Blending Nutrition Science with Wellness Coaching to Create Personalized, Sustainable Change: Eva Weston

When I sat down with Eva Weston, it quickly became clear that her work isn't just about foods to eat or not eat—it's about helping people change their habits in ways that feel doable and sustainable. By combining her training as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and as a Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, she's created a care model that's both evidence-based and deeply personal.

Starting with the Why

When meeting patients, Weston begins with a detailed conversation to understand their current life circumstances, goals, and challenges. She emphasizes a shared decision-making model—a collaborative process where patients' input shapes the care plan.

Whether someone comes in with a new diagnosis, chronic symptoms, or simply a desire to feel better, she doesn't hand them a fixed plan. "I don't want to just tell you to do something. That's not the goal," she explained. "What's important to this person at this time in their life? That's where we start."

From Diagnoses to Daily Habits

She specializes in food allergies, intolerances, and GI issues—conditions that often involve many overlapping factors. Some clients come with diagnoses; others arrive with only a sense that something's not right.

To get to the root causes of the issue, Weston typically works with clients over several months. "It's often more than one thing," she said. "It may be a behavior, like eating too quickly, combined with specific food intolerances. For example, the type of carbohydrate or the amount of fat they're eating plus GI function and motility—all combined. It takes a while to suss out what's impacting them." By meeting regularly over several months, Weston is able to guide people through various interventions that continue to improve their quality of life by determining which food, behavior, or combination may be the root of the concern.

Behavior Change, Backed by Coaching

One thing that makes her practice stand out is Weston's background in wellness coaching. She describes coaching as "the missing link" in healthcare—a way to bridge the gap between knowing what to do and actually making sustainable changes.

Weston contrasted her approach with the way healthcare can often function: "You show up to your doctor's appointment, and they say, 'Oh, you have hypertension. Here's a handout. Lower your sodium, increase your potassium, get more exercise, drink more water. Good luck.'" Patients are often left wondering what to do next and how to make those changes fit into their lives. In Weston's practice, she helps patients take those next steps by making changes manageable and realistic.

"I studied at Mayo Clinic to become a Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach," she said. "That's really the missing link—setting realistic goals each week and determining motivation. It's about helping people figure out how these changes fit into their life."

Each week, her patients set personalized goals—based on their needs, lifestyle, and motivation. That might mean gradually reducing sodium, adding more fiber, or finding ways to hydrate better during a chaotic week. The idea is to help them meet their health goals while also strengthening their relationship with food. "We often talk about the difference between being flexible versus permissive. This mindset shift can be key for many individuals," she said. "It's about making progress in a way that's realistic for them."

Sustainable Swaps Over Perfection

Rather than overhauling someone's entire diet, she looks for small, achievable swaps. One client, for example, was eating store-bought PB&J sandwiches from the refrigerated section. Instead of insisting on a "perfect" diet, she worked from where they were.

"We looked at the bread, the peanut butter, the jam—can we add fiber, reduce the added sugar, throw in some chia seeds?" she explained. "When people start to feel better, they want to keep going. That's the turning point."

Tools That Fit into Real Life

To support this process, Weston uses photo food journals instead of typed logs. Patients simply snap a picture of their meals and upload them to a HIPAA-compliant portal.

In addition to giving Weston key information on their day-to-day habits, the photo food journal often serves as motivation for the patients themselves. "Not only does it give me insights, but people start noticing patterns on their own. They'll come and say, 'Oh, this week I really noticed most of the fat in my diet is from salad and sandwiches. I had no idea!' That awareness can also motivate them."

She's careful to make things feel manageable. "I don't want it to feel like homework," she noted. "Many people have a higher life stage burden from work, kids, elderly parents, managing multiple medical diagnoses or whatever it is, and they don't want more work—but they do want to feel better. So the easier I can make that, the better."

A Vision for Integrated, Patient-Centered Care

Her ultimate dream for her practice? A truly integrated care team.

"The long-term goal is to have a team all working together in one practice," she shared. "Physicians, dietitians, GI psychologists, physical therapists—everyone in communication to support patients."

That model, she explained, would allow for deeper, more efficient care. "It's about providing the best care," she said, envisioning a system where patients receive comprehensive support without the burden of navigating multiple providers on their own.

It All Comes Back to Quality of Life

At the heart of Weston's work is a commitment to improving people's day-to-day experience.

"The quality of life element is really important for every single patient that I see," she said.

Whether that means finding relief from discomfort, building new habits, or simply enjoying food again, her approach always comes back to what matters most to each individual person—at this moment in their life.

4 Practical Nutrition Tips from Eva Weston

Start with small, achievable changes. Modify a favorite meal to swap out one ingredient for an alternative that has no added sugar. For example, switch from a nut butter with sugar, oil, and salt to one that is simply nuts.
If you need to reduce your sodium intake, do it gradually. This allows your taste buds to adjust over time, making the change feel less drastic. For example, mixing 1:1 ratio of tuna with salt and tuna with no added salt.
Incorporate more fiber. Adding fiber to meals can help with cravings, improve digestion, and support better overall health. Be sure not to forget to increase water when you increase fiber!
Don't eat too quickly. Many people don't know that eating too fast can lead to issues like swallowing air that upset the digestive system. Slowing down can improve digestion and gut health.

Eva Weston RDN, LD, NBC-HWC, has a telehealth private practice that covers multiple states and accepts all major insurance carriers. Eva began working in clinical dietetics in 2008 and has worked in several in-patient acute and sub-acute clinical settings as well as private practice. She trained to become a board-certified health and wellness coach at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Eva became a dietitian to learn more about how food allergies and intolerances work and to provide support for patients to be as adventurous with food as possible, while living with adverse food reactions. She is a Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) trained pediatric food allergy dietitian.