About Me

Hello! I'm Michael.

Michael Manderville
RD, BScAHN, BKin, Pn1

I am dietitian on a mission to get people talking about what to eat to live a healthful, happy life, and HOW to do it.

My road to becoming a dietitian started in the exercise and fitness world. I completed a Bachelor of Kinesiology from Acadia University which I used to begin working as a personal trainer. I started noticing a lot of confusion around nutrition topics. I decided I needed to become a nutrition expert (and go back to school!). After graduating with distinction from the Bachelor of Applied Human Nutrition program at Mount Saint Vincent University, I completed my dietetic internships. Through which I gained valuable clinical and practical experience.

I’m also more than halfway through the Master of Applied Human Nutrition program at Mount Saint Vincent University!

We all have reasons for wanting to be healthy.

Through my dietetic education, I became fascinated with the science of behaviour change and how it relates to what we eat. We all want to be healthy; whether it is for our kids or to live a long active life filled with experiences. So why is it so hard to actually make changes and eat healthier? That is what The Habitrition Dietitian is all about. Working WITH you to facilitate nutrition change and overcome barriers together.

What is Habitrition?

In its simplest form, Habitrition is the

Combination of Habit & Nutrition

It is the belief that our health is affected by what we habitually do. Meaning, all the small things that we do on a daily basis. It is the understanding that once we break these habits down, they will look different for everyone.

The thing with habits is that we often do them subconsciously, ie. without even thinking about them. Once we acknowledge these habits, we can work on improving them one by one, improving our health as we go.

The Power of Habit

This book was a game changer for me. The author, Charles Duhigg, explains that our habits can we broken down into 3 steps. There is a cue, a routine, followed by a reward. If we want to change our habits, the most effective way to change the routine is to keep the cue and reward the same.

For example, if we often eat cookies on our break while talking with coworkers, the actual reward in this scenario could be the social aspect of talking with coworkers. So to stop eating the cookies, we would notice our break time and go outside for a walk with coworkers. This would swap the cookie, for the walk, win win! (though of course who doesn’t love a good cookie from time to time?)

I have created a list of books like this one that I have read and recommend most often. To view them all visit the resources page by hitting the button below!