Questions before you book
Frequently asked questions about nutrition counseling
These are the questions that come up most often before a first consultation, answered directly. If yours is not here, ask before booking and you will get an answer without a sales pitch.
Working with a nutritionist
A nutritionist or nutrition counselor works on eating habits, menus, and lifestyle structure. A clinical dietitian works inside healthcare, often with diagnosed conditions. If you have a medical diagnosis, start with your doctor or a dietitian; nutrition counseling can sit alongside that care but does not replace it.
Nutrition counseling
Habits, weekly menus, meal timing, and how eating fits around work and family. Useful when nothing is diagnosed but something is clearly not working.
Clinical dietetics
Care inside the healthcare system, usually tied to a diagnosis. Diabetes, kidney conditions, eating disorders, and post-surgery feeding belong with a dietitian and your doctor.
Alongside your doctor
Clients often use a first consultation simply to work out which kind of help they need, then take that answer to the right professional if it is not me.
Sessions and format
All consultations are online by video call, usually around an hour for the first session and 30 to 45 minutes for follow-ups. Everything is in English, including written plans. You need a quiet space and a stable connection, nothing more.
Clients join from anywhere in Estonia and occasionally from abroad. Tallinn, Tartu, Narva, or a flat in Helsinki for the week — the format does not change, and neither does the price of getting there.
Initial consultation
About 60 minutes. Full history, current routine, and the first version of a weekly plan.
Follow-up session
30 to 45 minutes. We read the diary together and adjust what did not survive the week.
Short clarifications
A quick written reply about a plan detail is not charged and does not count as a session.
Preparing for the first appointment
Keep a food diary for a few days, list any medications and supplements, and have recent test results to hand if you are willing to share them. Do not change your eating beforehand to make it look better; the diary is more useful when it reflects a normal, imperfect week. Write down your questions, including skeptical ones.
A food diary
Three to five ordinary days, written after the meal rather than remembered at midnight. Photos of plates work if writing is a chore.
Medications and supplements
A plain list with doses. This matters for vitamin and mineral questions and for anything that interacts with food.
Recent test results
Bring them if you have them and are comfortable sharing. If you do not, we work from bloodwork ordered through your own doctor.
Your questions
Including the skeptical ones. If a claim sounds too tidy, ask where it comes from and you will get a straight answer.
Qualifications and trust
Estonia has several professional groupings for nutrition specialists and no single register for all of them. The Estonian Association of Nutrition Consultants and Therapists is one recognized body, and Digilugu, the national health record system, holds medical qualification information.
Ask any practitioner three things before you commit time or money.
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What training do you hold?
The name of the course, the year, and the body that issued it. A named qualification can be checked.
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What are you not qualified to treat?
Anyone working honestly has a list here. Nutrition counseling is not a substitute for medical treatment, and saying so is part of the job.
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Where does this recommendation come from?
A refusal to answer any of these is itself an answer. You are allowed to walk away from a consultation that dodges the question.
What counseling can address
Beyond weight, nutrition counseling is used for digestive discomfort, energy levels, cholesterol-friendly eating, iron and vitamin D questions, eating around shift work, and family meal planning. It also helps translate a diagnosis you already have from a doctor into a weekly menu and a shopping list.
Digestive discomfort
Bloating, irregularity, and meals that reliably cause trouble. We change one variable at a time so the diary actually tells us something.
Energy through the day
The 3pm collapse usually has a pattern. We look at breakfast size, lunch timing, and how much of the day runs on coffee.
Cholesterol-friendly eating
Practical swaps that hold up in a normal kitchen, built around what you already cook rather than a new shopping list.
Iron and vitamin D
Common questions in northern latitudes. Food first, supplements where the diet cannot reach, and retesting through your doctor.
Shift work and nights
Eating around irregular hours, hospital rotas, and long drives. The plan is built for the shift you actually work.
Family meal planning
One menu that works for the household instead of four separate dinners. Take the guesswork out of the weekly shop.
Children and family meals
Family meal planning is available and often more useful than an individual plan in a shared household. Counseling for children should involve the child's doctor, and any existing medical guidance is worked around rather than overridden. Ask in advance if the household has several different dietary needs — a vegetarian adult, a teenager avoiding dairy, and a grandparent on a low-salt plan is a normal week here, not a complication.
Costs and commitment
Sessions are priced individually with no required package. Most clients need two to four sessions in total. Payment is by bank transfer, or card in person for local meetings. Questions before booking and short clarifications between sessions are not charged.
See fees| What | How it works |
|---|---|
| First session | Priced on its own, around 60 minutes. Paid before the call by bank transfer. |
| Follow-ups | Booked one at a time, 30 to 45 minutes. No bundle to buy in advance. |
| Typical total | Most clients stop after two to four sessions, once the weekly routine holds on its own. |
| Not charged | Questions before booking, and short clarifications between sessions. |
| Cancellations | Move or cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before the call; later than that, the session is billed. |
Questions we hear most, and the rest
Open a question to read the answer. Everything here comes from consultations that actually happened, so the wording is the wording of the questions, not the wording of a brochure.
Do I need a referral from a doctor to book?
No. Most clients come directly. A referral is only relevant if you have a diagnosis you want worked into the plan, in which case the doctor's guidance comes first and we build the menu around it.
What if I cannot keep a food diary consistently?
That is common, and it does not block the first session. Even two messy days give something to work with. In the call we agree on a lighter version — often just evenings and weekends, or photos instead of writing.
Is this the same as a dietitian appointment?
Not the same. A clinical dietitian works inside healthcare and can treat diagnosed conditions. Nutrition counseling is about habits, menus, and structure. If your question sits on the healthcare side, you will be told so plainly and pointed to the right route.
Will I be asked to cut out entire food groups?
Rarely, and never by default. Bread, pasta, and dessert can stay. Food groups only come out when there is a clear reason — a diagnosed intolerance, a documented reaction, or a test result — and the plan says what replaces them.
Can two people in one household join together?
Yes, if the goals overlap. A shared session is often the better spend for a couple cooking the same dinners. Two people with very different needs get two separate plans and usually two separate calls.
How long until anything changes?
Some things move in days — meal timing, evening hunger, how you feel at 3pm. Others, like cholesterol or iron markers, need a blood test a few months out to say anything honest. No promises are made about a number on a scale.
What happens to my health information?
Diaries, test results, and notes stay in the consultation record and are not shared with anyone else. You can ask for a copy of your plan at any point, and you can ask for your record to be deleted when the counseling ends. Details are in the privacy policy.
If you are unsure whether this is for you
Ask first. Describe your situation briefly and you will be told honestly whether nutrition counseling is likely to help, or whether you would be better served by a doctor, a clinical dietitian, or simply a clearer weekly routine. That answer costs nothing.
Write to the contact page with a couple of sentences about what prompted the question. If it is simpler, an email works just as well.
Phone
+372 734 8192
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9:00–18:00. Saturday consultations by appointment.
Office
Riia tn 24, 51010 Tartu, Estonia
Where to go next
Answers first, booking second.
If the pages below still leave a gap, that gap is the right thing to ask about before you commit to a session.
Book an online consultation