MEET EMMA KEENAN: DIETITIAN & NUTRITIONIST

BAppSc, MDietPrac, APD

Owner

Hello there! I’m Emma, and I go by she/her pronouns. I’m an Accredited Practising Dietitian and a member of Dietitians Australia, and I’m committed to helping individuals enhance their health while steering clear of nutrition myths and misconceptions. In my approach, you won’t find restrictive diets, calorie counting, trendy food trends, or rigid food rules, as these concepts are deeply rooted in diet culture and at odds with scientific evidence. Instead, I recognise the importance of food in promoting our health and its role in enriching meaningful moments in our lives.

My philosophy promotes natural and intuitive eating, reconnecting you with your body and allowing you to savour all foods without guilt. My areas of expertise include gastrointestinal nutrition, gut health, mental health, disordered eating, and eating disorders. I’ve pursued additional training in these areas and am continuously updated with the latest scientific research. My ultimate goal is to empower clients to enjoy a diverse and delectable diet that nurtures their physical health, mental health, and social connections.

When I’m not practising as a dietitian, you’ll find me exploring the local markets, experimenting in the kitchen, indulging in art, immersing myself in museums, relishing dining experiences with friends, strolling along the beach, dog sitting, paddleboarding, practising pilates, or yoga, embarking on journeys or adventures in my van. I love visiting markets and grocery stores when I travel - it’s an excellent way to immerse myself in different cultures and explore the intriguing and delightful foods people worldwide cherish.

Living in Melbourne offers the incredible advantage of having diverse food experiences at our doorstep. We’re fortunate to reside in this vibrant city, where people from around the globe share their culinary traditions and delights with us.

Food, nutrition, eating and health encompass so much more than calories, macronutrients, dieting, restrictions, structured meal plans, or supplements.
They are deeply influenced by our upbringing, culture, income, access to food, societal norms, personal experiences, behaviours, emotions, celebrations, nutrition knowledge, practical skills, and the relationship we have with both food and our body’s.
The following definitions offer a simple way to understand what health means and the different stages we may move through along on our individual health journeys:
Health
- a relative state in which one is able to function well physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually in order to express the full range of one's unique potentialities within the environment in which one is living
Awareness:
- the ability or quality to perceive, feel, or be conscious of something
- knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists
Acknowledge:
- to accept, admit or recognise something,
- the truth or existence of something
Knowledge
- facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education
- awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation
Change (or not)
- an act or process through which something becomes different
- replace something with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better
Acceptance:
- the quality or state of being accepted or acceptable
- general agreement that something is satisfactory or right, or that someone should be included in a group
I work from a Weight-Inclusive, Health At Every Size® (HAES®), and Non-Diet approach.
The Health At Every Size® principles:
1. Weight Inclusivity: Accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes and reject the idealising or pathologising of specific weights.
2. Health Enhancement: Support health policies that improve and equalise access to information and services, and personal practices that improve human well-being, including attention to individual physical, economic, social, spiritual, emotional, and other needs.
3. Respectful Care: Acknowledge our biases, and work to end weight discrimination, weight stigma, and weight bias. Provide information and services from an understanding that socio-economic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other identities impact weight stigma, and support environments that address these inequities.
4. Eating for Well-being: Promote flexible, individualized eating based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure, rather than any externally regulated eating plan focused on weight control.
5. Life-Enhancing Movement: Support physical activities that allow people of all sizes, abilities, and interests to engage in enjoyable movement, to the degree that they choose.
Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD)
- Compassionate Approaches to Eating Disorders in Higher Weight Bodies [ELL]
- Eating Disorders for Dietitians [The Mindful Dietitian]
- Nutrition and IBD for Dietitians [Gut Smart]
- Supporting Safe and Effective Meals, NDIS Quality and Safety Commission
- Supporting Effective Communication, NDIS Quality and Safety Commission
- Introduction to Disability and Inclusion for Dietitians, Dietitians Australia Centre for Advanced Learning
- Low FODMAP Diet for IBS [Monash University]
- Gastrointestinal Nutrition for Dietitians [DA]
- The Essentials: Training Clinicians in Eating Disorders [InsideOut]
- Dietitian Essentials: Treatment of Eating Disorders [InsideOut]
- CDED Expert Training [Modulife]
- Dietitians Australia, Accredited Practising Dietitian APD190848
- Dietitians Crohn’s and Colitis Australian Network (DECCAN)
- Crohn’s and Colitis Australia
- St John’s Ambulance First Aid and CPR Training
- Dietitians Australian Interest Group Member: Mental Health, Diabetes, Gastroenterology, and Eating Disorders
- Dietitian Supervision Resources Australia (DSRA): Engaging in regular supervision
- Australia and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders