Testimonials

What Our Clients Love About Beautiful Food

We’ve been blessed to attract so many wonderful, motivated and dedicated clients. Following are some highlights of what they’ve had to say about Beautiful Food:

“Fiona is patient, an attentive listener, encouraging, informative, a great adviser, easy to talk with and non-threatening. During the most significant life events of my life, Fiona was able to work with me to keep a balanced, positive healthy lifestyle. Fiona shared with me many different types of greens and how important they are. Fiona assisted me with approaches towards making decisions during significant life-changes. Fiona provided hands-on healthy, delicious, easy cooking lessons with me. I made some of these recipes (one with quinoa) and shared the food with some friends who then shared the recipe with other friends since they found the food delicious!

“I was able to accomplish many of my goals while working with Fiona, which was very fulfilling and made me feel good about myself. One of my goals was to swim an open water mile race (I swam two of them!) and to climb a small mountain and I accomplished both of these! Fiona is very encouraging and supportive in my many goals in the one-on-one session and emails between sessions. There were a few weeks where Fiona had me call and leave her an email message or phone message or talk to her in person to assist me in quitting a particular food habit.

“Fiona has an expansive library of books and CDs, and customized my program by giving me books and CDs that were appropriate for the goals I was working on. Fiona shared her knowledge about foods I never heard of before — my favorite snack is a healthy delicious quinoa bar.”
– Susan

“Fiona was not just a Health Counselor but more of a friend, mentor, confidante as well as an exceptional listener. I came to Fiona to learn better ways of eating. Being in my 50’s I was having the most difficult time taking off 10 or more pounds. I am a healthy eater, but needed to understand what foods were good for my body. I found that Fiona and I had the same blood type and she shared a wonderful blood type diet book that has educated me on eating the right types of food.

“I realized that Fiona was not only going to introduce food types to help in my losing weight but was going to assist in so many other areas of my life from relationships to managing monies. Even though I have completed my initial eight sessions, I have decided to continue working with Fiona once a month just to reassure myself that I am reaching my goals. It’s like a chocolate addiction, you must keep going to stay on track to what it is you are trying to achieve.

“Being the oldest of six children I knew something was missing from my life — and after my first meeting with Fiona [I realize] it was her mentoring that I yearned for. I was very excited to find out that we had similar interests in Alternative Medicine.

“I would recommend Fiona to all as she is the most inspirational person in my life today. She helps you to believe in yourself.”
– Deb

“Everyone needs Fiona! I originally went to Fiona to learn how to cook and eat healthy, but I found SO much more. Actually, I found ME! She has a gentle technique that leads you on a path of self discovery, letting you see the balance — or lack thereof — that affects your whole being. Besides learning about whole foods and trying her yummy recipes, the constant treadmill that had become my life became blatantly apparent.  (No wonder I never cooked!) She has a wonderful method of helping you discover the ‘root cause’ and provides tools and suggestions to becoming your personal best. Thanks to Fiona, I am cooking! But also taking time to relax and take care of me!”
– Cyndi Kilbarger

“Before working with Fiona I struggled with cooking healthy foods, and a lifetime of sugar cravings. What I now see possible as a result of working with Fiona in a 6-month program is to be in control of my eating; liking lots of natural whole-foods and adjustments to my food choices have become permanent. My favorite part about working with Fiona is learning something new each session, her gentle coaching approach and the great recipes!”
– Nancy

“As a health counselor, Fiona truly looks at the whole person — body, mind and spirit — making certain that the client doesn’t overlook one area while focusing upon another. She tunes into the client and lets them be the guide as far as the direction she takes in counseling. She ‘hears’ what the client really wants to work on, which may very well be quite different than what he/she stated at intake. Probably the most striking characteristic I treasured about Fiona was how nonjudgmental she was — every step of the way. Everything I shared with her about past or present behaviors or thoughts or dreams was received with unbiased acceptance and insightful and informed feedback.

“What had the most impact, without a doubt, [was that] Fiona shared approaches to self-care and self-love. Lighting candles — simply because they are beautiful and calming — for no other reason than to help ME feel relaxed and taken care of – that’s just one ‘keeper.’ Soothing background music is another. I’ve polished up my mother’s silver butter dish for everyday use – instead of keeping it packed up in a box, all tarnished and forgotten. Every time I take it out, it feels like a special moment or brings back a childhood memory. Fiona teaches one how to celebrate life.

“I benefited by learning about ways to make ordinary moments special. To remind myself that I am worth that extra step of placing a napkin ring and cloth napkin at my seat or slicing a lime for my iced water. I catch myself hurrying through things and now think twice about slowing down and immersing myself in one thing for a set time. It’s a process — but Fiona helped me see that this is not frivolous. I have already referred a dear friend to Fiona for all of the reasons listed above. Fiona offers a rare combination of warmth, professionalism, solid training and non-judgmental style that would be a beautiful fit for anyone wishing to enrich their lives.”
– Beth

“I went to Fiona for one reason, to convert to macrobiotics. In working with her, I found she was able to help me in many other areas of my life that were not related to food, yet impacted my health directly, such as work and relationships, spirituality. I found myself learning interviewing techniques, meditation, and relaxation. I felt like I met a best friend and I could tell her anything. She was very accepting, non-judgmental. The program gave me structure, yet it was not rigid. I liked the environment of her home – very relaxing. I liked the frequency of the visits – not too long in between, which is very important when you are trying to change your behaviors. I especially liked the email support and the timely manner in which she returned the emails. I would definitely do it again.”
– Anne Driscoll

“When I first started working with Fiona, I had a lot of emotional stress that was beginning to take a physical toll on my hormones. I was developing two careers, raising my son (and sometimes husband!) and trying to expand our family. I had very little time to slow down and take care of myself. Even though intellectually, I knew to take better care of myself, it was only with the support of Fiona that I was able to begin a healing process. Fiona was expert at understanding my situation and gently coached me on the different ways to slow down and learn patience and not hurry through life. My health depended on it. I learned so much from Fiona. Run, do not walk, to work with her.”
– Alisa

“Working with Fiona Barrett exceeded all my expectations — and my expectations were high! I found Ms. Barrett knowledgeable, intuitive and highly motivated to assist me in accomplishing my health and wellness goals. Her insights, support and sense of humor made her a delight to work with. I’m thrilled I had an opportunity to have her as my counselor.”
– Maria Sacks

“For the past 10 months, Fiona has been a great mentor and counselor for me. She is a patient, understanding and remarkable ‘real’ person to confide in. She has helped me open up and realize and accept my true potential and worth. She has a sense of humor and a sense of compassion and a giving of herself that qualifies her as a health counselor; with the gift to help others feel worthy to open up and feel that they too have a lot to offer others as well as to themselves. I wish her the best of luck.”
– Linda Taylor

“Working with Fiona is one of the best decisions I ever made for myself! Fiona helped me set goals that are sustainable, empowering, and actually feel good! This is revolutionary! I learned that being healthy is easier than I ever imagined. With Fiona’s support, knowledge, listening and ability to get to the heart of the matter, I have completely transformed the way I take care of myself. My life will never be the same again!”
– Erin Dolan

“Working with Fiona has been wonderful.  Her approach to health counseling is truly unique and VERY personalized. She gets to know every aspect of who I am and I feel my whole wellness is being cared for so it’s not just about nutrition. The best part is her awesome recipes — my favorite is the Quinoa Salad!”
– LeeAnn M. Pepin

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