I’m becoming more and more interested in the way every morsel I eat affects my health — my energy level, my hair, my mood, my skin — so I was excited to see that 889 Yonge (889 Yonge Street, 416-925-7206, 889yonge.com), Toronto’s bastion of gleaming eco-friendliness, is now offering the services of a certified holistic nutritionist alongside its yoga classes, spa services, and TCM, osteopathy and naturopathy practitioners.

Joy McCarthy (pictured) is a glowing example of shining health, with a gentle and pleasant way of nudging you towards making better food decisions for the sake of your health. She’s a font of information, and many of her tips have stayed with me (admittedly, I’m already doing a lot of the things she’d usually recommend, like avoiding sugar, white flour and processed foods). Here are my favourite ideas:

Another great tip was to switch out my morning oatmeal for breakfast quinoa, to shore up on protein in the morning. Here’s her recipe (find more at thatsfit.ca/bloggers/joy-mccarthy):

Joy’s Breakfast Quinoa
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup filtered water
Method:
Bring quinoa and water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 12-15 minutes. Once fully cooked, remove from heat and rinse in warm water. This is to remove the saponins, which are like soap lather in your belly if you forget to wash them away. Makes 3-4 cups of cooked quinoa.

You can dress the quinoa however you like—Joy recommends stirring in a half a cut-up apple or pear, a teaspoon of cinnamon and some unsweetened almond milk or organic vanilla yogurt.