaviors
• optimizing fitness performance
• dealing with picky eaters
• creating better nutritional habits for children and teens
• tailoring maternal nutrition for various stages of pregnancy

For groups, we design health education materials and offer educational workshops focused on various health issues. We target large-scale employee and corporate wellness and training workshops, as well as smaller private group workshops for patients and clients of various organizations. In addition to offering healthy eating workshops, Dr. Ruggieri has educated hundreds of individuals in numerous health topics, including but not limited to:

• obesity and weight counseling techniques
• fitness and physical activity
• causes of stress and stress management
• relaxation techniques
• time management for improved wellness
• improving social interactions
• fear control training
• mental health issues
• diabetes management
• emotional and disordered eating

Our rates vary based on the type of work and time required, but we are happy to work with individuals and groups on an ongoing basis and discount rates accordingly. Please contact us for further information about rates and payment options.